Aside from the obvious fashion concerns arising from donning 3D glasses (which is already being addressed with the release of designer 3D eyewear) the biggest drawback of active shutter glasses is crosstalk. This refers to the ghosting of images when the right eye sees some residue of the image intended for the left eye and vice versa. Toshiba has now developed new high-response LCD panels that can be used in active shutter glasses to reduce crosstalk.
Not only does crosstalk degrade the quality of the 3D image, it also causes eye fatigue. Crosstalk can be caused when the LCD shutters don’t open and close at a high enough speed to effectively block images intended for eye from reaching the other causing double vision.
Using Optically Compensated Bend (OCB) LCD panels, Toshiba says it has developed a new LCD panel that achieves both high-speed response and a wide viewing angle, while maintaining high contrast. When worn perpendicular to the display the panels boasts a 5,000:1 contrast ratio, while a viewing angle of 30 degrees sees that figure drop to 1,000:1.
The company claims that with response speeds of 0.1ms open to close and 1.8ms close to open, glasses adopting these panels yield a significant reduction in 3D crosstalk – citing a 3D crosstalk ratio of 0.1 percent or less when worn at a viewing angle of 30 degrees.
Additionally, the glasses would also minimize the eye fatigue that can come from watching 3D TV or playing 3D games for an extended period. Although, judging by the provided pic, it hasn’t done anything to address those fashion concerns.
Toshiba will showcase its new OCB LCD panels at the 2010 SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition running from May 23 to 28 in Seattle, Washington.