JAPAN: Sharp to launch advanced 3D panels for mobile gear.

Record ID: 462895

  • Title: JAPAN: Sharp to launch advanced 3D panels for mobile gear.
  • Date: 3rd April 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (APRIL 2, 2010) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATOR TOUCHING 3D TOUCH PANEL DEMONSTRATOR'S FINGER ON TOUCH PANEL MORE OF SHARP STAFF TOUCHING 3D TOUCH PANEL DEMONSTRATOR'S EYE DEMONSTRATOR POINTING TO 3D PANEL
  • Embargoed: 18th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA44MIGCCLHDU0QHE8UJ27AZS6T
  • Story Text: Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp is starting to produce advanced 3D liquid crystal display panels for mobile phones and digital cameras, betting on growing demand for 3D images.
    Japanese electronics maker Sharp said Friday (April 2) it plans to start making advanced 3D displays that require no special glasses for cellphones and other mobile devices this year, betting demand for 3D images will grow beyond movie theatres and living rooms to portable machines.
    Stirring up demand for small-sized displays is important for Japanese LCD panel suppliers after they suffered sluggish demand for panels designed for portable electronics due to a sharp slide in mobile phone sales in the domestic market.
    Sharp launched mobile phones and PCs equipped with a display that enables users to watch 3D images without glasses in the early 2000s.
    But they have not really caught on because of such factors as bulkiness, insufficient brightness and the lack of 3D contents.
    Sharp since then has developed brighter and thinner 3D display with higher resolution and a touch panel function.
    "Three-dimensional images that mostly inhabit big screens now are about to hit mobile terminals," Sharp Executive Managing Officer Yoshisuke Hasegawa told a news conference in Tokyo. "With this technology, hand-held devices will be able to show 3D images no matter if you're holding it upright or sideways."
    The head of Sharp's LCD business went on to say: "Just like old television shifted from black and white to colour TV, in the future we expect liquid crystal TV's thorough shift from 2D to 3D."
    Consumer electronics makers are scrambling to launch 3D TVs this year, hoping the technology will be as big a boost for the industry as the transition to colour TVs from black and white.
    Panasonic Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd already released 3D models, while Sony Corp is planning to start offering 3D TVs in June.
    But analysts have said the need for special 3D glasses may keep consumers from adopting the technology quickly.
    Mobile electronics that let users enjoy 3D images without special glasses have been around for some time since people tend to watch a display from a fixed distance and with a fixed angle on personal devices such as mobile phones, making it technologically less challenging to offer a 3D function.
    Japanese game maker Nintendo said last month it planned to launch a new model of its DS handheld game console that allows users to play 3D games without using special glasses.
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