You saw it here first! Sony for the living room with no-glasses 3D
Here it is - what might be your very first glimpse of a feasible, genuine no-glasses 3D TV. And it is a Sony.
Sony 3D on show in Boston
Samsung put a bit of a of a damper on the notion two years ago , when showing a demonstration no-glasses TV at a US show , it was revealed that there were only nine viewpoints from which you could see the picture in actual 3D. That was quite a problem They reckoned you needed at least 32 viewing spots.
"It will be at least ten years before you can get your 3D TV ," said Samsung.
The set in our picture on a low-key stand at the recent big Cable show in Boston is a Sony, although there is nothing on the set to say that .
The clue lies on the in the 3net wording overhead " a 3d channel by Discovery, Sony and Imax ."
Discovery itself had a massive 20 foot screen with stunning imagery - but I was advised to look around the corner at the real 3D TV set, which looked about 50inches.
"This set is a prototype," said a Discovery spokesman, "We are partners with Sony in the 3net channel, which shows 3D movies 24 hours a day and they asked if they could demo the set on our stand, using material from our programmes. We said, 'Of course!'
"People who have sat down on the bench and watched it have been very impressed."
I sat down and did just that and I was blown away . If I moved , there was momentary blur then the picture was back in 3D again, leaping out of the screen.
On the stand I spoke to Japanese staff who were happy to explain the set, although they stressed they were not talking officially.
The set has multiple very thin screens, I was told, each fractionally different . Your right eye picks up one screen and you're left another giving the stereo effect (just as your eyes from slightly different vantage points provide the 3d effect) in everyday life.
The set needs 3D input, for example Discovery's films being shown as we spoke, or the new 3DTitanic . "Otherwise it will be just 2D."
My Japanese friends said the set was still in development with many decisions to be made. One of these will be price; I would guess you can expect it to be pretty stiff.
And time scale, "I would expect it to be one or two years," said the man from Discovery.
Various attempts to contact Sony were unsuccessful and there were no handouts on the stand. But you've got to see it to believe it - and I saw it!