14 DAY TRIAL // Although Toshiba has just launched its Regza line of glasses-free 3D TVs, the company doesn't have any plans to stop here and for the 2011 fiscal year is preparing a globally available 40-inch TV based on the same technology as that of its smaller brothers.
In October last year, Toshiba promised that it would release a glasses-free 3D TV by the end of 2010, the company just delivering on that promise with two new Regza models, the 12-inch 12GL1 and the 20-inch 20GL1, the first of the two being already available for purchase, while the latter is expected to land this Saturday in Japan.
The 12-inch 12GL1 sports a 466x350 resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio while the bigger 20GL1 is equipped with a LED backlit 1280x768 resolution panel that features a 550:1 contrast ratio.
But this is just the beginning, as the Japanese company seems to be set to follow on the tracks of these TVs with a 40-inch glasses-free 3D model, according to the Techeye website.
This move is important since most consumers that spend a few thousand dollars on HDTVs usually want to go with bigger models, somewhere in the 30 to 50-inch bracket, the current Regza TV sets coming short in this department for most of these users.
The current glasses-free 3D Regza TVs are built using a lenticular lens setup that is made from an array of magnifying lenses designed so that, when viewed from slightly different angles, they give the user a perception of depth.
Although not perfect, the technology is a step in the right direction as it manages to get rid of those intrusive glasses that Toshiba's competitors rely on for delivering 3D images.
The 40-inch TV will be formally unveiled during Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January and is expected to go on sale in Japan in the company's 2011 fiscal year, which begins in April.