OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS

All-in-One Solution Offers Complete Stereoscopic Production Capabilities

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 08-30-11 | Comments

By including a 3D Web camera along with a stereoscopic display, LG has created the world's first all-in-one 3D laptop for creating, viewing and sharing stereoscopic imagery on its smartphones, TVs and glasses-free monitors.

LG's new all-in-one 3D laptop houses the first complete stereoscopic production studio for making, showing and posting 3D social media online for viewing on its smartphones, TVs and glasses-free monitors.

Most stereoscopic displays today use active-shutter technology, which displays left- and right-eye images in quick alternative succession, but requires users to wear expensive battery-powered LCD shutter glasses whose lenses alternate between black and clear. Unfortunately, replacing the batteries is not the only hassle, since some viewers have reported being able to see "flicker" as the active-shutter lenses switch from black to clear.

An alternative is an auto-stereoscopic display like LG debuted recently for its glasses-free D-2000 computer monitor. However, for its first all-in-one 3D laptop, LG chose the middle-ground, using instead its patented Film Patterned Retarder (FPR) technology which stripes the laptop screen with an alternating grid of light polarizers. By displaying a similarly striped image--where vertical pixel strips alternate with left- and right-eye images--a pair of passive polarized glasses allow the brain to reconstruct the original 3D image. Unlike active-shutter glasses, which can cost up to $100, passive polarized glasses cost no more than a pair of inexpensive sunglasses. A 3D Sound Retrieval System (SRS) included completing the stereoscopic experience.

The 15-inch A530 laptop display can show full high-definition-quality movies--1920-by-1080 pixels--in normal or 3D modes. But the most novel aspect of LG's all-in-one 3D laptop is its inclusion of a stereoscopic Webcam--dual cameras spaced at a distance appropriate for imaging the user against a 3D background. And by including software that marries the 3D Webcam capability to self-publishing on YouTube, the A530 can serve as the world's first all-in-one 3D production studio--at least for non-critical social media applications.

LG's 3D Space Software allows users to view 3D games as well as to create stereoscopic video, photos and movies for viewing on its smartphones, TVs and glasses-free monitors.

Besides being the world's first all-in-one 3D production console, the LG A530 also seems to be a pretty cool laptop in general, with built-in fingerprint reader for quick log-ons, an Intel i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 555M graphics card, 8GB of RAM, a 750GB hybrid hard-drive housing 4GB of flash for fast boots, USB 3.0 and a luxurious brushed-metal exterior complemented by diamond-cut edges.

R. Colin Johnson has been writing non-stop daily stories about next-generation electronics and related technologies for 20-plus years at McGraw-Hill, United Business Media and now at Ziff-Davis Enterprises. His unique perspective has prompted coverage of his articles by a diverse range of major media outlets--from the ultra-liberal National Public Radio to the ultra-conservative Rush Limbaugh Show.