Sony presents optional 3-D sheet as new laptop accessory

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sony has come out with a sheet for a notebook PC where the viewer can see 3-D images without having to wear special glasses. Sony displayed the sheet at IFA 2011 in Berlin, Europe’s showcase of consumer electronics, which runs from September 2 to September 7. The sheet is targeted for Sony’s Vaio S series, as an optional accessory for models that are equipped with a Blu-Ray drive. The screen attaches to the computer’s LCD screen.

Sony calls the lenticular sheet the VGP-FL3D15A glasses-free 3-D panel. The 3mm-thick device can be attached to the front side of the notebook's LCD panel. This no-glasses 3-D sheet from Sony is supported by face-tracking technology, so that the viewer can get an optimized 3-D image with pixels shifted around behind the lens. The Vaio viewing process with this sheet will use face detection to track the position of the viewer's head via built-in web camera; images will be adjusted for clarity to make sure the viewer gets and maintains the 3-D experience.

The Vaio S series will debut in Europe next month and the price is expected to be about $1,000. The price of the sheet accessory is said to be $183.

The 3-D option via lenticular sheet is just one of several 3-D products that Sony announced. The Sony Vaio L Series all-in-one 3-D touchscreen multimedia PC, the 3-D-capable Sony SMP-N200 Network Media Player, and the Sony VPL-VW95ES 3-D projector were part of the company's showcase.

As a number of correspondents covering the show are saying, 3-D bells and whistles on viewer devices, on projectors, on televisions, and on computers, are all being promoted by consumer electronics kingpins as the way to get to consumers' hearts in the hope that enhanced viewing experiences will help products move.

Meanwhile, the news portal Tech-On! points out that a lenticular-system sheet to make visuals appear in 3-D made a June debut, with the announcement by Global Wave of its lenticular system sheet called Pic3D. This product from Global Wave is a lenticular lens film that one can add to a smartphone, tablet or laptop screen to turn it into a glasses-free 3-D display. Global Wave says that the product was announced last year but is now improved.

© 2011 PhysOrg.com