At CES 2009, Sony wowed with spectacular stereoscopic 3D gaming prototypes -- and then disappointed when they revealed there were no plans to bring the technology to market.
Why? An anonymous source says that's because snazzy as it is, this particular method of producing stereo 3D is out of date.
Speaking to Ars Technica, the source explained:
The LCDs Sony is using use a technique called "Micropolarization." Put simply, the display is layered with a polarizing filter that actually polarizes every other horizontal line of the display to 'spin' the light in a different direction. The glasses you're wearing only accept light spinning in one direction to the eye it is covering. That's how each eye gets a different angle and, ultimately, how your brain interprets 3D...
Of course the limitation here is obvious—the Sony LCD's only show half resolution to each eye. It looks perceptually very close to HD after your brain slaps it together, but the lower resolution is apparent if you examine the screen more closely.
Those familiar with stereo 3D technology will note that this is the same interlaced solution used in Zalman's 22-inch Trimon monitor.
We don't know Ars's source, and so can't say whether they are correct -- but if they were, that would go a long way towards explaining how Sony managed to make a polarized monitor fit into a standard Bravia case (modern polarized solutions like the iZ3D monitor use two LCD panels and are thus rather thick), and how a game like "MotorStorm: Pacific Rift" managed to stay convincingly 3D despite a framerate capped at 30 FPS.
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