Sharp Corporation has developed the world’s first four-primary-color 3D LCD featuring the industry’s highest brightness*1 with extremely low crosstalk (undesirable double-contour “ghost” images). By wearing special 3D glasses, viewers can enjoy impressive 3D images with an exceptionally realistic sense of depth.
In general, 3D LCDs use a system based on time-sequential display technology with special active LC (liquid crystal) shutter glasses. In this system, images intended for the left and right eye are displayed on the LCD screen sequentially, alternating between the two perspectives. The LC shutters in the special 3D glasses are synchronized with this display, “opening” (becoming transparent) and “closing” (becoming opaque) in such a way that the left and right eye see separate images. The human brain combines these two slightly different images to create the perception of depth in a three-dimensional image. However, displaying 3D images on a conventional display using this system suffered from low brightness and crosstalk.
The newly developed 3D LCD by Sharp offers a radical new solution to the above problems by combining four of Sharp’s unique, one-of-a-kind LCD technologies, including (1) UV2A technology*2, Sharp’s core technology for LCD TV panels, (2) four-primary-color technology*3, (3) FRED technology*4, and (4) side-mount scanning LED backlight technology*5. This LCD is optimized for 3D TV, as screen brightness when displaying 3D images is 1.8 times higher than that of the conventional displays*6, and crosstalk is extremely low. Sharp’s four-primary-color technology utilizes four primary colors, adding Y (yellow) to the three conventional primary colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). This technology contributes to brighter, more vivid colors thanks to higher light transmission efficiency through the panel and a wider color gamut (range of colors that can be reproduced), which had been difficult to attain on conventional three primary color displays.
Since first mass-producing an LCD for an electronic calculator in 1973, Sharp has created a wide range of LCD application products by developing innovative LCD technologies, and has been the driving force in the flat-panel display market. In the future, Sharp will be exploring new 3D markets by further enhancing its four one-of-a-kind LCD technologies.
The portal site introducing Sharp 3D LCD technology will be online today (http://www.sharp.co.jp/3d-tech/, in Japanese only). The site’s range of content will be continually updated to include the methods and principles of 3D LCDs and stories about the people behind the development of these displays.
| *1 |
As of April 12, 2010; for commercially available LCDs for 3D TV. |
| *2 |
Ultraviolet-induced multi-domain Vertical Alignment. |
| *3 |
A multi-primary color technology that renders the three R (red), G (green), and B (blue) video input signals on an LCD having four color pixels in which yellow (Y) is added. |
| *4 |
Frame Rate Enhanced Driving; signal processing technology for LCDs for 3D TV. |
| *5 |
Backlight technology that makes it possible to reduce crosstalk. |
| *6 |
Sharp LCDs not equipped with the technologies mentioned in notes *2 through *5 above. |
| The following information is true and accurate at the time of publication. Manufacture, sale, price and specifications of products may be subjected to change. |
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