Active LCD shutter is probably the 3D technology with the best implementation and people who have harped on how wonderful Avatar is, could actually praise the active LCD shutter technology. However, active LCD shutter means that users need to wear rather bulky glasses and each eye will see images through separate LCD display. Unlike passive polarization, active LCD shutter can show only show one image to one at a time. With active shutter LCD, the displays on the glasses are switched on and off synchronously to alternately block one eye from seeing the image. Due to rapid flashing, our brain will combine these images as it very briefly forgets half of the image at any time. Active LCD shutter is known for its superb quality and users won’t sense any kind of bleeding one a single image to the other. However, active LCD shutter may cause headaches on some people.
For more than a few years, active LCD shutter is the platform of choice for 3D enthusiasts, although the glasses are rather annoying. However we could barely notice the slight convenience as we are immersed in the 3D content. Nvidia has produced lightweight LCD shutter glasses, which can be recharged with USB port and they are also wireless to ensure improved convenience when using them. Older high-end 3D LCD glasses used in cinemas were quite bulky and require cables, but latest implementations are much improved. They are also much more resistant to the usual wear and tear. However, some people are still uncomfortable to this solution and for this reason, we may need to choose other implementations that could provide us with less headaches and more convenience.
Another method of 3D implementation is 3D parallax display and it allows us to enjoy 3D content without using glasses. Although there are many competing technologies in the market, 3D parallax display seems to be quite promising. In this case, the display will show two images automatically and it comes with filters that bounce images to specific directions. We would be able to see the 3D effect when it is viewed from certain angle. Most 3D parallax display can be seen from 4 angles or more, but we would lose the 3D effect when we see from other designated angles. When seen from improper angles, we would only see blurred representations of these two images. 3D parallax is a relatively new technology, but it surely shows some promise. 3D camera is also developed by Fujifilm and we should be eager to see how it will be implemented in the future.
3D cameras will be able to take appropriate images and users should be able to preview them. 3D images can be previewed on the camera also with glass-less 3D display on the back. There are also ideas about using 3D technology for both portable and console gaming systems, but it will take some development to make sure that 3D technology could match the mature, impressive 2D image quality already used by modern games.
