FROM PAUL GARY TAYLOR OF SEATTLE PC-101 BROKERS,
LLC 8-22-10
At the
recent Mobile World Congress on, TI showed off a tablet-sized device with a 3D display that doesn't require glasses, running
on an existing TI OMAP3 chipset. The company also promised high-def, 3D movies with its new OMAP4 chips.
The 3D demo showed images and video in 3D by using a standard 120-Hz LCD
with a special overlay film from 3M that can direct images either towards your left or right eye. By flickering two images
very quickly – running at 60 frames per second rather than the usual 30 – the display transmits a different picture
to each eye, creating a simulated 3D image. Still images looked good to me, with some depth, though movies weren't quite as
convincing.
The 3D picture can be created using a
handheld with dual 3-megapixel cameras and an 800-MHz TI OMAP 3630 chipset, which are all components that are available today.
At any time, the display can switch back to 2D. And it doesn't require glasses – though at the cost, clearly, of really
convincing 3D video.
This is only the start of 3D
for TI, OMAP platform marketing manager Tommy Ulas said. The new OMAP4 chipset announced at this show supports "dual
720p," which lets you display real, high-def 3D movies and send them over an HDMI cable to a TV. With dual cameras on
the front of OMAP4 phones, TI will be able to record 3D images as well.
If you want to watch an ordinary 2D image, you can do it in 1080p high definition resolution with OMAP4, Ulas
said.
