Soon, viewers will be able to see 3-D images without having to wear funny-looking glasses.

The spread of digital broadcasting has intensified competition in the market for wide-screen, slim, high-resolution televisions. The latest innovative product to joint the fray is a 3-D TV on which images appear to leap out of the screen. This TV was developed by Sanyo Electric, a major manufacturer of home appliances. Through the use of a special gobo fitted to the surface of the screen, it enables viewers to see solid-looking images without wearing special glasses. Sanyo plans to roll out sample 50-inch plasma TVs featuring this system by March 2003. For the time being, it plans to market the TVs for corporate use, for example in advertising, but eventually it aims to spark demand among Japanese households.

Look, No Glasses!
Under the new filming system developed by Sanyo, images from four cameras are condensed into one. In order that the viewer's right and left eyes can see the image from different angles, the surface of the screen contains a gobo printed with a fine, diagonal lattice. This mechanism enables the viewer, whether from the left or right of the screen, to see the sides of the image, making it appear solid.

Until now, groups of people watching a 3-D image have generally had to wear light-shielding or polarizing glasses. Without these glasses, they were only able to see a limited portion of the image when facing the screen. Under the new system, however, depending on the position each person only sees one of the four images shot from different angles. This enables multiple viewers to see 3-D pictures at the same time from almost any angle left or right. In the short term Sanyo expects the system to be used by businesses - in advertising in stations, in educational devices, and in amusement facilities, for example.

The company has been striving to develop technology for 3-D TVs for about a decade. It has sold about 100,000 small unifocal liquid-crystal displays for amusement devices and has also sold a system that allows doctors to monitor the images from an endoscope in 3-D.

In order to make the 3-D TVs viable for home entertainment, films must be shot specially on multiple cameras. Other issues are the need for filmmakers prepared to supply the specialized pictures and for broadcasters willing to transmit them.

Plasma Displays and LCDs
Following the advent of digital broadcasting, major electronics makers are reinforcing their strategy of producing TVs with wider, slimmer screens and higher resolutions. The recent appearance of 50-inch plasma TVs and 40-inch LCD models (it is harder to make large LCD screens) has further intensified competition.

Figures for domestic sales of flat-screen TVs in fiscal 2001 (April 2001 to March 2002) show that cathode-ray-tube TVs were still the overwhelming choice of consumers, with 9.63 million units sold compared with sales of 350,000 LCD TVs (10-inch and over) and 70,000 plasma TVs. Plasma models are seen as holding the key to the future of wide-screen TVs, however. It is easy to make slim plasma TVs because of how they work: A high voltage is applied to gas held tightly between glass plates, stimulating fluorescent material. Even a 50-inch plasma screen need be no more than 10 centimeters (about four inches) thick. The market price of plasma TVs is coming down rapidly - at 20% a year according to some reports - and 50-inch models are already available for around ¥1 million ($8,330 at ¥120 to the dollar). Prices are approaching the ¥10,000-per-inch level, which is thought will accelerate the diffusion of these TVs.

In the market for lightweight, midsize TVs, meanwhile, LCDs are on top. Consuming half the electricity of CRT models and lasting twice as long, a 20-inch LCD TV weighs about 6 kilograms - light enough to carry around. With 20-inch models costing less than ¥200,000 ($1,670), LCDs have already breached the ¥10,000-per-inch barrier and are on the verge of becoming the consumers' choice as a TV for everyday use. These screens are also getting wider, with a 40-inch model expected to hit the market by the end of 2002. With bigger, clearer screens and the prospect of 3-D viewing just around the corner, consumers can choose from an ever-growing range of TVs.