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Samsung, RealD to license new 3D technology

The new technology promises better resolution than other options, in addition to offering a brighter image for viewers looking to watch content in 3D on TVs or PCs.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read

Samsung and 3D company RealD are teaming up to license a new, full-resolution 3D technology to consumer electronics makers, the companies announced today.

Discussed at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, the new technology promises better and brighter image quality. The technology brings active shutter functionality to the display, which alternates content viewing between the left and right eyes, making full use of all the display's pixels. Content delivered through the companies' technology can be viewed with RealD's circularly polarized 3D eyewear.

"RealD and Samsung's new displays look fantastic and represent the next step in 3D home entertainment," said Oscar-winning director James Cameron, a well-known supporter of 3D and a RealD board member, in a statement. "Full-resolution viewing is key to experiencing 3D as a filmmaker intended, and when combined with the comfort and practicality of RealD 3D cinema glasses, this display technology will set a new standard for 3D in the home."

Samsung and RealD's technology is an answer to the current, widespread use of active-shutter glasses with today's 3D TVs. Those glasses, which require batteries to operate and can be quite expensive, sequentially block out the left or right eye about 120 times per second to create the 3D effect. Samsung and RealD's technology might also trump "patterned retarder" technology, which only dedicates half of a screen's pixels to each eye, reducing resolution and brightness. Vizio, LG, and Toshiba are offering sets this year that use that passive 3D technology.

Samsung and RealD plan on licensing their technology to consumer electronics manufacturers. The companies said that their technology will come to PC monitors first in early 2012 on 23- and 27-inch displays. After that's complete, they plan to offer the technology on 55-inch HDTVs.

Other panel sizes and pricing will be announced at some point in the future.