Toshiba’s just outed the world’s first glasses-free 3D laptop, the Qosmio F750 3D. The 15.6-incher uses the same tech as the company’s glasses-free 3D, the REGZA GL1, so a lenticular screen sends images with different perspectives to each eye, which your brain reads as a 3D image.
All very impressive, but we’ve got some reservations. Read on to see why we’re not quite reaching for the popcorn just yet.
First up, the specs. It’s a Full HD screen, with a 120HZ refresh rate, so we’ve no doubt picture quality is top notch. Inside is an Intel Core i processor, NVIDIA 3D graphics card, and it has inbuilt stereo Harmon Kardon speakers for punchy sound. The Blu-ray drive even upscales standard discs to the third dimension, breathing new life into your movie collection.
The issue is with the very concept, or at least its execution so far. This kind of tech has been plagued with problems, its biggest success so far being on the relatively tiny Nintendo 3DS, but even on such a small screen users have complained of headaches. At least Nintendo put in a handy slider bar so you can reduce the degree of 3D, or even turn it off altogether. Larger screens that have tried glasses-free 3D have traditionally struggled with blurred images and a lack of depth. Not to mention giving out far worse headaches.
Toshiba’s keen to big up the F750’s ability to show 2D and 3D at the same time, so you can browse the web in 2D while a 3D movies plays in another window. Sounds like a migraine waiting to happen…
Obviously we haven’t used the laptop, and so have no idea what it’ll be like in practice. These are just reservations based on a number of glasses-free 3D screens we’ve seen over the years. Admittedly the tech is improving, and glasses are one of the major barriers preventing mass 3D uptake (as well the still relative paucity of content), but still, we’re skeptics.
What do you reckon? Let us know in the comments below.
Out August | £TBC | Toshiba
