Desktop-replacement notebooks are everywhere nowadays, but Sharp's new Pentium 4/2.8 laptop has something extra -- a 3D display that doesn't require 3D glasses.
It doesn’t do much for e-mail or spreadsheets, but Sharp Systems of America’s new Actius RD3D is the first notebook computer that makes it possible to view 3D images using the naked eye. The company says its TFT 3D LCD technology has uses ranging from CAD and medical imaging to GIS, oil and gas mapping, and entertainment — and the 15.0-inch screen switches back to 2D mode at the touch of a button for viewing standard applications.
The no-3D-glasses-needed autostereo technology uses a parallax barrier to divide light from the LCD so different patterns reach the viewer’s left and right eyes. Assuming the user is centered in front of the 1,024 by 768-pixel display, the brain interprets the offset images to create a sense of depth or “out of screen” effect. Sharp’s supplied 3D software bundle includes a Smart Stereo photo editor/slide show, Dynamic Digital Depth’s TriDef Movie Player with trailers for available 3D movies on DVD-ROM, and a chemical molecular modeling program from CAChe Group, as well as Windows XP Professional.
The $3,299 Actius RD3D combines Intel’s 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processor with 512MB of DDR memory, a 60GB hard disk, and Nvidia’s 64MB GeForce4 440 Go graphics processor. The 10.2-pound laptop’s optical drive supports DVD-RAM as well as DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-RW, CD-R, and DVD-ROM formats.
