As "public lectures" (an exhibition was held simultaneously) organized by the 3D Consortium, the 3DC Conference was held at Kyoto University last year. This year, the conference was held at the IB Electronic Information Building, Nagoya University, on September 2. "The latest trends of 3D displays" was selected as the theme for this year, and lectures on the latest 3D technologies by lecturers from our company members and universities and an exhibition of actual equipment were held. After the lectures, an observation tour of the laboratory of Professor Masayuki Tanimoto, Department of Information Electronics, School of Engineering, Nagoya University, was held. 65 individuals from 41 companies including our member companies and the general public attended at the public lectures, and around 50 individuals participated in the observation tour.

Dr. Takaki introduced a high-density directional display as a 3D display which can eliminate the eye strain caused by the discrepancy between convergence and adjustment with smooth movement parallax, which results in a strong sense of realism. He also explained about 64, 72 and 128 directional displays, displays for mobile equipment, 3D cameras and signal processing.

Mr. Hirayama explained about the hardware and software for 3D displays based on the integral imaging method, and the outline, possible applications and prospects for flatbed models developed for creation of more effective stereoscopic image expressions.

Mr. Ishii explained about the principle of the "Fractional View method" which achieves simple but natural stereoscopic effects with existing lenses and an LCD, the differences of the method from conventional methods and new possibilities which can be achieved by using this method.

Mr. Yuki introduced the 2.2-inch QVGA scan backlight stereoscopic LCD developed by Mitsubishi Electric. Its characteristics are that it enables the display of high resolution stereoscopic images which can be viewed in a slanted position without having a double image by adopting the field sequential method with a scan backlight and by utilizing the resolution of the LCD panel at 100%.

Mr. Takanashi introduced the composition and results or trial production of the 3D-SOG LCD which allows a high resolution of 235ppi in the 3D display, the same resolution and brightness in 2D and 3D displays, and mixed display of 2D and 3D images.

Mr. Ando introduced the "Multiple viewpoint 3D animation system without glasses," which is the equipment for shooting and consolidating multiple viewpoint 3D images by using the 3D image processing technology which achieves high-speed generation of stereoscopic images from the images which are shot by a multi-viewpoint camera and are shown on the 3D display. Since this system allows animation display of multiple viewpoint stereoscopic images at ultra-high resolution, business development in new industrial application areas including teleconferences with a high sense of realism and remote collaboration systems are expected.

Dr. Tanimoto explained about the current status of "Free Viewpoint Television" and standardized use of MPEG as the compression and encoding method for TV as well as his commitment for a new 3D imaging system which handles light rays instead of pixels.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Small-sized scan backlight stereoscopic LCD
System on Glass Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation
235ppi2D/3D-SOG LCD
Namco Ltd.
45-inch and 37-inch LCD high resolution TV (stereoscopic vision) and others
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Multiple viewpoint 3D animation system (22-inch 3D display)
Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices Corporation
5-inch and 8-inch 3D displays by using the step barrier method
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
High-density directional 3D display system
Mercury Inc.
2D - 3D conversion STB + Sharp's LCD monitor supporting 3D conversion function
Toshiba Corporation
Flatbed 3D display without special glasses
InterScience Corporation
Stereoscopic images of the animation "NARUTO"