Toshiba Introduces Face-Tracking for Glasses-Free 3D TV

Tired of wearing those silly glasses to watch 3D television? Toshiba has launched a glasses-free 3D TV in the UK early this month. According to the BBC, while this 55 inch TV isn't the first "spec-free" 3D TV to grace the world, it will be the world's first of its kind in a large-screen size.

So what's the price of this latest advanced technology? If you want to experience glasses-free 3D, you'll need a whopping £7,000 or about $11,000 (N1.7m). For what the product boasts though, it'll be well worth your viewing pleasure.

The Toshiba ZL2 is capable of so-called 4K resolution, which is four times the resolution of current hi-def screens. Besides the 4K resolution, the TV uses 'eye or face tracking' to adjust the picture to each person watching the screen. The BBC states that the screen directs different images to your left and right eyes which cause the illusion of 3D. It also means you can look around the display and interact with it unlike ever before on a TV set. The way eye tracking works is that the TV set captures the viewer's location and sends images back meant for each eye at specific angles and 3D illusions. This is a pretty interesting and innovative concept.

According to Good3DTV, the TV set is right now only available in the UK and costs £7000. It also offers a display size of 55” and is the first one on the market at comparable size that offers glasses-free capabilities. “The previous 3D sets that did not need any special glasses, were launched in Japan in 2010 and had screen size between 12 and 20 inch.”

This is the first one of this size, and also the first one to come with eye-tracking without additional peripherals required.

According to available information, the TV has "high-powered" computers in the back of the TV that "aim separate beams of parallax 3D at each viewer." Be sure to cap your viewing parties at nine though. The screen is only able to provide up to nine different viewing positions.

The only problem with this seemingly fantastic new product is that no video players are capable of playing 4K resolution and no discs currently even contain that resolution. With that said, the Daily Mail states that Sony and some other companies have begun to shoot in the next generation of high-def resolution shows and movies.In the meanwhile, the Toshiba TV will reportedly be able to "upscale" 2D content to 3D. Although the results of such artificially created 3D effects may be less than totally satisfying, at least it will give the set's owners something to watch.

While the price seems steep, you better get in line now. The TV is exclusively available at the John Lewis store on Oxford Street in London. There's been no name given to this TV or even a statement from Toshiba on when it will be available worldwide.