Stereoscopic/autostereoscopic systems have been developed to express 3D images, but have not been successfully use in practise. In order to apply 3D display to promising applications such as advertisements and games, we developed a 42" 2D/3D switchable display. It has characteristics that do not require special glasses for 3D images, uses multi-view technology for improving 3D viewing characteristics, and has a 2D/3D switching function to express dynamic 3D contents as well as conventional 2D contents.

A 42-in. 2-D/3-D switchable display operating in a parallax-barrier-type system consisting of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) has been developed. The system displays 2-D images in full resolution, without any degradation to the original 2-D images, and 3-D autostereoscopic images with resolutions higher than SVGA with wide viewing zones electrically controlled by the parallax-barrier system. The system is intended for use in public-information displays (PIDs), a booming field, and as displays for gaming, medical, and simulation applications.