Samsung: Glasses-Free 3D TV Unlikely in Next 5-10 Years
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest flat-screen television maker by shipments, said glasses-free three-dimensional TV sets won’t be a common household item in the next five to 10 years because technical hurdles still exist before such TVs can be mass-produced at an affordable price.
B.K. Yoon, Samsung Electronics’ visual-display president, said at a forum that while 3D without glasses is possible on cellphones and other small mobile devices, there are still challenges for 3D TVs.
However, rival Toshiba Corp. of Japan earlier this month unveiled the world’s first glasses-free 3D liquid-crystal-display television sets, less than a year after most set makers launched 3D television sets that require the cumbersome eyewear. The company has said it plans to start selling the glasses-free TVs in December.
The cutthroat nature of the television-set industry is marked by precipitous price declines every year and innovations that threaten to cannibalize promising technologies even before companies can cash in on years of research and development.
