CES 2011: Photo frame turns 2D snapshots into 3D, no glasses required
ViewSonic's latest photo frame has a clever trick up its sleeves: it converts standard 2D photos into 3D, then displays them on an eight-inch autostereoscopic display—meaning you won't need glasses to see the 3D effect. Neat? Sure. Great 3D quality? Read on.
On sale now for about $200, the ViewSonic 3DPF8 (not much of a name, I know) looks pretty much like your standard digital photo frame, complete with an SD/MMC memory card slot, a slideshow mode, and touch-sensitive controls on the front bezel.
Just plug your digital photos into the ViewSonic's memory card slot and the frame will interpolate the 2D image into 3D, which it then displays on its bright eight-inch 3D display (which, as I understand it, words its glasses-free magic with the help of parallax barrier technology).
OK, but does Viewsonic's 3D frame really do the trick? Well … sort of.
You do get a definite sense of depth from the image, with the photo appearing to stretch behind the frame. And if you're viewing the photo from precisely the right angle, you will get the uncanny sense that you're seeing an actual 3D image—although "sense" is the key word here.
After looking a little too hard, though, the double images in ViewSonic frame made me feel a little dizzy, mainly because it felt like my eyes were crossing. Not helping matters is the display's relatively low 800-by-600 resolution, meaning your treasured memories won't be getting the razor-sharp look they deserve.
So yes … the ViewSonic 3DPF8 makes for an interesting novelty, but I wouldn't rush out and drop $200 in the hopes that you'll get "Avatar"-level 3D out of your family scrapbook with the Viewsonic's help. You won't.
Still, that's not to say that there isn't any truly promising glasses-free 3D going on at CES this year. Toshiba, for one, is showing off a full-size no-glasses 3D display, and I'm hoping to get eyes-on with it Friday. Stay tuned for a full report.
(Yahoo!)