HinesLab Inc. of Glendale, Calif., has developed a video display system that gives the illusion of three-dimensional images without having to wear those funny glasses. The system uses a color liquid-crystal display that shows four images photographed from slightly different angles. A system of mirrors and lenses directs the images onto a rear-projection screen which then creates multiple 3-D images at a normal viewing distance in front of the monitor. Nearer and farther objects appear to move relative to each other when the viewer shifts his or her head. So when will your favorite sit-com go 3-D? "That's a chicken-and-egg problem," says the system's inventor. "New 3-D programming needs to be shot using special multi-lens, multi-recorder video cameras, and broadcast to a new generation of 3-D TV sets." Likely to be first out with the new models are Sanyo and Sharp, both of which are researching the product now. (Popular Science Jan 96 p25)
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