PS3 Might Go 3D in 2010, Sony Says

Sony Corp exhibited and demonstrated a 3D game and console as well as a 3D display that can sterically show three-dimensional (3D) images at a press conference at the 2009 International CES.

"We have been engaged in the 3D image business in respect to B-to-B operations including movies," said Akira Shimazu, senior general manager of Business Development Division at Audio-Video Headquarters of Sony Corp. "We are declaring our full-scale entry into the business of home-use 3D image devices."

Modifying the company's game content and the "PlayStation 3" game console into 3D will have a large impact on its 3D image business.

"As data, our game content has already been available in 3D format, and, therefore, it is not difficult to make the shift to stereovision," Shimazu said. "Currently, we are waiting the standard for three-dimensional Blu-ray Disc to be established."

However, Sony has just recently started the discussion on the formula and specifications for this standard.

"The standard will be finalized at the end of 2009 at the earliest, and products will be released in 2010," Shimazu said.

The "Play Station 3" game console was seen at the company's booth.

Method yet to be decided
At the exhibition site, Sony demonstrated 3D images by adding a special filter composed of a number of right and left circular polarization filters on the display and using circular polarized glasses manufactured by Real D of the US.

However, it does not mean that Sony has decided to employ this method.

"We are currently developing several methods," Shimazu said. "We used this method for the demonstration simply because we made another demonstration with Real D's projector for business use and decided to use the same glasses for the home-use display. Also, this method displays right and left images simultaneously and was the most appropriate for the LCD panel with a frame frequency of 120Hz or less."

By Tetsuo Nozawa, Nikkei Electronics