A Prototype 3D Mobile Phone Equipped with a Next Generation Autostereoscopic Display

The mobile phone is quickly evolving from a communications device to a multimedia platform and in the process has become the focus for the development of new technologies. There is significant interest from mobile handset manufacturers as well as major telecommunications network operators in the development of a stereoscopic 3D mobile phone. The most challenging technical issues for commercializing a 3D phone are a stereoscopic display technology which is suitable for mobile applications as well as a means for driving the display using the limited capabilities of a mobile handset. In this paper we describe a prototype 3D mobile phone which was developed on a commercially available mobile hardware platform. The demonstration handset was retrofitted with a Polarization Activated MicrolensTM array that is 2D/3D switchable and provides both class-leading low crosstalk levels, and suitable brightness characteristics and viewing zones for operation without compromising battery running time. This next generation autostereoscopic display technology, which combines the advantages in brightness and image quality of a lenticular 3D display with the 2D/3D switching capability of a liquid crystal parallax barrier, is deployed on a 2.2’’ landscape QVGA TFT-LCD base panel. The stereoscopic content solution is an essential component of a commercially viable 3D handset. We describe how a range of stereoscopic software solutions have been developed on the phone’s existing application processor without the need for custom hardware.