Nintendo's next-gen 3DS; 3D without glasses

Nintendo throws away dorky glasses with their next handheld system.

Nintendo have recently announced a brand-new entrant into the handheld console space, which they've dubbed the 3DS, with plans to bring 3D without the need for additional glasses.

The 3DS supposedly utilises a parallax barrier LCD manufactured by Sharp to generate the effect, a technology that uses different polarization of images to give slightly different viewpoints in-game.

A hugely technical look at the parallax barrier tech was posted up on Develop, which explains the technology thusly:

A display that can be electrically switched between an autostereoscopic (no glasses) 3D mode and a full resolution 2D mode.

The 2D mode allows the user to enjoy the same performance as current displays, with the added advantage of 3D for enhanced reality and enjoyment.

In effect, this generates a 3D image that can be seen by the naked eye - though the drawbacks to this system require the user to be within a specific range of angles to the screen.

This shouldn't be much of a problem for the 3DS portable, since it'll be held in the hand at a comfortable distance, but it will be interesting to see the kind of graphical power needed to generate the effect (perhaps the Tegra rumour will see the light of day).

For now, head to Tom's Guide to read some more about the 3DS' screen, as we wait for more news to hit during this year's E3.