Both active shutter and passive polarized 3D laptops have appeared on the market in the past year, with models using active shutter technology dominating the release announcements. Top PC makers such as HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo and Toshiba rolled out active shutter 3D laptops earlier this year with a 3D capable graphics card usually from either NVIDIA or Advanced Micro Devices.
The companies pitched the laptops to gamers and others as a way to redefine the home entertainment experience. The HP Envy 3D series and the Acer AS5745DG laptops are two recently announced examples. Sony is planning a 3D laptop for Spring 2011. It will use the same 3D technology as the Bravia line of TVs.
Lenova has had an IdeaPad with passive polarized 3D technology on the market since last summer. LG has the LG A510 laptop, a premium notebook offering cinematic 3D experience at near full HD quality using passive polarized technology. It ships with a pair of clip-on lenses as well as a pair of glasses. So far it is only available in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The newly released Dell XPS 14 Laptop is described as having 3D capabilities. It outputs a stereoscopic 3D video signal from Blu-ray discs and 3D-enabled games to an external 3D display if you have one, but the laptop’s screen is not a 3D display.
According to CEA Market Research, the tablet category is experiencing astonishing growth including advancements in 3D. The category represents 31 percent of the total US consumer PC market, which includes desktops, notebooks and other tablet PCs. A prototype 3D tablet with glasses was shown in September by Telefunken. Recent tablet announcements from Acer, Haleron, and others have included 3D support for 3D graphic gameplay, not for stereoscopic 3D display. (None of the exhibitors in the Access on the Go TechZone, the CES 2011 TechZone for tablet and eReader vendors, have mentioned stereoscopic 3D in their CES 2011 website posts yet.)
Check back in January when our reporting team will have the latest from the CES show floor regarding 3D laptops and tablets.