Despite announcing its decision to take a step back from the OLED business, Toshiba remains pretty active in the field of cutting-edge display technology, the Japanese company revealing at CEATEC its first commercially available 3D TVs that can be used without glasses.

Toshiba showcased two such TVs, one with a screen size of 12 inches (30.5 cm) and another with a 20-inch diagonal (50.8 cm).

According to Engadget, the newly developed technological innovation for 3D-TVs without glasses uses an integral imaging system, that provides nine different perspectives (parallaxes) of each single 2D frame which the viewer's brain superimposes to create a 3-dimensional impression of the image.

According to the Japanese company, its engineers developed a powerful engine and an algorithm to extrapolate these perspectives out of the 2D frame and used a perpendicular lenticular sheet, an array of lenses that enable the viewer's brain to superimpose the perspectives.

It also offers a wide viewing area in front of the display and allows movement of the eyes and head without disrupting the 3D image and without the discomfort sometimes associated with other 'glasses-less' 3D technologies.

As expected, despite being commercially-available, these small screen size 3D TVs that require no glasses are mostly targeted at a small group of early adopters and that's because, with these new TVs, Toshiba wants to prove that auto-stereoscopic 3D displays are both technologically and commercially feasible.

"The commercial launch of our 12'' and 20'' 3D TVs without glasses in Japan is a first step into the 3D future in the consumer home cinema market," says Sascha Lange, Head of Marketing, Visual Products, Toshiba Europe.

"But it will take several years to develop larger 3D TVs without glasses with screen sizes of 40'' and more at a yet reasonable price point.

Those who want to enjoy the 3D home cinema experience on a large screen already today are well served by 3D TV using active shutter glasses like the models of our WL768 series," Toshiba's rep concluded.