Did electronics manufacturer Sharp just give the world an early look at what the new Nintendo 3DS will be capable of? Because Sharp's new 3D touchscreen display for portable devices sounds precisely what the 3DS needs.
Sharp unveiled its new 3D touchscreen LCD technology in Tokyo today, touting the new tech's high brightness and low crosstalk—"Double images created by overlapping of left and right images"—calling it "ideal for sophisticated mobile devices such as smartphones."
The new 3D touchscreen LCD tech is capable of switching between 2D and 3D modes, perfect for backward compatibility with the current Nintendo DS and DSi software libraries. And, perhaps best of all, Sharp's new screen features some impressive specs, boasting a 854 x 480 pixel resolution. Compared to the 256 x 192 pixel resolution of the Nintendo DSi and DSi XL and the 480 x 272 resolution of the PlayStation Portable, we could have a very attractive picture to look forward to.
The 3.4" screen that Sharp unveiled is bigger than that of the Nintendo DSi (3.25") but smaller than the DSi XL (4.2"). That size backs up previous reports that the Nintendo 3DS would sport a pair of screens smaller than the XL version of Nintendo's popular handheld. Those same reports, which appear to have forced Nintendo to reveal its 3DS plans earlier than expected, also pegged Sharp as one of the manufacturers of the device's screens.
Sharp also boasts double the brightness and ten times the contrast ratio in its new generation of 3D LCD tech. The screen technology's 3D capabilities work in both portrait and landscape modes, and let consumers see images in 3D while taking video.
Nintendo has not officially revealed the specifications or manufacturer of the Nintendo 3DS, which it plans to showcase at this year's E3 expo.
Sharp Presents 3D Touchscreen LCD, Switchable Between 2D and 3D Modes [Sharp]