First glass-free 3D display is here

1.942185-1529612508 — Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: LG has become the first vendor to launch "glasses-free" 3D display by enabling users to take still photos, record videos and then play them back in 3D on the phone's 4.3-inch display.

LG calls the Optimus 3D's "tri-dual" technology — a dual-core processor, dual cameras and dual-channel memory. The 480 x 800 resolution capacitive Gorilla Glass screen is surrounded by a large black plastic bezel, making the phone feel like a whopping great rubbery brick in the hand. The phone is bulky, coming it at 11.9mm thick and weighs 168g.

It runs on 1GHz dual-core A9 processor with 8GB of onboard memory along with 512MB of dual-channel RAM. It is disappointing to see that LG has stuck with Froyo when a glut of Gingerbread-enabled handsets exist in the market. LG claims it can be upgraded to 2.3 version. Few customisations have been carried, but they're mostly simple visual tweaks.

The only vaguely interesting physical design feature here is the metallic strip along the phone's rear which houses the dual camera sensors and the LED flash. It's one nice touch in an otherwise generic lump of black plastic.

The two, five-megapixels camera is very straightforward, with a toggle to switch between 2D and 3D modes in one corner, plus a standard Android picture settings on the left. The 3D picture effect is surprisingly good, with the Android Gallery attaching a 3D icon to each 3D shot.

The phone comes preloaded with some 3D video samples. Switching to 3D sees the display change, the brightness dips and the sharpness falls away. You'll have to find the sweetspot for viewing without glasses. You'll then find that the 3D effect is very good. Watching video also has the downside of putting some strain on your eyes.

In 3D you're limited to recording at 720p resolution while 2D video clips go all the way up to the ‘Full HD' 1080p image format.

LG has pre-loaded three Gameloft 3D games plus there's a 3D storybook version of Gulliver's Travels. But there's clearly a lack of 3D content. LG has put in a link to a 3D portal on YouTube inside its 3D Space, which contains only a few trailers.

Battery life is one of the Optimus 3D's weak points. The dual-core phone could do with dual batteries as well,as I struggled to get any-thing like a full day of serious use out of the 3D phone. The battery is a 1540mAh unit, the power-hungry Optimus 3D can chomp around 25 per cent of your battery life in 20 minutes of intense use.

Pros