Toshiba announced 3D-compatible Cell Regza LCD TVs and it will start releasing these in August 2010 in Japan along with the "Regza Blu-ray" Blu-ray Disc (BD) recorders.
The Cell Regza , which was jointly developed by Toshiba, the Sony Group and IBM Corp, is an LCD TV equipped with the Cell Broadband Engine microprocessor (Cell).
The new models of the Cell Regza, the "X2" (55 inches) and two types of the "XE2" (55 and 46 inches), can display 3D video. They come with special glasses that are used for viewing 3D images.
It also has white LED backlights. The backlight of the X2 is located directly behind the panel (direct-lit type) while that of the XE2 is positioned at the upper and lower parts of the panel (edge-lit type).
The number of white LEDs used for the X2 is 3,072, which are divided into 512 areas (16 x 32). And light emission is individually controlled for each of the 512 areas. When the brightness of all the white LEDs in one of the areas is at the maximum, the peak brightness of a displayed 2D image is 1,000cd/m2 (contrast ratio: 9,000,000:1).
To reduce cross-talk, the company increased the drive frequency of the LCD panel to 240Hz and improved the light emission control of the LED backlight.
Specifically, when the frame rates of the images for the right and left eyes are both 60 frames per second (fps), black images are added to the images for the two eyes.
The X2, which has a direct-lit LED backlight, controls the LEDs that are horizontally divided into 16 areas in accordance with the timing of displaying images. Because the peak brightness of its 2D image is as high as 1,000cd/m2, it is possible to ensure enough brightness for 3D images. On the other hand, the XE2, which comes with an edge-lit LED backlight, controls the LEDs that are horizontally divided into two areas.
Furthermore, for the new models of the Cell Regza, Toshiba employed the "Super Resolution Technology" for 3D images and the "2D-3D Conversion," a function to convert 2D images to 3D. Both of them are realized by software processed by the Cell.