May 28, 2009 1:22 PM PDT

LG puts 3D into displays, (purportedly) passes savings on

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Fashionable and effective? We'll see.

(Credit: LG Display)

The two main issues I had with the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, a pair of 3D glasses that give games the illusion of depth, was its steep $200 price and its adverse effect on the playability of games. LG Display plans to address at least one of those problems with its upcoming 3D display.

On Wednesday, LG announced that it had taken the technology that would normally be embedded in a pair of 3D glasses and installed it in a Full HD 23-inch 3D LCD panel. That's the Cliff Notes version of what the company did. It would take a scientist to explain how exactly they did this, and I'm still waiting to be certified. And for LG to explain it to me.

With conventional 3D LCDs, like the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ, when wearing the 3D glasses, each eye sees the same image from a different perspective.

The 3D glasses shut off one lens and then alternate shutting off lenses consistently, very quickly. It's like holding your finger between your eyes and alternately blinking each eye. This gives the illusion that you are seeing a third image that's an amalgamation of each eye's individual image.

With the new LG display, "3D" glasses will still be required, but according to the company, the glasses won't be as expensive as the $200 Nvidia 3D Vision Kit, since much of the technology required is in the panel, instead of the glasses. It's expected that this setup will deliver a similar 3D effect. Also, by embedding the technology into the panel itself, LG was purportedly able to build a display that's twice as bright as conventional 3D LCDs.

LG Display will showcase its new Full HD 23-inch 3D LCD panel during the upcoming Society for Information Displays 2009 in San Antonio, Texas, from May 31 to June 5. Release date and price have not yet been announced.

Imagine, 20 years from now, what the melding of motion technology used in game consoles like the Wii and this 3D technology will mean for games. Remember the Holodeck from "Star Trek"? Remember the chick in red that Picard and Riker fell in love with? Well, don't count on following in their perverted shoes just yet as we're still a long way off from something that sophisticated. But 3D technology has the potential to evolve and deliver us our perverted and not-so-perverted fantasies soon enough.

Eric Franklin refused to write a bio, saying, "Why are you bothering me about this bio business again? If I wanted people to know more about me, I'd send them to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast" (shameless plug). E-mail Eric.