Japanese manufacturers Sony and JVC will team up with RealD to produce 3D display devices. The companies expect to bring 3D entertainment to the living room as early as next year.

December 23, 2009 — In announcements that mean 3D is closer to becoming a reality in the home, JVC and Sony have said they will team up with RealD in 2010. This is the latest in a string of recent announcements suggesting that 3D TV will arrive on the consumer market within the next 12 months. Both manufacturers plan to use the technology to add 3D support to their LCD TV ranges, as well as to other display devices. Sony has been working with RealD for years in the 3D cinema sector, and Sony's Hiroshi Yoshioka says that the company is now “excited to work with RealD in bringing 3D to the home”.

RealD offers years of experience in the 3D cinema sector, and will now help bring the technology to the living room.

RealD's 3D format multiplexes the images for the left and right eyes into a single video stream — the images therefore display simultaneously. The viewers wear filter glasses to split the image into separate streams for each eye. This is an alternative to the 'shutter glasses' used with 'alternating-picture' 3D technologies. For more information on the various methods of displaying 3D imagery, have a read of our article 3D Technologies for Cinema and TV Explained.