No pictures for this yet, but Hitachi has reportedly developed a 3D projection system that allows viewers to watch 3D images from any angle, and perhaps more importantly, without the need for eyeglasses. While the first feature makes sure a group of people can see 3D images at the same time on a single screen, I am aware the second one isn’t the first of its kind for a 3D system.

Hitachi says another strong point of its technology is the high resolution of the 3D images produced. The company claims the quality is comparable to analog broadcasts, meaning the resolution is higher than in other eyeglass-free 3D systems developed so far.

The Hitachi system consists of 16 projectors that project images from different angles to a transparent sheet that’s 20 x 23cm in size and consists of 300,000 lenses. 3D images “floating” in front of the sheet are produced by letting the light from the projectors pass through the lenses.

Hitachi says a practical version should be ready by 2012. The company wants to target ad agencies, museums and medical institutions with the system (it could show stereoscopic images of body organs, for example),

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]