Is Toshiba Ready To Offer Glasses-Free 3D TVs By Year-End?

3D TVs that don’t require glasses and thus eliminate the incompatibility problem between glasses offered by different makers: that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Rumors about such TVs coming from Toshiba emerged today in various media [JP] in Japan, and according to those reports, the devices are expected to arrive in Japan by year-end.

And if the rumors are to be believed, potential buyers will be able to choose between three different models, which could be sized at about 21 inches. The displays are reportedly offering a relatively wide viewing angle, which makes it possible to view 3D images for more than one person and from more than just one position (unlike in the case of the Nintendo 3DS, for example, which requires users to look straight at the device at all times).

This sounds like the glasses-free 3D display Toshiba showed back in April (pictured above) and which features WXGA (1,280×800) resolution, 480 cd/m2 brightness, and ±15 degrees (horizontal) 3D viewing angle.

Toshiba is apparently planning to price the 3D TVs at “several hundred thousand yen”, whatever that may mean (100,000 Yen currently translate to $1,180).

Japanese IT news site Impress just posted an official statement [JP] from Toshiba. The company says it can’t confirm the reports and that it’s not able to go into details such as technical specs at this point. Toshiba also says it’s currently investigating how future 3D TVs can look like and when it’s the best time for commercialization.