Sharp says that they’ll be selling 3D LCD displays in 2003. These displays will use a scaled-up version of the technology that is currently used in the J-SH07 cell phone that Sharp currently sells in Japan.

It will be interesting to see whether the limitations of this technology will affect its ability to escape “gimmick” status. For example, viewers’ eyes will have to be about 40 centimeters from the screen in order to avoid seeing overlapping images.

None of the streaming architectures currently support 3D video, but that’s an obvious To Do item. According to News.com, Microsoft is a founding member of the 3D Consortium (which is developing standards for hardware and software). Presumably, Apple will support any MPEG-4 standards for 3D video (which have been in the works for some time now).

However Sharp’s first-generation technology does in the marketplace, 3D displays are a sure thing. My hope is that by 2010, flat will be as quaint as mono and black and white. | News.com story