The rise of glasses-free 3D light field displays: Samsung has created a 2D/3D switchable display using a “metasurface lenticular lens” with “nanoscale structures” for uncompromising viewing – and it follows impressive demonstrations from TCL and others.

Samsung jointly developed a nanomaterial to create a 3D/2D switching light field display
Glasses-free 3D with wide viewing angles and very high resolution
Likely to appear first on phones, tablets and commercial displays

Are 3D TVs coming back? Not anytime soon, but a new type of 3D display technology is still very exciting, and Samsung has teamed up with Korean private research university POSTECH to achieve a breakthrough. He developed a way to switch between very high-resolution 2D and realistic, glasses-free 3D.

We’ve recently seen glasses-free 3D from TCL and Visual Semiconductor, and they both use plenoptic displays, that is, light field displays. Samsung’s version of a light field display uses what is described as a “metasurface lenticular lens” layer of “nanoscale structures” to “transition seamlessly between flat (2D) and stereoscopic (3D) images.”

This is an important development because, as trade site The Elec explains, conventional light-field displays tend to use bulky lenses, offer narrow viewing angles, have relatively low resolution, and may require real-time eye tracking to provide 3D. Samsung’s design solves these problems.

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What’s so special about Samsung’s 3D screen technology?

Samsung’s diagram shows how light field displays aim to recreate the way light from real objects reaches our eyes, to be interpreted in 3D by our brains. (Image credit: Samsung Electronics)

Like other light-field displays, Samsung’s system transmits light from multiple directions simultaneously to mimic the way light hits the eye from real objects, helping trick the brain into delivering glasses-free 3D. This means there is no limited “sweet spot” you need to be in to see the 3D effect. But without decent viewing angles for general use, most displays will remain of limited use. Enter Samsung and its metasurfaces.

Samsung’s apparently metasurfaces offer complex optical functions without the bulk of existing lenses, and Samsung’s lens can change its focal properties to offer either 2D or 3D with a simple voltage change. According to The Elec, the lens currently offers viewing angles of up to 100 degrees while being only 1.2mm thick.

A diagram showing the wide viewing angle of Samsung's 3D lenticular material compared to the narrow viewing angle of ordinary lenticular lenses

Samsung explains how its hardware will be useful from more viewing angles (Image credit: Samsung Electronics)

That’s the good news. The bad news is that you shouldn’t expect to have this technology in your home anytime soon. Samsung’s lens measured 25 square centimeters, only about a quarter the size of a smartphone screen, let alone a TV.

The first commercial applications of the technology will likely be modest, but it could be fun. Imagine if your iPhone could reproduce your photos in 3D, thanks to the depth maps it already captures in photos? Or what if the Nintendo Switch 3 turned out to be the Switch 3DS, with a return to glasses-free 3D gaming?

It’s very possible that the first applications will be aimed at big spenders, like retail displays and other businesses.

Will the technology be integrated into televisions? I’m not sure, and I speak as someone who owned and loved a 3D TV. It seems like every generation has to go through the “3D is the future!” stage. » / actually no, that’s not the case!’ cycle: the 3D cinema boom of the 1950s, the second 3D cinema boom of the early 1980s, the Avatar-led by the boom in 3D cinema and 3D television in the 2010s…

So if this scenario repeats itself, we expect the next 3D boom in the 2040s. Which gives Samsung plenty of time to perfect its technology.

A diagram showing how light moves differently through metamaterial design to move from 2D to 3D

Samsung’s diagram explains that it can use light polarization to effectively bypass the effect of the nanomaterial lens for 2D viewing. (Image credit: Samsung Electronics)

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