Because 1080 isn’t a big enough number, Stream TV Networks wants to go 2160. Ultra-D 2160p, that is. The proposed new format is higher resolution than HD, but also provides a 3D video effect sans the glasses. According to Stream TV, the technology uses a multi-layer optical system (Um?), and is based on proprietary hardware, software and middleware. Up close, the effect is a bit like staring at one of those Magic Eye pictures from the 1990s, but get about six feet back from the flat-screen display, and the images are gorgeous.

Stream TV says this is the first 3D technology you can watch from any angle,and it’s partnering with several manufacturers (including Pegatron and HiSense) to bring new Ultra-D chips to TVs, laptops and mobile devices. The technology reportedly requires about the same bandwidth as a 1080p video stream, and Stream TV can convert 2D feeds to this new type of 3D video using either a client device in the home – the SeeCube 4K converter box – or a network device called the SeeCube server, which is due out shortly.

In a CES demo this morning, Stream TV showed canned footage with video of Olympic athletes, a city skyline, a tiger in the wild, and more. With the Ultra-D tech, you can control the level of 3D effect you want, causing images to pop more or less depending on your preference. And while still images don’t do justice to any 3D display, I took several photos that at least give a sense of the crispness of the video, and how primary objects are better articulated against their backgrounds.

Oddly, although this morning’s demo was run on a Continue Reading…

Sharp is coming out with a long line of products in 2013, but perhaps most interesting in the group is a new series of 4K, Ultra HD TVs set to launch this summer. Using what Sharp calls a “Cognitive Creation Image Processor”, the new TVs will trick your eyes into thinking objects are three-dimensional. As one of the execs on stage at the CES Sharp press conference put it, “it’s like looking out a window.”

I got a brief glimpse of one of the new 3D-like displays this morning, and from my vantage point at the back of a large ballroom, it did indeed appear as if a pot of flowers was popping out of the TV screen. Given the lack of glasses, I’ll take this 3D over the kind hailed at CES events of years past. And from a programmer standpoint, I’m betting there’s a serious bandwidth advantage to fake 3D over the real thing.

Meanwhile, Sharp will also launch an Aquos brand of 4K HD TVs in late 2013. And it’s upgrading the Sharp SmartCentral smart TVs for the year too. SmartCentral is adding full HTML5 and Flash support, and a Super Beam app for sharing content from mobile devices to the Sharp display. More on that trend later. Personally I’d prefer to move TV from my TV to my tablet, but apparently the reverse trend is also taking hold.