It looks like 3D tech is still plugging along and spreading into every product realm. LG has decided to jump into the 3D laptop game with its A530 3D notebook announced this morning. As compared to a TV, the black brushed-metal notebook will make the 3D experience a more active part of owners’ lives.
The laptop runs a 15.6″ stereoscopic display, which means users will have to use the included glasses or clip-ons for the 3D experience. The company does offers screens with as high as 1900×1080 resolution, making HD video just as crisp as you’d expect out of such a video-minded notebook. The screen also has what the company calls Film Patterned Retarder technology, which it claims produces brighter and flicker-free images compared to screens that use shutter-style glasses.
But a screen’s a screen, no matter how bright. The really interesting addition to the A530 is its pair of cameras. That’s right, it comes with a built-in dual-camera webcam for shooting your own 3D video and pictures. Now, it’s not likely many will use their cameras for much more than filming YouTube rants and video chats, but even being able to move just into those areas shows how pervasive the tech is getting to be. Glasses aside, being able to chat in three dimensions with someone a continent away does seem pretty wonderfully futuristic.
On the software side, the computer has native YouTube support as well as something LG calls 3D Space Software, which seems to be a built-in editing suite designed for 3D content.
In terms of computing hardware, the A530 is what you’d expect from a brand-new video-focused laptop. LG offers a range of second-gen Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors with up to 8GB of RAM. Two graphics cards are on offer: an Nvidia GeForce GT 555m with either 1 or 2GB of built-in memory. It also has an SSD boot drive to go with the 750GB storage drive. There’s no mention of battery life, although we wouldn’t expect anything amazing. There’s also no mention of price, although we’ll find out when the laptop is rolled out into Europe later this month.
