Sharp has said that it will start producing small, three-dimensional liquid crystal displays by September that don’t require special glasses, betting that most portable digital devices will eventually be 3D capable.

A 3D touchscreen LCD mobile device developed by Sharp and a happy looking model.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Yoshisuke Hasegawa, executive managing officer who oversees LCD operations at Sharp said that, “Just like black and white TVs turned color, all displays will eventually be 3D [capable]”. Some electronics makers, including mobile phone makers, have already approached Sharp about possible supplies of small 3D displays, he added.

The WSJ report notes that Sharp sees major growth potential in small 3D displays for mobile phones, smartphones and gaming devices. Its newly developed 3D display measures 3.4 inches and has touch-screen functions.

Sharp previously produced a 3D display in 2003, but the product failed to catch on, partly because the picture brightness and resolution were poor. As Reuters points out, mobile electronics that let users enjoy 3D images without special glasses have been around for some time, since people tend to watch the display from a fixed distance and with a fixed angle on personal devices such as mobile phones, making it technologically less challenging to offer a 3D function.

The new model, however, has twice the brightness and a much higher resolution.

A TG Daily report tells how the new devices will get around the need for special glasses by using a parallax barrier system – “a standard LCD with a series of slits to give different images to each eye”.

However, Sharp insists that its version improves on the standard technology, adding that advances in CG-Silicon technology have shrunk the wiring width within the LCD panel, allowing more light to pass and doubling the brightness.

The screens are the same thickness as conventional 2D screens, and will have a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, with a contrast ratio of 1,000:1.

Hasegawa declined to say whether Sharp would supply displays for Nintendo new portable 3D gaming device, tentatively called the Nintendo 3DS and due for release at the end of March 2011.