CES: Toshiba's stereoscopic Cell TV

Back when I was a kid, one of the things that I looked forward to when visiting my grandparents was playing with their stereoscope, a two-lensed wooden gadget that, when you held it up to your eyes, showed you 3D photos of cities, weirdly-dressed people, and other topics. Little did I know that Toshiba would re-introduce the concept -- in a somewhat more sophisticated way -- with its new Cell TV.

Toshiba's Cell TV, which they introduced this morning at CES, is another in the steady stream of 3D-capable TVs that are appearing this week. Toshiba offered a steady stream of interesting facts about their upcoming displays, including built-in 802.11n, a built-in video phone, full-array backlight scanning, image enhancement, a 1TB built-in hard drive and a built-in Blu-ray disk player. You know -- lots of neat stuff.

However, what caught my eye -- or eyes -- was the capability to take 2D video and upconvert it to 3D. According to the slide that Toshiba showed, the company's proprietary software will analyze the 2D frames, and estimate the depth of each area in the frame, and then will create separate stereoscopic images for each eye.

The Cell TVs will come in two series: the Genesis Design Series, with 55- and 65-inch screens, and the Illusion Design Models, with 46-, 55- and 65-inch screens. No prices were given, but you know it's gonna be a whole lot more expensive than grandma's stereoscope.