Multidimensional monitors for the Mac

3D computer screens are a technology of the future, right? Well, no, actually they’re here now — if you’ve got the money to afford them.

Deep Video, a next generation display technology company, makes a line of ActualDepth displays that appear multidimensional. They accomplish this by “layering” a translucent LCD atop another, giving the illusion of three dimensions. In other words, the system works by incorporating two separate image planes to give the impression that the unit is displaying images with physical depth. The monitors work with existing hardware and software, and are Mac compatible. ActualDepth displays are platform independent and work on all operating systems, Deep Video spokesperson Teree-vontel Lipscombe told MacCentral.

ActualDepth LCD monitors — which have VGA connectors — are designed to provide you with a “literal” depth viewing experience that immerses you into the application. They utilize multiple separate image planes that Deep Video says reduces search times in complex data analysis and eliminates eye-strain associated with 3D displays. ActualDepth technology is scalable in size, resolution, brightness and color depth. The additional depth provides simultaneous dual plane application support, without glasses, viewing restrictions or special software requirements.

ActualDepth LCD monitors don’t use stereoscopic methods to give the illusion of depth, but utilize two physically separate image planes. With the added dimension of physical depth through the Z axis in an ActualDepth monitor, a whole new level of information can be simultaneously displayed, according to Deep Video. Now two completely independent applications can be viewed at the same time.

Deep Video says that the range of applications and situations “touches every area where computers and displays are used today.” From military applications with terrain mapping in the background and resource deployment in the foreground, to desktop computing with two applications being viewed simultaneously. Even one application can become easier to view by sorting information over two levels, the company says.

Deep Video says the display technology found in ActualDepth monitors can provide the user with:

Increased productivity due to the ability to simultaneously view and interact with two applications at one time on the monitor;

Graphics images not attainable on any conventional 2D displays;

Space saving with twice the information supported on a single monitor compared to having two conventional monitors on a desktop increased user interaction in an “almost endless range of situations, particularly in the gaming or kiosk markets where the displays allow a new and exciting level of graphics.”

ActualDepth LCD monitors purportedly have over 250 percent more pixels than traditional monitors. But they don’t come cheap. They’re available in 13.3- and 15-inch models with prices starting at US$3,600.

It’s not surprising that the monitors are Mac compatible. After all, the Deep Video software development team all use Macs, Lipscombe said.