Photo: Intel

Intel, hard at work on its next wave of chips, has been revealed to be working on a laptop chip that will support 3D Blu-ray movies with out the need for any auxiliary hardware.

Sandy Bridge the key

Macworld reports that Nick Knupffer, an Intel spokesperson, announced that laptops that have processors built on the Sandy Bridge architecture will not only play 3D Blu-ray movies, but will also preserve battery life, in comparison to contemporary chips. What this means is that users will not need separate graphics processing just for viewing 3D content. In case it isn’t immediately clear to you, this is a puzzle piece in Intel’s strategy to attack the Nvidia 3D Vision tech, which, through first mover’s advantage, has become the de facto standard on 3D PC monitors.

In production soon

Sandy Bridge architecture chips are earmarked for production this year, still, with Intel announcing PCs with the tech could be hitting stores as before the middle of next year. What’s particularly unique about Sandy Bridge chips is that they represent the very first time Intel will ship integrated chips – a CPU and GPU on one chipset. While its present day Westmere has the CPU and GPU on one silicone base, it is still, in fact, two chips. (A remarkable aside is that Microsoft beat both Intel and AMD to market with integrated chips when it began shipping its Xbox 360 slim.)

Not all rosy

Photo: pitzyper! / Flickr

Even though the future brings with it promises of integrated chips, the Sandy Bridge architecture, 3D Blu-ray movies playback and interesting technology, business is not all rosy at Intel. The company has revised its third quarter forecast, downgrading it from an expected $11.2 billion (£7.2 billion) in revenues to $11 billion (about £7.1 billion) in revenues, due to the weak global economy and Intel’s massive exposure to it.

Intel chips go into over 80 per cent of all computers shipped worldwide and a host of servers, too, and its current generation of chips, the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 can be found in all manners of computers worldwide.

Photo: Asus

Asus did well with it’s first 23-inch 3D monitor, the Asus VG236H. And now it has finally launched its 3D LCD monitor, with stores shipping already. It’s just up to consumers, now, to decide whether they really want this.

Why the fuss?

This is a pretty big deal because it represents one of the earliest forays into 3D technology on PC monitors. The Asus VG236H 3D LCD monitor has a 1080p resolution (1920×1080), a high-onscreen-action-friendly 2ms response time, and the 3D requisite 120Hz refresh rate.

The big deal, of course, is the 3D technology. Unlike our overnight favourite gadget, the Nintendo 3DS, the Asus VG236H requires 3D glasses. The technology Asus has opted for is the active shutter glasses system, powered by the (fast becoming ubiquitous) Nvidia 3D Vision tech.

What Asus thinks of it all

To be fair, Asus pretty much sums up what this monitor has going for it: ‘Delve into an Immersive 3-Dimensional World with the ASUS VG236H Monitor. A Full HD monitor with Trace Free II Technology for an Ultra-smooth 3D Experience… The VG236H lets users enjoy uncompromised, vibrant colors through Color Shine technology with 400 nits ultra-brightness’.

What does that mean? In plain speak, promotional jargon usually means nothing, but it’s interesting enough that reviewers want to get their hands on the monitor to see if its performance is remotely comparable to how the company is talking up its 3D LCD monitor.

Here we go

Whether or not we like it, 3D is here and it seems to be here to stay. The consumer market is still skirting along the edges of the technology, with adoption still being very low. Some companies, like Ubisoft, believe in a short few years, 3D TVs will find their way into every home. We’re not sold on that, but we could be wrong still.

Look out for our review of the Asus VG236H 3D LCD monitor.