Stirring demand for small-sized displays is important for Japanese LCD panel suppliers after they suffered sluggish demand for panels designed for portable electronics due to a sharp slide in mobile phone sales in the domestic market.

Sharp launched mobile phones and PCs equipped with a display that enables users to watch 3D images without glasses in the early 2000s.

But they have not really caught on because of such factors as bulkiness, insufficient brightness and the lack of 3D contents.

Sharp since then has developed brighter and thinner 3D displays with higher resolution and a touch panel function.

Consumer electronics makers are scrambling to launch 3D TVs this year, hoping the technology will be as big a boost for the industry as the transition to colour TVs from black and white. Panasonic Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have already released 3D models, while Sony Corp is planning to start offering 3D TVs in June. But analysts have said the need for special 3D glasses may keep consumers from adopting the technology quickly.

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.

Japanese game maker Nintendo Co said last month it planned to launch a new model of its DS handheld game console that allows users to play 3D games without using special glasses.