Acer’s 27-inch monitor has headphones-free 3D audio, glasses-free 3D screen

Enlarge / The hood is detachable. (credit: Acer)

Acer is expanding its series of glasses-free 3D products with a new 4K monitor. The 27-inch monitor announced Thursday differs from Acer’s previous 3D designs with its desktop size and introduction of Acer’s headphones-free spatial audio feature.

Like other glasses-free products, Acer’s SpatialLabs View Pro 27 uses a lenticular lens and eye-tracking with an infrared (IR) camera to present a 3D view to users, without the clunky 3D glasses associated with yesterday’s abandoned 3D TVs. Acer claims its eye-tracking infrared camera has 1280×480 resolution and runs at 60 frames per second. Eye-tracking purportedly works with indoor lighting as low as 10 lux. Only one person can experience 3D at a time, though.

Acer hasn’t specified how close you have to be to use the monitor’s 3D functions yet but says it works with up to 11.8-inch (30cm) movements across the X-axis or up and down the Y-axis, as well as 19.7-106.3 inches (50 to 270cm) across the Z-axis (or up to 59.1 inches/150cm with low lighting).