The MUTED display will be autostereoscopic - that is viewers will not need to wear special glasses to view 3D. The other key issues for the display are:

* Support for multiple viewers
* Allow for viewer freedom of movement
* User-centred design, ensuring that future products are 'fit for purpose' in terms of perception and usability.

To fulfil these aims, the project will build on and advance the state of the art in displays, viewer tracking and human factors, and will use and extend components of the FP5 IST Advanced Three-dimensional Television System Technologies project (ATTEST). In addition MUTED will exploit knowledge and expertise from the FP6 IST 3DTV Network of Excellence. MUTED will model and construct LCD displays that are suitable for 3D use, and will develop a new laser illumination system suitable for 3D display. In addition MUTED will create test content and will conduct trials in user applications, and formulate new standards for 3D display.

One important advantage of the MUTED display will be that it is potentially extremely versatile. For example, it has an inherent ability to switch from standard resolution to high-resolution 3D without any hardware modification. Also, when viewers are outside the usable 3D viewing region, the system will adapt and viewers will see the image in 2D. In addition, the MUTED display can display motion parallax (the ability to 'look around' 3D objects) at standard resolution to a single viewer, again without any hardware change. Also, when sufficiently high-resolution LCD displays are available in the future, the optics could provide motion parallax to several viewers.