3D TV? Yesterday's news. Active shutter glasses? Come on out of your cave. Autostereoscopic (glasses-less) 3D technology is where it's at, and it seems that all the manufacturers are rushing headlong into the field of lenticular displays like Scotsmen at the Battle of Culloden.

However, it's unlikely that the tech will ever be of use in a television. To get any effect at all, you need to be perfectly central to the image, and avoid moving about too much. Instead, demonstration units at IFA, Berlin, from Philips and Samsung, are more likely to find their way into the world of advertising - on the tube, airports, etc.

The use of autostereoscopic screens is more practical in handheld devices, such as mobile phones, games consoles (Nintendo 3DS, for example) and, in a marriage with another current buzzword, tablets.

And that is what Sharp is planning. The 10-inch screen that the company has been demonstrating on its stand in Europe's biggest consumer electronics extravaganza, has been created to form the basis of a new kind of touchscreen tablet. At least, that's what a Sharp spokesman told Pocket-lint.

In addition, it has the ability to be backwards compatible with 2D content, allowing a device to be a normal multimedia pad by day, super-powered glasses-less 3D tablet by night. Or vice versa, naturally.

Currently, there's no such device bolted onto the back of the screen, but the potential is enormous. And, as you're likely to only use it when it's directly in front of you, the effect should be constant for watching 3D content anywhere you like.

We were certainly impressed, we'll just have to wait to see if anybody adopts it. Not least, Sharp itself.

Would you want a tablet with a glasses-less 3D display? Or is that taking things a bit far? Let us know in the comments below...