Japanese researchers have developed a holographic technology which could help people to enjoy watching 3-D TV programmes and films without becoming tired.

Yuji Sakamoto, an associate professor at the Hokkaido University, who leads the group, said he expects the holographic technology to aid development of more sophisticated 3-D home theatre and video-conference systems.

Sakamoto's group has succeeded in downsizing the system compared with previous ones and has developed an integrated method for shooting images, transmitting data and displaying them on a 2 by 4 centimetre panel, Kyodo news agency reported.

Currently, a person can become tired while watching 3-D movies as each eye captures separate images that do not fully superimpose on each other.

Sakamoto said the new holographic system could help to solve the problem by enabling people to watch higher resolution 3-D images with much less fatigue.

But it could take 10 years before the system is put into practical use by enlarging the display and reducing development costs, Sakamoto said.