Believe it or not, this may be what puts the "3D" in 3DS. The image above is an extreme closeup of what the Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad believes to be a "parallax barrier," the magical component that forces the left and right eyes to see different parts of the handheld's screen. Just days after the handheld launched (and swiftly sold out) in Japan, the device was torn apart by the group, producing this image and several more shots of 3DS innards.

According to the group, the barrier turns on and off along with the slider that controls the 3D display on the side of the console. The group theorizes that the display was supplied by Sharp, which makes similar technologies, though Nintendo has not confirmed its source.

Anyone who enjoys consumer electronics vivisections will be glad to know that the 3DS teardown is a relatively humane process, involving only the removal of a few Phillips-head screws. Head over to Tech-On for more images and analysis.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/3ds-teardown/