3D Technologies

Stereoscopic Monitor Technology

• Overview
  • The objective of a stereoscopic display is to efficiently present a left eye image to the left eye that is isolated from a right eye image that is presented to the right eye. This allows the visual system to merge the two images resulting in the perception of depth, or stereopsis. There are numerous ways to create stereoscopic visualization and the most common approaches used today are summarized below. Each one has pros and cons that should be considered by the user.
• StereoMirror
  • Left/right separation: the light path from two polarized LCD monitors is combined using a 50/50 beamsplitter that transmits light from one display and reflects light from the other; find additional information here.
  • Glasses: passive, linearly polarized
  • Pros: high brightness, full stereo resolution, excellent color, no flicker, best stereo image quality, very comfortable, low stereo crosstalk, continuous image
  • Cons: form factor, requires two input signals
• 3D Vision
  • Left/right separation: left and right images are displayed frame sequentially with black frame insertion between, an emitter synchronizes glasses so that the left eye is blocked when a right image is shown and the right eye is blocked when a left image is shown
  • Glasses: NVIDIA 3D Vision active shutter glasses
  • Pros: full stereo resolution, good color, low stereo crosstalk, low cost
  • Cons: low brightness, mild flicker
• Other Active Glasses
  • Left/right separation: left and right images are displayed frame sequentially, an emitter synchronizes glasses so that the left eye is blocked when a right image is shown and the right eye is blocked when a left image is shown
  • Glasses: active shutter glasses
  • Pros: full stereo resolution, good color, low cost
  • Cons: low brightness, mild to significant flicker, mild stereo crosstalk
• Anaglyph
  • Left/right separation: stereo paired images are colored with red/blue or red/green tint for the left eye/right eye image
  • Glasses: red/blue or red/green tint passive glasses
  • Pros: can be used on any color display (even paper), low cost
  • Cons: very high stereo crosstalk, loss of most color information
• Patterned Polarizer
  • Left/right separation: odd display rows are circularly polarized in the opposite direction as all the even display rows, left/right images are split to either the even or odd rows
  • Glasses: passive circularly polarized
  • Pros: continuous image, comfortable
  • Cons: half resolution, limited vertical viewing angle, stereo crosstalk increases with viewing angle
• Head Mounted Display (HMD)
  • Left/right separation: a display in front of the left eye shows the left image and a second display in front of the right eye shows the right image
  • Glasses: electronic glasses with two displays and appropriate optics
  • Pros: zero stereo crosstalk, private view
  • Cons: heavier glasses, eliminates view of surrounding, not multi-user, limited display technology
• Dual Panel
  • Left/right separation: a pair of LCD panels are laminated and controlled with a custom algorithm that allows one panel to control the pixel intensity and the other to control polarization distribution
  • Glasses: passive polarized glasses
  • Pros: full stereo resolution, simultaneous left/right image displayed
  • Cons: low brightness through two panels, complex driving scheme, viewing angle restrictions
• Autostereo
  • Left/right separation: Uses LCD with an added optical element (either lenticular lens or parallax barrier) to create a combined left eye/right eye presentation of the image on the screen
  • Glasses: no glasses required
  • Pros: glasses free, multiple viewing zones are possible
  • Cons: resolution reduced by half or more, high stereo crosstalk, complex content development

Related Content

• Comparing Dual Stacked LCD Stereoscopic Monitors with Planar StereoMirror™ (pdf)
• Planar's StereoMirror Technology versus Red Rover/True 3Di (pdf)
• Stereopsis: Two Eyes, One 3D Image
• Exploring 3-D display technology