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The world of 3D television, photography, movies, scientific tools and prints
is finally here. After primitive attempts at 3D for many, many years,
top-quality three-dimensional imaging is now available for all.
IS HERE AT LAST!
by Kevin Poulter
image: Dolby 3D
12 Silicon Chip
siliconchip.com.au
W
hile 3D still has some shortcomings, the technology and
financial incentives are now
in place to achieve a brilliant outcome.
Most new 3D systems use specialised
cameras with two lenses plus two
films or image sensors. Viewing is via
special glasses, typically with LCD
shutters.
3D has been coming for a long
time, nearly 200 years in fact. The
Stereoscope viewer was the first true
3D device, magically creating depth
from two images glued onto a card,
slightly out of register with each other.
The images were drawings, prints or
photographs.
Stereopsis was first described by
Charles Wheatstone in 1838. To display his 3D pictures separately to the
two eyes, Wheatstone invented the
Stereoscope.
It works by having two images
drawn or captured from slightly different perspectives, emulating the
distance between the viewer’s eyes.
By making closer objects relatively
further apart than distant objects, it
fools the brain into believing that the
image being viewed is actually 3-dimensional.
There are other cues which can
enhance the illusion. For example,
when the viewer’s eyes are focused
on a foreground subject, background
objects are out of focus and appear
blurred. By purposely blurring the
background, an image can re-create
this effect.
Another cue is occlusion of one object by another – the manner in which
an object closer to the viewer masks
(or occludes) an object further away.
Other cues include the subtended
visual angle of an object of known
size close to
Edison’s short-lived Vitascope, a re-badged system invented by others, but
credited to him. Shortly after he produced his own version.
others, horizontal and linear perspective (convergence of parallel edges),
vertical position (objects higher in the
scene generally tend to be perceived
as further away), haze, desaturation,
and a shift to bluishness – again usually in the distance – and the change
in size of textured pattern detail.
Finally, to dramatically reinforce
the effects in 3D, objects are often
filmed coming right at the viewer.
Edison was
quick to harness the value
of movies via
his single-viewer Kinetoscope
films, locking
up much of the
technology in
patents for many years. Knowing
the lucrative market was in cinemas,
Edison made and promoted the Vitascope 2D motion picture projector.
It was invented by Thomas Armat and
C. Francis Jenkins. Edison agreed to
manufacture the machine and films
for it but only if it was advertised as a
new Edison invention, the Vitascope.
The Vitascope’s first theatrical
exhibition was on April 23, 1896, at
Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New
York City.
With the advent of sound
‘talkies’, then colour, there was
enough wow-factor in movies for
decades.
3D was disPanasonic’s 3D
setup for home
viewing through
Panasonic glasses
shown below.
Panasonic’s integrated twin-lens 3D
camcorder for professional use –
claimed to be the world’s first. 3D video
is recorded to SDHC/SD memory cards
– improved compression methods
make this possible.
siliconchip.com.au
A
April
pril 2010 13
2010 13
played in various films like monster
movies of the 1930s and beyond, in
‘terrifying 3D’, which relied on red
and cyan cardboard glasses to create a
painfully unconvincing effect. But despite some success, 3D never became
mainstream.
In 1952 Cinerama came close to
3D, by projecting images from three
synchronised 35mm projectors onto
a huge, deeply-curved screen, with
146° of arc.
In Australia from 1960, the Regent
Plaza cinema in Melbourne was adapted for Cinerama and I saw ‘How the
West was Won’. Filmed with an expansive panorama and every depth cue
possible, it appeared nearly 3D at times.
Cinerama sound was played back
from a full-coated 35mm magnetic film
with seven audio tracks. Five tracks
were reproduced behind the screen,
plus two on the side and back of the
auditorium. A sound engineer manually adjusted the sound levels between
the surround speakers according to a
script!
The projectors and sound system
were synchronised using Selsyn motors.
3D still photography
As cinema tried to push 3D or
super-wide imaging, there were many
attempts at effective 3D still cameras.
Most used a lenticular sheet coating
on the prints or the vintage stereo
viewer system.
Currently Fujifilm has a digital 3D
still camera comprising two Fujinon
lenses and two CCDs. Image data
captured by the twin-lens CCD system
is processed by the RP (Real Photo)
James Cameron, director of “Avatar”, demonstrates one of the cameras used in
filming the movie. Avatar is the first mainstream movie to make more income
from 3D than 2D. Many theatres around Australia screen 3D, including iMax in
Melbourne, the world’s largest 3D screen.
Processor 3D – a newly developed processor that evaluates all photographic
factors from focus and brightness to
colour tonality, then merges the left
and right images in a single 3D image.
The monitor on the 3D digital cam-
era uses a ‘Light Direction Control
System’, and the 3D digital viewer
adopts a ‘Parallax Barrier System’
to precisely direct light to the right
and left eyes in a way that simulates
parallax. With the FinePix REAL 3D
Cinerama was an immense curved-screen format started in the 50s, with three projectors screening different images. With
numerous depth cues, it was the nearest to 3D feel from a 2D format. (Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros.)
14 Silicon Chip
siliconchip.com.au
Sky TV in the UK conducted a 3D TV
debut for the general public on January
31 2010, with a premier league football
match shown on special 3D TVs in
nine pubs across the UK. At left is
some of the specialised equipment
used in filming the match.
system, you can review images in 3D
on the camera’s LCD monitor and also
on the large LCD monitor of Fujifilm’s
3D digital viewer.
Not all reviewers have been impressed but hopefully the technology
will become more user-friendly.
Fujifilm 3D stills are printed as a
precision sandwich of a high-resolution image, laminated with a lenticular
sheet that creates the 3D effect.
Unfortunately this process is too
high-tech for a home printer, so images
are sent to a Fujifilm 3D lab in the US
for enlargement. In their plant, advanced technology encodes and aligns
the captured 3D image according to
the pitch of micro lenses arranged in
parallel rows on the lenticular sheet.
When viewed through the lenticular
sheet (ie, a sheet with cylindrical parallel lenses), interlaced image data is
separated into left and right images, so
the left and right eyes see the respective images. The parallax disparity
between the images is interpreted as
a sense of depth.
Anaglyph 3D
The whole image in an anaglyph is
made of two colour ‘layers’ - one picture ‘layer’ for one eye in reds and one
for the other eye in cyan (blue) shades.
These two colours are used because
they’re opposites to each another.
So, when the viewer looks at the
resulting image through the red and
cyan filters in the glasses, each eye
sees a different layer.
The separate pictures from each
siliconchip.com.au
eye are sent to the brain where the 3D
stereo image is formed.
This technique was used both for
static images and films but it renders
everything you view an annoying
scape of either pure red or pure cyan.
Philips lenticular
3D TV system
As mentioned above, in 3D prints,
a lenticular lens layer provides a different view for each eye, because of
the refractions on the surface of the
screen. Philips used this principle
with its 3D LCD screens, incorporating
a parallax barrier over the top of the
screen. The barrier is made of slits that
only allow the viewer to see selective
vertical lines of pixels from certain
angles at any one time and therefore
ensure that the viewer is seeing the
two distinct images.
The main issues with this method is
there are dead zones where the effect
doesn’t work and it’s also more prone
to giving headaches and eye strain. It’s
been overwhelmed by Sony and Panasonic’s systems which represent the
future of mainstream 3D in the home.
In recent years, some computer
companies like HP have produced a
‘reasonable’ 3D effect from 2D on a
normal monitor screen, driven by a
powerful computer.
This was displayed at HP’s innovation centre, Cooltown, in Singapore. If
you are ever in Singapore, it’s worth
seeing.
While HP’s system delivers less
dramatic 3D than systems with glasses,
there are two big advantages: no
glasses are needed and 3D is created
from ‘normal’ footage.
Dolby 3D in cinemas
Dolby’s 3D for cinemas, also known
as wavelength multiplex visualisation,
is considered very effective but the
required glasses are expensive and
the system is unsuitable for home use.
Dolby’s 3D Infitec is one step up from
anaglyphs and is in fact referred to as
‘super-anaglyph’.
Instead of just splitting the two images into complementary colours, the
points of view for each eye use narrow
Fujifilm’s 3D digital still camera
is available now, however prints
can only be made in their lab in USA.
April 2010 15
The world’s first mobile
single-projector passive
3D solution. Designed to
be set up for individual
3D presentations in
minutes, or permanently
mounted for long term
use, the RealD LP allows
the flexibility of switching
between 2D and 3D on
the fly. The RealD LP is
externally mounted on a
3D-enabled DLP projector.
When 3D content is fed to
the projector, the RealD
LP allows content to be
seen in 3D by polarizing
right- and left-eye images.
Suitable for screens up to
17 feet wide, the RealD LP
works with 3D-enabled
projectors and requires a
silver screen from MDI,
Harkness or Stewart.
but different bandwidths of blues, reds
and greens. So the left and right eyes
are actually seeing slightly different
and distinct wavelengths of reds, blues
and greens to each other but it’s not
noticeable with human perception.
The result is two entirely separate
full colour images which can be
decoded by sets of glasses with the
appropriate filters. Infitec, used in the
Dolby 3D system, works by putting
special colour wheels in the projection light-beam, which select the
wavelengths of light it lets through.
The reasons why Dolby 3D is a
strong contender for cinemas is that
the projection screen doesn’t have to
be a specialised silver 3D type and
Dolby 3D also provides brighter, more
vivid colours, a sharper image with
more detail, better contrast and almost
no ghosting
A rotating filter wheel assembly is
installed in the existing digital projector between the lamp and picture
element for viewing 3D; it retracts
for 2D presentations. Dolby’s Filter
Controller (DFC100) automatically
synchronises the filter wheel with
3D digital content as it’s projected.
The most successful way to display
3D in cinemas was by polarising the
two images. In the cinema, two projectors were used to produce synchronised images on the screen, providing
right and left eye perspectives. The
two projectors had opposite polarising
filters over the lenses to ensure they
only let through light travelling in one
orientation.
The audience wore glasses with the
same polarised filters. Then the two
distinct and different pictures were
sent from the eyes into the visual
cortex where the brain put them together in 3D.
In the past, the easiest way to polarise the light was to send it linearly,
either in the horizontal plane or the
vertical one but that meant that if you
tilted your head at an angle, the light
from the two images would bleed into
each other and the 3D effect would
be lost.
The way around this is to polarise
light in a circular manner, with one
filter for each direction, so it moves
either in a
Circular polarising 3D
Polarised light was discovered in
1936 by Edwin H Land (of Polaroid
fame) and is pivotal to the RealD
Cinema system currently used in 80
percent of all 3D films, like Avatar. It
is very effective and the glasses are inexpensive, however more complicated
equipment is required for home use.
16 Silicon Chip
RealD CE5 Active Shutter 3D glasses.
Active Shutter eyewear is used for
3D viewing when synchronized to
a compatible display. Fast-response
opacity in each lens and liquid crystal
quality determines 3D image clarity.
clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
Then it makes no difference which
way you move your head.
RealD’s 3D system
In the fast-moving world of 3D, one
name rarely mentioned to consumers,
yet behind 80% of 3D in movies and
television, is RealD. For 30 years,
RealD has provided key stereoscopic
technologies used in science, manufacturing, marketing and other industries. RealD’s technology is used by
organisations such as NASA, Pfizer,
BMW and Boeing. Now RealD’s 3D
movie technology is claimed to be used
for 80 percent of movies in cinemas
today, making 3D films like Avatar
possible.
The main difference in RealD 3D is
that it uses one projector to display
the images for the right and left eyes,
alternating at a speed of 144 times
per second, so your eyes don’t notice
any flicker. RealD is a digital standard, meaning movies are recorded in
digital format and the projectors are
also digital.
The 3D polarised light method
means glasses are relatively cheap but
cinemas do require the projection of
the image onto a quality silver screen
to maintain the light’s polarised state,
rather than a white screen which
would degrade it.
RealD 3D TV
RealD has reached agreement with
Sony, JVC, Samsung, Toshiba and
Panasonic. Many of these companies
siliconchip.com.au
IMAX 3D
It is hard to talk about 3D without mentioning this
massive format. IMAX 3D uses large linear passive
polarised plastic glasses for the viewers, with movies
optimised for pop-out screen effect. Objects literally
seem to leap out of the screen appearing as if you can
touch them. Kids love this effect but it can be tiring
in longer movies.
The IMAX cinema in Sydney’s Darling Harbour has
the world’s largest cinema screen at 29.42m high by
35.73m wide – covering an area of more than 1,015
square metres. Made of vinyl coated with a reflective
silver paint, the 3D screen is stretched taut over a
scaffold frame. Thousands of small perforations allow
sound from speakers positioned behind the screen
to play their key role in the surround sound system.
IMAX ‘conventional’ films are shot and projected on
15 perforation/70mm film – the largest film format in
existence. It’s only possible to project these onto the
huge screen because of the remarkable high-definition
and clarity of the film frames.
The powerful
projector uses two
15,000 watt bulbs
(see photo).
The average
35mm movie
projector ‘only’
uses a bulb between 2,000 and
4,000 watts. The
two lenses on the
Close-up of a 15kW Xenon short-arc IMAX 3D camera
see a slightly diflamp. Photo: Atlant/Wikipedia.
will also work with RealD to develop
premium active (shutter) glasses and
passive glasses compatible with their
3D-enabled displays.
For video projection, the RealD LP
(Linear Polarising) projection system
is designed for home or business 3D
and 2D presentations, for education,
commercial and industrial applications. Screens up to five metres wide
are possible and RealD LP works with
3D-enabled projectors plus silver
screens from a number of manufacturers.
LCD glasses
In the home, the main choice is
likely to be the alternate image projecting system, utilising plasma or LCD
TVs with a fast frame-rate and LCD
shutter glasses, which incorporate a
separate polarising filter for each eye.
When a control voltage is applied to
these glasses, the individual lenses
alternate to black, thus obscuring each
siliconchip.com.au
IMAX 3D is
filmed on cameras
designed for each environment, like this camera for
general use. When filming a feature on repairing the
Hubble Space Telescope, only eight minutes of film
could be loaded, using a custom-made IMAX camera
as big as a submarine.
ferent view, as they are photographed simultaneously onto
two separate rolls of film. In the cinema, the two films
are projected as alternate frames at 96 times per second.
SILICON CHIP published a feature explaining the intricacies of IMAX in the April 2003 issue.
eye’s view for a moment. The glasses
are synchronised with the TV’s framerate and controlled by an IR signal
from the screen.
The market for 3D glasses (should
we call them 3D specs?) will be hotly
contested, with the top models made
by XpanD and RealD.
Technical uses for 3D
Designed for engineers, scientists,
cartographers and medical professionals for viewing complex 3D computer
graphics models, Monitor ZScreen
2000 and 2000i use Stereo3D technology to provide the most realistic
representation possible. The Monitor
ZScreen 2000 series is ideal for GIS/
Mapping applications, molecular
modelling and medical applications,
particularly for dual display systems
and small group visualisation.
The ZScreen panel is easily attached
to a standard CRT computer monitor to
deliver Stereo3D visualisation capabil-
ities. In conjunction with stereo-ready
software, Monitor ZScreen separates
the left and right eye images.
Ultimately it may be the video
gamers who get the most excited
about 3D. Sony has announced a PS3
(PlayStation 3) 3D firmware update for
stereoscopic games to come with their
BRAVIA LCD TVs in 2010.
RealD is also set to be used in the
upcoming Avatar game. The RealD
Format allows for a direct connection
between the Xbox 360 video game and
entertainment system or PlayStation 3
computer and 3D-enabled TVs, for an
unsurpassed 3D gaming experience.
Pay TV 3D developments
In Australia, Foxtel has successfully
trialled 3D in its labs and offices. It
plans test broadcasts in 2011 and may
announce a full 3D roll out soon after.
Global cable sports network ESPN
plans to have trial 3D broadcasts from
this year’s World Cup in South Africa.
April 2010 17
Channel Ten broadcast a brief 3D segment in the quiz show “Talkin’ ‘bout Your
Generation” on February 7th. Ten gave away the disposable red and cyan 3D glasses
in TV WEEK and Woman’s Day magazines. This appears to be a test of public
reaction to 3D broadcast through existing equipment. (3D by 3Dimages.com.au)
In the UK, Sky’s 3D TV debut for the
general public took place on January
31 this year, with a premier league
football match shown on special 3D
TVs in nine pubs across the UK.
Viewers reported: “It’s brilliant, the
corner and back of the goal views are
just amazing. It makes the game so
much better.”
“It was phenomenal – far better
than I thought it would be. You feel
so involved in the game, part of the
action. This is the way football should
be seen.”
“It just looks incredible on screen
– really amazing, I think everyone is
going to want to watch football in 3D
now.”
There was just one negative: If you
step to the side or sit down, it gets a
bit blurry.
Sky will be launching its 3D television channel this month (April 2010)
by screening the Arsenal vs Manchester United match in nine pubs across
the country. The game will be filmed
by eight 3D camera rigs containing 16
3D cameras for stereoscopic shots from
almost any angle.
A 3D production team and purposebuilt 3D OB truck will allow mixing
between cameras, replays, and 3D
graphics. The 3D broadcast will have
a dedicated commentary team.
also monitoring the 3D’s impact,
particularly on sport. But Seven’s
general manager of group broadcast
services, Andrew Anderson, said it
could be years before there was a large
number of 3D television sets in Australian lounge rooms. Some retailers
agree, noting the initial high cost of
3D TVs and consumer reluctance to
buy another, when they have recently
acquired flat-screen TVs.
The 2010 US International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was
the stage for many manufacturers’ 3D
product releases and demonstrations.
Samsung’s latest LED TV has a screen
as thin as a pencil, just 7.6mm thick.
The LED 9000 includes a 3D proces-
sor, 240Hz refresh rate and a TV built
into the remote control, for simultaneous viewing of live television in the
remote!
Samsung forecast it will sell 10 million LED TVs this year. LED backlights
have replaced CCFL (Cold Cathode
Fluorescent Lamp) backlights in many
LCD TVs, as LEDs offer better colour
saturation and power consumption
than CCFL technology.
My observation is that LED is more
vivid than the best LCD screens,
however occasionally, LED screens do
exhibit less shadow detail than others.
Will this deter buyers? Absolutely not.
Most viewers love an exaggeratedly
colourful and vivid screen.
Free to Air
Channel Ten broadcast a brief 3D
segment in the quiz show “Talkin’
‘bout Your Generation” on February
7th. Ten gave away the disposable red
and cyan 3D glasses in TV WEEK and
Woman’s Day magazines.
Channels Nine and Seven are
18 Silicon Chip
This ‘Heroes of She’ video clip on YouTube is claimed to be the world’s first 3D
music video.
siliconchip.com.au
Samsung’s range includes a 55-inch
LED TV. For people who want to watch
regular 2D television shows in 3D,
Samsung has included a 3D chip that
renders 2D content into 3D in real time.
The company also sells active shutter
3D glasses.
Chinese television manufacturer
TCL took on the larger companies
with the release of two 3D televisions
– one that requires glasses and one that
does not. The model which requires
3D glasses is a 240Hz LCD TV with
an independent infrared device to
communicate with the active shutter
glasses. This 46-inch television features 1920 x 1080 resolution, 1000:1
contrast ratio and HDMI input plus a
4 millisecond response rate.
The television that does not need
glasses, also known as auto-stereoscopic, uses a lenticular lens (not unlike Philips’) which acts as a filter over
the 1920 x 1080 screen. TCL, which is
marketed in North America as RCA, is
represented in Australia.
In Australia, Sony and Panasonic
have both announced that 3D products
will be available here within months.
Earlier this year, Panasonic Australia
announced their 3D camera for professional and serious amateurs, at around
$20,000.
Also on show at the CES was the
Panasonic 50-inch 3D Full HD Viera
Plasma. It measures around 70mm
thick and it is expected that 3D will
only be featured on screen sizes of 50
inches and above. 3D images must be
viewed through Panasonic’s own battery-operated eyewear, which receives
sync pulses via infrared from the TV.
Those watching the demonstration
noted the 3D effect was OK when watching the screen from different angles.
In addition to the 3D TV, the 3D
Blu-Ray player and the eyeware, consumers must also purchase an HDMI
1.4 cable. This effectively makes the
consumer transition to 3D a fourproduct commitment.
Panasonic prices have not been
announced but you can expect to pay
between $5,000 and $8,000 for the
whole package.
Sony’s range will be released in July
and will introduce free IPTV (Internet
Protocol Television). Videos will be
streamed directly from the internet to
Sony TVs, with 15 channels available
through its service, including made for
internet content.
There will also be the ability to add
pay-per-view movies or content in the
future. Some models will include onscreen Internet Widgets to access realtime updates from applications such as
Yahoo Weather, Yahoo News, Twitter,
Facebook and Flickr.
Toshiba and Samsung have also announced 2D to 3D conversion systems
with their sets.
Plasma or LCD
– another battle looms
Panasonic Australia recently declared, “Plasma is the ideal technology platform for 3D. Not only does it
offer better image response, but deeper
blacks provide superior contrast and
a wider viewing angle ensures the 3D
image is uncompromised.”
As expected, Sony, who only produces LCD sets, has responded, with
technology communications manager
Paul Colley ‘going to bat’ for LCD.
Because both Panasonic’s and Sony’s
3D technology is based on separate
images produced for the left and right
eyes, with a shutter in the eyeware al-
ternatively opening and blocking each
of the lenses, Colley said the speed of
LCD gives it an advantage.
‘When a different left and a right
frame is transmitted, you’re halving
the amount of time the image is on
the screen for, so that means TVs will
need to be able to perform to a shorter
refresh time,’ explained Colley.
“The benefit of LCD is that we
already have the 200Hz technology,
so we can manage that short frame
time and we can use that time also to
eliminate the cross between left and
right fields.”
Colley also discussed polarisation.
In LCD, this occurs at the TV end of the
content delivery, whereas with plasma
it occurs at the eyeware. Colley said
the eyeware method causes flickering,
with the line of sight around the television appearing blurred.
Panasonic counter-claimed that 3D
on LCD cannot be viewed from low angles, such as when lying on the couch.
Only time and technology will resolve
which system is superior.
We can look forward to an escalating
battle between brands on hardware,
systems, software, release dates and
prices.
The only certainties are, most home
entertainment will have too many features, their 50+ page operating manuals will be near-impossible to follow
and within a few months of purchasing
equipment it will be superseded by
models with more ‘wow’ factor!
SC
Sony’s prototype
single lens 3D
camera with a
frame-rate at
240fps (frames
per second).
A single lens
captures the left
and right images
simultaneously.
siliconchip.com.au
April 2010 19
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