P3D laptop & anaglyph video

[aifxtony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tony Alderson)]

photo-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

>Hayden B. Baldwin wrote (in digest 2776):
>I have tried using several software programs to create anaglyphs, most are
>very good on the monitor, however when they are projected they loose a
>lot. Quality and depth is greatly reduced and the ghosting appears because
>the red/blue images do not appear to match the red/blue glasses.<

>The key here is video projection, is there a cure?<

Not for NTSC video. (You know what NTSC stands for, don't you? Never The
Same Color ;-) ) The color fidelity in NTSC is not very good. Remember that
a primary goal in the development of color TV in the USA was backwards
compatibility with pre-existing B&W TV. (The Windows OS suffers from a
similar design imperative.)  The color signal (chrominance) is laid on top
of the grayscale (luminance).  The color is analog and and is encoded in a
way I won't try to describe here, but the important part is that it does
not maintain separate Red Green and Blue channels.

So...when attempting anaglyph displays, you inevitably get ghosting because
the reds and blues are mixed. Beyond the crosstalk in the chrominance, this
ghosting gets incorporated into the luminance channel, too! (Think of
making a black and white print of an anaglyph color negative.) Some viewing
filters are better than others, but since the problem is in the medium,
changing glasses really doesn't help very much.  Another serious problem in
NTSC is that it doesn't resolve fine detail very well, which is the source
of that annoying outline ghost around the fringe ghost.  If these were
solvable problems, you would be seeing a lot more anaglyph broadcasts! (The
3D Video Corp. patents did some special video monkeying to minimize these
problems, but without much real success, IMHO. A lot of money was made
selling glasses, however. These patents are now owned by Dimension 3, and
you might want to visit their web site for their point of view. It's not
always the same as mine, but it's an interesting place to visit. Last time
I checked he even had some work I did for him some time ago up there.)

Dimension 3 is at:
http://www.3dcompany.com/
Keep in mind Dan uses Red-Right on the glasses!

But perhaps there are alternatives. Some video projectors may be better
than others, but you'll need a cooperative vendor to test them. You might
get better results from component, rather than composite, video. The colors
and resolution are better, and it might be OK.  Not that I'm especially
optimistic, but if you have access it's worth a try. (I have seen
acceptable anaglyph video IN THE STUDIO from a broadcast master tape, or
direct camera feed, when displayed on a top-notch monitor.) Next, you might
look for a digital projector. For example, I've seen LCD panels that fit on
overhead projectors for multimedia presentations. I have never had the
opportunity to test them with anaglyphs, however. I suppose you could try
twin video projectors, with colored filters in front of the lenses, but if
you're going that far, you might as well polarize.  You might look into the
VRex micropol projectors, and use polarized glasses.

Good luck, we're all rootin' for ya!

Cheerleader Tony
aifxtony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 2778
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