It hasn’t been proven that there are any long term effects but then again nobody looks at 3d monitors that much. I’m sure there is someone out there going “you have no idea” hehe. But here is the long and short of a really interesting study on the causes of discomfort in some people when viewing things stereoscopically on monitors. What was most interesting was that if you were to view small screens at short distances the objects that “popped” or appeared to be in front of the “window” caused the visual discomfort and the opposite was true with large screens. Typically in the world of 3d we think of the screen as a “window” where you view the subject matter. Some tricks are used to make things appear to pop out of the screen. I never really liked this practice much but done properly it is ok. But the thing is that we can’t really think of the screen as a “window” because it is an actual screen that the human eye actually tries to focus on. It is a physical object. We may move pixels around on it in normal mono vision but we don’t ask the eye to focus on the screen and at the same time 3d “illusions” that appear to float in front and behind the screen. Read more here: http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/3d-discomfort-explained-by-academic-study-1

While the Autodesk, Adobe, Avid, and other software users have resorted to plugins and rigs Maxon Cinema 4d v13 is expected to have a built in 3d stereoscopic camera rig that is adjustable. This is very cool. I hope the other software companies jump on the bandwagon instead of leaving us to our manual ways. A parametric stereoscopic camera would be very nice indeed! Way to go Maxon. Press release here: http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/Maxon-to-Ship-Cinema-4D-Release-13-in-September_13337.html

So where does the world stand on 3d phones? I’m not all that interested in how stereoscopy is going to affect the mobile market yet. I see quite an evolution before that becomes even remotely important to most people. It seems a bit of a novelty. However I guess there is money to be made in 3d Graphical User Interfaces or 3DGUIs. But I guess stereoscopic 3d is an option in an app form. Of course you can always make your media stereoscopic for a mobile device in many different ways. http://spb.com/android-software/shell/

EA Games says that people are just not that interested in stereoscopic gaming. They say they won’t devote much in resources to stereoscopic games. I for one hope that someone else in the game industry DOES think it’s a good idea to keep moving towards better stereoscopic game experience. EA will most likely only swoop in with giant funding and play quick catchup if they aren’t the force behind a great stereoscopic gaming experience.

Perhaps EA is right and stereoscopic 3d is never going to work on a screen or with glasses. Perhaps it really requires a cerebral implant.. who knows. There are some people who enjoy a proper stereoscopic game. In the end though the stereoscopic chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. If the camera sucks, the 3d sucks, if the monitor sucks, the 3d sucks, if the glasses suck, the 3d sucks. And of course if your content sucks who cares about the 3d. It’s a whole package deal.

The ones who will blaze the trail in this market will be the ones who play together.

But here is EA’s take.. Some gaming companies don’t like to play. ;P http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/28/ea-chief-stereoscopic-3d-gaming-is-a-dud-so-far/

Some new developments have taken place recently that will bring stereoscopic 3d to iPhone.

Apple just filed a patent for 3d image sensor technology that should be incorporated into an upcoming iphone and perhaps even the ipad. More information here

Also in today’s news Hasbro is making 3d goggles available for the iPhone. Check it out at Hasbro. They are cheap too!

I’ve received a few questions regarding the difference between the 3d tvs that we see coming out and watching 3d movies on older tv sets. While there are a few sets out there that are different technology wise the majority of tvs out there are not that different than a regular tv and the way you used to watch 3d stuff before. You still put on a pair of glasses. They look sorta like light sunglasses. They are called polarized lens usually. Typically there are no wires. Some tv sets have wired versions but they aren’t very popular.

So what is the main difference? One difference is that the screens are set to be viewed in a home setting where most 3d movies are produced for a screen. This usually means that when the stuff that was made for the movie theater goes to DVD or TV they either have to redo it (yeah right) or it’s not going to be the same when you view it at home. All the settings for 3d cameras have to be based on the end viewer, size of screen etc. The reason is that you can’t just view 3d from any place or distance. There are quite a few technical reasons for this that all center around how the human eye works. This isn’t meant to be a big in depth explanation of the technology though. I just want to point out the differences in broad terms.

The best way to think of it is that the 3d will be delivered to you based on how you are viewing it so it can’t really be the same for a TV and an  IMAX screen. The second main reason is that 3d is shot at much higher frame rates than a single lens camera so TVs have to refresh faster.

So to sum it up in as simple of terms as possible… a 3d tv (while not all that different) will feel considerably better to watch 3d on than a standard tv because it is specifically made for it.

All that being said the next question I get is “should I buy a 3d tv?”… I’m probably the wrong person to ask since I actually don’t really watch TV. But, I’d have to say it depends on how into tv and 3d you are. There are some channels on tv that are in 3d and more keep popping up. As of the writing of this blog I’d say the offerings were fairly limited and you would certainly be an “early adopter”. The content is out there and it is very cool but it’s obviously not every channel. Though I expect you’ll have the option to turn on 3d mode on just about every tv at some point just like you used to have the “mono” switch on your stereo.

So if you’re a big tv freak who loves 3d then yeah sure get one. If you’re a moderate user with a lot of money who likes to keep up on the latest gadget.. yep get one. If you’re on a tight budget and you are really tossing the idea around so that you make a smart buy you may not need one yet. If you are fairly poor then you shouldn’t buy anything technology related right now. While I’d love to suggest that people go buy technology that speeds up the transition to 3d as a standard I can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that content is still coming slowly this year because of the learning curve and the need for new hardware in order to make 3d content. Cameras are expensive and the process involed in preparing footage for the audience is more time consuming than regular broadcast. But I can tell you that people in the industry are buying these things up like mad and 3d content will eventually be the norm. This is not a fad like the red and blue glasses.

Technology is moving forward and there may eventually be a breakthrough in glasses free tv technology for larger screens with multiple viewers but for now that is still not a hard reality. I don’t mind the glasses all that much but I would LOVE to not have to wear glasses. Nobody can really say when this is coming out so I wouldn’t necessarily wait for it either. Anyway, I hope this helps you in understanding the little differences between 3d tv and regular tvs. I’ll probably go into depth on the subject at some point or give you links to sites where it is explained. In the meantime.. Happy shopping!

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers – SMPTE
2nd Annual – International Conference on Stereoscopic 3D for Media & Entertainment

To be held on June 21-22 of 2011 in New York at The Millennium Broadway Hotel

145 W. 44th St.
New York, NY 10036

They should keep us updated on the stereoscopic conference here: http://www.smpte.org/events/2nd_Annual_3D_Conference/

Well the new Nintendo 3DS released and it has a stereoscopic camera! Yep.. Check out my game related blog. I have some video links for the Nintendo 3ds and CNN reports. You’re obviously only going to be able to appreciate the glasses free 3d in person however. (btw glasses free 3d is called “autostereoscopy“)

http://www.wildpipe.com/news/nintentdo-3ds-has-a-3d-camera/

I wanted to play stereoscopic 3d games on my computer. Well lets just say you’re not going to get any video games that are much fun to watch wearing the red and blue anaglyph glasses, that’s for sure.

Anyway I didn’t want to spend a ton and I found an affordable pair of 3d glasses for my PC so I thought I’d share some links with you.

Nvidia 3d Vision

and buy the 3d Vision Kit here

Oh yeah they are totally wireless glasses.. nothing less!

You can also get some sweet standard polarized glasses from Gunnar Optiks for around $99 bucks. I know pricey for standard polarized but they are pretty sweet.

The short answer is that it is seeing a different image with each eye to produce a “stereo” effect. It gives you a better sense of depth on screen. We have had radio in stereo for years since most of us have two ears. It gives a nice dynamic to music and really gives you a sense that the music is flowing around you and not just at you. The same is true for stereoscopic 3d. And we are getting better and better.

For some interesting information about early stereoscopic imaging and how it is evolving check out the Wikipedia article on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_camera

The article focuses on the cameras but in order to understand stereoscopic imaging you first must understand what it is and then see it for yourself! More to come!