Red Carpet Presents

I love going to the movies. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it. Since 3D movies have become all the rage I enjoy it even more now. I don’t need much excuse to go and experience the wonders of the fantastic new effects that 3D promises. Luckily for me I have four little girls who give me the perfect excuse to see all the latest kids animations with 3D effects.

3D movies work by making sure each eye sees a different image to the other, both taken from a slightly different perspective.

As our eyes are two inches apart they each each see the world differently. When we view a 3D movie this effect is being simulated which fools our brain into seeing a 3D image on a 2D screen. All 3D images are created this way but there are two or three different methods used to achieve the effect.

Anaglyph Stereo

Once a popular method anaglyph is now more of a novelty due to its poor picture quality. In case you don’t know the term anaglyph refers to the red and blue glasses which are usually made out of cardboard. The two separate images for the eye are created with either a red or a blue tint. The red or blue lenses filter out the corresponding image so each eye sees the different perspective. This technique is a novelty at best and is not really suitable for enjoying 3D movies in high definition full color.

Active Shutter Glasses Stereoscopy

Active shutter glasses use a method that is technically known as alternate-frame sequencing. Each image is shown alternately on the screen. When an eye is not supposed to see the image it is blocked by the shutter over that eye going dark. When the technology was fairly new many people complained of a visible flickering in the image. It’s for this reason that a TV needs to be have a refresh frequency of 120Hz or higher to double the frame rate of the animation on screen. These higher frequencies are becoming the default standard of new model TVs and projectors.

Active shutter glasses have a couple of disadvantages. The major disadvantage is that the glasses require power either through a cord or from batteries. If you are blessed with a large family you are either going to create a jungle of cables or you will have a rather large expense for batteries. The major advantage is that the technology has been around for a while now and projectors and TVs using this method are relatively cheap. If you only need one or two pairs of glasses then this would be the way to go.

Polarized Light Stereoscopy

As technology is always evolving new techniques for displaying 3D imagery are coming onto the market. One such system uses polarized light for projecting images onto a screen and it is now possible to display both images on the screen simultaneously. Special polarized lenses in the glasses are polarized to only let in the correct image while blocking the other.

While it has some very good advantages the one major disadvantage it has at the moment is the cost. As it’s still relatively new technology equipment is rather expensive. Projectors are currently the best way to display the images so you will need to buy a silver projector screen to get the best effect. A silver screen is needed to keep the light polarized so the image remains crisp and clear.

Because of it’s advantages polarized light stereoscopy will eventually become the dominant method of playing 3D movies in the home. The glasses don’t require batteries, are cheaper and also lighter than active shutter glasses. Viewing angles are also greater giving you the ability to have a larger and more widely dispersed audience. If you use shutter glasses you can expect about a 20% reduction in brightness. You get a much brighter image with polarized lenses as they only block about 10% of the light.

This article has been written by the author, Alex Blaken. Should you require any more 3D Cinema please visit his 3D Movies resources!