3D+Screen+Technology

= What Is 3D Screen Technology? = toc 3D Screen Technology encompasses the hardware used to make the human eye believe it is viewing an object in the 3rd dimension, having the properties of width, height, and depth. 3D screen technology is made possible by understanding how the human eyes gather and process these spatial relations, and subsequently imitating those processes through various means. There are multiple ways of displaying 3D images via 2D screens, with each technology focusing on a different aspect of how objects are displayed to human eyes. Through the integration of 3D screen technology and 3D imaging systems, powerful new measures can be reached for purposes ranging from entertainment to scientific research.

3D screen technology relies on principles of the human eye and brain to perceive objects in 3D. These principles are either physiological, such as the eye lens changing its focal length to focus on an object, or psychological, such as the concept of linear perspective. Linear perspective is the perception that objects appear to recede towards a single point the further they are from the eye. These physiological and psychological principles rely on both eyes looking at the same object and the brain subsequently interpreting the feedback from both to judge the object’s 3-dimensional location.

The majority of mainstream 3D screen displays rely on stereo-pair, as opposed to holographic or multiplanar, technologies. Stereo pair display technologies involve sending images to both the left and right eyes. The display technologies can be divided into active or passive systems, and often require viewers to wear glasses. More common are those that have blue and red lens-glasses as found by people wearing them in movie theaters, but more advanced glasses can actually be connected to a computer so that they are synchronized with the screen display. These newer glasses are timed to block one eye, but not the other, from seeing an image displayed on the screen. When operated at a certain frequency of the screen’s refresh rate, ideally around 120 Hz, the screen’s rapidly alternating images are seen by the eyes and joined by the brain to become an apparent 3D image.

Newer systems are venturing into ways to display 3D images without the need for glasses. These systems are called autostereoscopic, and a majority of current examples rely on the physiological concept of parallax. The screen technology used with these devices requires that the liquid crystal display overlaid on the backlight switch back and forth. In doing so, the LCD only permits a certain image to be viewed by each eye. When the brain fuses those different images, a sense of depth is created and the image appears to be in the 3rd dimension.

Who Makes 3D Screens?[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Sensacio3D.png width="188" height="174" align="right"]]
3D screen technology is being marketed largely to the gaming and entertainment industry. Nintendo, for example, released the handheld 3DS game console in 2010. Sharp is the company involved in making the screens for the 3DS system. Other screen manufacturers involved in creating 3D imaging systems include LG, Philips, and Samsung. Yet another company, Dimension Technologies, Inc., claims to have developed a new display that can switch between 2D and 3D without a loss of quality, doesn’t require glasses for 3D viewing, and is scalable from products ranging from cell phones to large consumer televisions. A more comprehensive list of 3D displays can be found from the website 3dcgi.com, at their webpage @http://www.3dcgi.com/cooltech/displays/displays.htm.

What Are The Advantages To 3D Screens?
Beyond the gaming and entertainment industries, 3D screen technology could become a significant asset to fields such as science, engineering, and medicine. With the advances in computer graphics, cameras, and scanners, 3D screens could enhance learning and comprehension of images and models once relegated to 2D projections on a screen. Students studying anatomy could possibly view a 3D projection of a human body. Architectural students could “travel” to international sites and view complex designs in 3D without having to leave the classroom. media type="custom" key="11291664" align="center"

Furthermore, 3D screen technology offers museums the chance to present their collections in an entirely different way. Artifacts that are too old, valuable, or fragile to be taken out of storage could be digitally photographed, modeled in 3D, and shown to visitors with 3D screens. One example of a museum utilizing 3D screen technology to showcase its objects is the Oxfordshire Museum. To get a brief overview of what they are doing, visit: @http://holovista.com/holovista_013.htm

Even more in-depth ways 3D screens can augment daily life can be found at the website @http://3dradar.techradar.com/3d-tech/depth-future-3d-internet-and-computer-interfaces-14-08-2011.

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