subject: 3d Television Behind The Curtain [print this page] With the rebirth of 3D effects into the entertainment industry it seems like a lifetime ago that audiences were first subjected to the early 3D visual displays that came with those funny coloured glasses and that nauseating feeling.
Thankfully, the modern equivalents do not encourage the onset of any sick feelings, or even the cheap and tacky comin at ya gags, instead it is simply a quality 3D effect. This is hardly surprising really when you consider the fact that there are so many manufacturers competing with one another, and putting all their faith into the rebirth of 3D television.
No doubt that there are many sceptics out there, who probably have the memory of the primitive 3D effects in the back of their mind, and dont believe that the re-incarnation of 3D visuals will take off. However, with blockbusters such as Camerons Avatar, pushing the boundaries of what is real and setting the benchmark for any 3D films to follow, it is hard to ignore the potential.
In fact, despite the films predictable plot line, which is basically like Pocahontas, Fern Gully, or Dances with Wolves, it still made 77 million dollars on its opening weekend alone, and there is no doubt that it was a combination of the vibrant world of Pandora and the 3D element that made the film so popular. It seems logical when you think about it; people perceive their world in three dimensions, so why should they not have entertainment that does the same?
For many people, the magic of 3D technology is not something that is fully understood. To fully understand how 3D technology works, we must first consider our biology. Considering how and why we perceive three dimensions, most importantly depth, is crucial. In short, we perceive three dimensions because we have two eyes, which are both forward facing this is known as binocular vision. Because we have to eyes that are just a few inches apart facing forward, we actually perceive two slightly different images simultaneously, which is something you may have noticed before when switching between eyes.
Though the images are very similar, the discrepancies between the two provide enough information for our brains to convert into depth this perception of depth is our third dimension of vision. A bit of insight can be gained into how depth perception works by holding an object in front of you and looking through each eye, notice the discrepancy between the two images is bigger the closer the object is.
3D technology simply manipulates our ability to perceive depth, sending different images to each eye, hence why red and green glasses were used (for two separate signals). Modern 3D technology now uses polarised glasses though, instead.
