Professional 3D production systems Glossary

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▌A

Active shutter glasses

A type of 3D eyewear. Active shutter glasses have LCD shutters that are timed to open and close alternately for each frame or field to separate left-eye and right-eye images, thus allowing the viewer to perceive 3D images. Panasonic FULL HD 3D plasma display and FULL HD 3D Plasma TVs active shutter glasses operate at a high speed of 120 Hz and use infrared for synchronizing with the display.

Amount of parallax

See Parallax

▌B

Blu-ray 3D™

Blu-ray 3D™ is a standard for recording 3D images on Blu-ray Discs. It was announced in December 2009. This standard was established to enable the viewing of 3D movies at home with theater-like quality, in response to the recent commercial success of 3D movies. The Blu-ray 3D specifications are based on the MVC (Multiview Video Coding) standard, which is an extended version of the MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standard supported by all Blu-ray Disc™ players available today. The MPEG-4 MV format compresses the left-eye and right-eye images to a data amount that is about 1.5 times more than the data for equivalent 2D content. It offers backward compatibility so that existing 2D Blu-ray Disc™ players can play back 3D Blu-ray Discs with 1080i/p full-HD image quality. Also, because the Blu-ray 3D™ specifications incorporate an enhanced graphic function for 3D, they allow the display of a 3D graphic menu for disc content navigation as well as 3D subtitles on 3D videos.

▌C

Checker sampling technology

The checker sampling technology is one of the 3D video signal display technologies. With this technology, the left-eye and right-eye images are arranged in a checker pattern using individual pixels on the screen. As a result, image information is delivered by half the number of full-HD pixels per eye. This system uses polarized glasses to separate the left-eye and right- eye images.

Convergence point

The convergence point is a point where the optical axes of the two lenses of a twin-lens camera meet. On the 3D display, objects located in front of the convergence point appear to project from the screen toward the viewer, while those behind the convergence point seem to be located in the back of the display plane. By varying the convergence point, the feeling of depth can be adjusted. The convergence point adjustment function is essential for designing 3D effects.

▌F

Frame sequential technology

The frame sequential technology is one of the 3D video signal transmission/display technologies. With this method, active shutter glasses are used to separate the left-eye and right-eye images in synchronization with the alternating images displayed on a 3D display in order to provide a 3D effect to the viewer. This technology transmits and displays full pixels to provide high-quality pictures. The Panasonic FULL HD 3D plasma display and FULL HD 3D Plasma TVs displays the left-eye and right-eye images recorded in 1920 x 1080 full-HD alternately at an extremely high rate of 120 frames per second, or 60 frames per second for each eye.

▌H

HDMI 1.4

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) 1.4 was developed by adding functions to support the HDMI Ethernet channel (HDMI HEC), audio return channel (ARC), 3840 x 2160 and 4096 x 2160 resolution, SYCC601, Adobe RGB, Adobe YCC601 and 3D video as well as Micro HDMI definition and the automotive connection system definition to the HDMI 1.3 standard. The HDMI 1.4 specifications were announced in May 2009.

▌ I

Integrated Twin-lens 3D Camera Recorder

A type of 3D camera system. A twin-lens 3D camera section and a recorder section are combined into the integrated twin-lens 3D camera recorder. Since the twin-lens 3D camera section is mounted on the frame of the camera recorder, it does not require frequent optical axis adjustment as compared to a rig-type 3D camera system, and also offers excellent mobility and flexibility.

Inter-axial (Inter ocular/Inter pupillary) distance

This refers to the distance between the centers of the two eyes on a human face. In terms of 3D, it sometimes means the distance between the optical axes of the left and right lenses of a twin-lens 3D camera recorder. The inter-axial distance on an adult is about 65 mm. If this distance is too large in 3D recording, the amount of visual disparity increases, resulting in the kind of view that a giant might have, and if it is too small, the projecting effect reduces and results in an image as if seen by a tiny insect.

▌L

Line-by-line technology (interleave system)

The line-by-line technology is one of the 3D video signal transmission/display technologies. With this technology, the left-eye and right-eye images are allocated to the field (scanning lines) of odd-number lines and the field of even-number lines, respectively. While its advantage is that the conventional video signal bandwidth can be used for signal transmission, it decreases the horizontal resolution to one-half. Horizontal resolution is maintained. For display systems adopting the line-by-line technology, polarized filters with different polarizing directions for the two fields are attached on the display surface and polarized glasses are used to separate the left-eye and right-eye images.

▌M

MPEG-4 AVC

MPEG-4 AVC is a motion image data compression coding system. AVC stands for　Advanced Video Coding. It was established for a wide range of uses, ranging from　low-rate, low-image-quality applications such as the videoconferencing function of　mobile phones and webstream video to high-rate, high-image　quality applications　such as HD broadcasting. MPEG-4 AVC compresses data to about 1/2 the size　achieved by the popularly used MPEG-2 format in the past, while keeping the　image quality. MPEG-4 AVC is used in the AVCHD format and for Blu-ray Discs, and also in the AVC-Intra codec for broadcasting applications.

MPEG-4 MVC

MPEG-4 MVC is a motion image data compressing coding system. MVC stands for Multiview Video Coding. It is an extended standard of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and is designed to efficiently code free-viewpoint video and 3D video. MPEG-4 MVC was adopted as a data compression system for the Blu-ray 3D™ Disc.

▌P

Parallax (Binocular parallax)

Visual disparity is an angular difference between the lines of sight of the left eye and right eye of a person viewing an object. It sometimes refers to the apparent difference in the images perceived by the left and right eyes. It is believed that the human brain combines and processes the two images seen by both eyes to perceive solidity.

Parallax barrier system

The parallax barrier system is a type of 3D display system that does not require special 3D eyewear. This system uses a corrugated lens or masking shield installed on the display surface to separate light (parallax separation effect) for the viewer's left eye and right eye to provide a 3D effect without the use of 3D eyewear. Since this system requires a fixed viewing position, it is primarily suitable for mobile equipment such as cell phones.

Polarized glasses

A type of 3D eyewear with different filters (polarizer/wavelength plates) attached to the left and right lenses. With this system, the left-eye and right-eye images are displayed in an overlapping manner through filters with different polarizing directions. A viewer wearing glasses with polarized filters perceives these images separately with the left and right eyes to recognize the 3D effect. Polarized glasses may use a linearly polarized system or circularly polarized system. With the linearly polarized system, a viewer may not perceive the full 3D effect when his/her head or glasses are tilted to one side. Therefore, the circularly polarized system is commonly used today. The Real D™ system(Real D™, Inc.) for 3D movies employs the circularly polarized system.

▌R

Rig-type 3D camera system

This is a 3D camera system configured with two conventional camera units and attached to a rig (frame). Two cameras are mounted horizontally in some systems, while a half-mirror type is employed in other systems. Unlike a fully integrated 3D camera system, a rig-type 3D camera system requires precise adjustment of optical axes before shooting. Many rig-type 3D camera systems require separate recording units.

▌S

Side-by-side technology

The side-by-side technology is one of the 3D video signal transmission technologies. It combines left-eye and right-eye images into one frame in a split-screen format. This system is used mainly for 3D broadcasting. While its advantage is that the conventional video signal bandwidth can be used for signal transmission, it decreases the horizontal resolution to one-half. In the case of progressive signals, vertical resolution is maintained, making it suitable for fast-moving 3D images such as sports events. For displaying images, signals are converted to another system (line-by-line, checker flag, frame sequential, etc.).

Simulcast (Dual SDI) System

One of the transmission methods for 3D video signals. Simulcast splits the left and right images into two signal lines and transmits them. Dual SDI can transmit full-HD signals (1080i or 1080/24p signals) over two SDI lines.

▌T

Time-division technology (time sequential technology)

The time-division technology is one of the 3D video signal transmission/display technologies. It allocates left-eye and right-eye images to each field or frame for transmission and display. With this technology, active shutter glasses are usually used to separate the left-eye and right-eye images. In the case of the frame sequential technology, high-quality full-pixel images can be displayed. See also Frame sequential technology

▌X

Xpol® system

Xpol® is a 3D image display system. It allocates left-eye and right-eye images using the　line-by-line technology. This system uses polarized filters with different polarization rotation directions for alternating lines. The circularly polarized glasses used with this system maintain the 3D effect for the viewer even if the viewer's head is tilted to one side.

* Xpol® is a registered trademark of Arisawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

▌0-9

3D broadcasting

3D broadcasts deliver 3D content by means of radio waves or cable transmission much in the same way as ordinary TV broadcasts. In order to use the same bandwidth as ordinary HD broadcasting, most current 3D broadcasts adopt a "side-by-side" technology. Received signals are converted to a 3D technology (the frame sequential or line-by-line technology) used by the TV for displaying 3D images. A TV that is not compatible with 3D broadcasts will display two images (side-by-side) on the screen.

3D eyewear

3D eyewear refers to glasses that are worn for viewing stereoscopic 3D images. 3D eyewear separates left-eye and right-eye images and provides binocular parallax to enable the viewer to perceive 3D images. To separate the images, 3D eyewear uses polarized filters, electronic shutters or spectrum separated lenses. They are called polarized glasses, active shutter glasses, or spectrum separated glasses, depending on the method employed. The XpanD system (X6D Limited) adopted by FULL HD 3D Plasma TVs and 3D movie theaters requires active shutter glasses. Other popular systems used for 3D movies include Real D™ (polarized glasses) and Dolby 3D (spectrum separated glasses).

3D video

Video images in which a viewer perceives depth and the solidity of objects (recognizes width, height and depth). For a 3D effect, left-eye and right-eye images recorded by a twin-lens camera recorder with two lenses set apart from each other by a distance equaling that between the two eyes on a human face are displayed on the same display screen (overlapping images with binocular parallax). The viewer sees the left-eye and right-eye images separately with the left and right eyes through 3D eyewear or a parallax barrier. This causes the viewer to reconstruct the images in the brain and perceive depth and solidity.