Stereoscopic three-dimensional television using active glasses with switchable refraction

We have devised a full-resolution stereoscopic television system incorporating both a patterned retarder and active glasses. Selective vision of the left image by the left eye and the right image by the right eye is achieved by a conventional combination of a patterned retarder and left and right polarized filters. Full resolution is provided by the active components of the glasses acting as a switchable refractive-type beam displacer. Pairs of line-interleaved images are displayed on an LCD screen sequentially at a frame rate of 120 Hz. With the help of active refraction glasses, the viewer can see full-resolution stereoscopic images as if they are displayed in an interlaced manner. Active glasses are flicker-free. Measured stereoscopic crosstalk is 0.6%, which is defined only by the performance of the patterned retarder. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. [DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.24.3.033006]