Stereo Video Production : View

Scott Lawrence (formerly with Vuzix Corp.)
yorgle@gmail.com

April 2008

Introduction		Hardware		Filming		Interlace		Edit		Export		View

7.0: Table Of Contents

• 7.1: Standard Definition TV sets
• 7.2: 3D Ready TV sets
• 7.3: Vuzix Personal Video Eyewear

7.1: Standard Definition TV sets

Interlaced stereo video content can be viewed in 3D on standard definition CRT TV sets by using specialized hardware and active shutter glasses. These types of Display-Glasses synchronization systems may not work on non-CRT based display systems, due to the video signal being delayed, processed, and deinterlaced.

Analglyph stereo video content can be viewed in 3D on all CRT and flat panel TV sets and monitors using standard red/blue 3D glasses. Generally, this method will work universally, but at the cost of color reproduction. It is also generally difficult-at-best to get the color-eye separation to retain properly throughout the distribution method. MPEG encoding will generally harm this type of 3D delivery system, and damage the video stream. (MPEG encoding is used for all DVDs, portable media players, and digital video delivery systems.)

7.2: 3D Ready TV sets

There are a few "3D Ready" high definition televisions on the market right now. Some of them support wireless active shutter glasses, while others use passive polarized glasses. There also exist "auto-stereo" displays that do not require special glasses, but are very expensive, and are usually used for advertising. Many of these have various idiosyncrasies with respect to content format, viewing angles, and such. These are not covered within the scope of this documentation.

7.3: Vuzix Personal Video Eyewear

This table describes which interface formats will work on which AV eyewear devices produced by Vuzix. The computer-controlled/VGA based devices (VR920, M920) have been omitted from this table.

"3D Method" is the method by which the eyewear is switched into the correct 3D display mode. "DVD Player" shows whether this model of eyewear is compatible with a DVD Player. "iPod" shows how this model can be connected to an Apple iPod portable media player device or Apple iPhone device.

And as far as iPod devices, here is our compatibility table. For more information about which model is which, please refer to Apple's documentation.

1. Older firmware updates on this device will de-interlace internally, which mixes the two fields, thus destroying 3D stereo separation. Always use the most up-to-date firmware update on your iPod. iTunes will let you know if you need to do this.

To get full compatibility of your video content with all Vuzix eyewear devices, you need to encode it field-sequential NTSC video with 480 interlaced lines consisting of one field (240 lines) per eye. The watermark needs to be encoded onto the video data to switch the AV230 device into the appropriate 3D mode. If the content is in iPod format, then the "Composer" tag in the video file needs to be set to either IWEAR_3D or IWEAR_3DR. This is described in detail on the "Export" page of this documentaiotn.

NOTE: The watermark switching method is not compatible with PAL format devices. This means that PAL 3D Stereoscopic imagery will not work on AV230 devices.

DISCLAIMER:

This author of this page was happily employed by the Vuzix Corporation. All hacks and modifications are acknowledged but not advised by Vuzix. Do modifications at your own risk. No warranty is expressed or implied. That said, the content described above is known to have worked for me and is correct to the best of my knowledge. Any questions about the content, procedures, or information should be directed to me at the email address given at the top of the page.