America’s first glasses free 3D network almost completed

Okay, good news, but nothing new.

The Coca-Cola Hispanic 3D Advertising Network has had autostereoscopic Evolution 3D monitors in Los Angeles grocery stores, like El Super, for about a year.

The Russians had an autostereoscopic theatre, about 40 years ago (although Americans are less-likely to sit motionless in a single-file line for hours at a time, just becauses someone says we have to).

Trouble is, autostereoscopic just does not work. Oh, yeah, there is an FX that looks not-2D, but is clearly not 3D, because it is difficult to stay in a sweet spot. Within the shopping environment, there is usually a display in the way, and the monitors are overhead at an angle that defeats eye-alignment.

The Coca-Cola displays must be viewed an aisle away to line up the eyes, and at more than two aisles distance, the whole thing reaches a dimensional-infinity that flattens everything out.

Moreover, real autostereo can not be adapted directly from binocular stereo, so none of today’s 3D wil conform with glasses-free displays.

True autostereo requires a dual-rig for each sweet spot. That means dozens of cameras, shooting in synchronization. Try using that on a Steadicam, or performing a tender romantic scene when 24 cameras suddenly rush in for your Close-Up. EEEK!

So, yes, you can see 3D without glasses, but the trade-offs (in mobility, viewing angle, endurance) are significant. When people dream of glasses-free, they imagine complete freedom from encumberances. Autostereoscopic actually creates more impedances, so the viewer will welcome the “freedom” to roam and move with stereo glasses.

Even the eventual holographic 3D image is one we will circle around, but it does not circle around us. Thus, holograms will defeat the immersive stereo technique required for narrative drama, which we want to experience from INSIDE the story.

There are solutions on the horizon, and trade-offs the viewer is willing to concede. However, it is unwise to rush into instant solutions, today, that create more problems than they cure, in the future.

John Robert Christopher
3D Video Task Force