Watch 3D movies ... without glasses

This innovation is based on the ability to take 3D photos with a single stereoscopic camcorder.

For 3D TV owners, content is a drawback. In Europe, 3D TV is very popular, many people are interested, but post-production work, live broadcast of 3D programming is extremely rare and viewers still need to wear rough glasses to watch movies. But that may soon change.

Direct production of 3D glasses without glass can not only become a reality but also affordable if German researchers are on the right track.

Non-glass 3D television technology, called autostereoscopy , has appeared and survived although still in development stage. The screen works by using a special optical background that displays different images for each eye, deceiving the viewer 's brain that the floating image is real images. To create a high quality effect, it is necessary to have multiple camera angles in each shot, so this production process is extremely difficult. The higher the number of gray images, the higher the 3D quality.

"Installing 8, 9 or 20 cameras on a system set is not very practical," said Frederik Zilly, 3D analysis project manager of the Fraunhofer Institute Heinrich Hertz in Berlin. Cost, weight, power consumption and bandwidth requirements for non-glass 3D video are great and unbelievable. "That's when we thought, OK, we need to create something," he added

3D technology still has to use these
glasses cause trouble for users. (Source: discovery.com)

Zilly's team developed a stereoscopic analyzer , dubbed STAN , capable of editing standard 3D images in real time to create live broadcasts . The new system is a STAN extension that can create up to 25 images of a scene from a variety of views, which is essential for glassless 3D technology. This virtual rendering is quite fast in the lab but not yet at the speed needed to broadcast live, Zilly said.

The Fraunhofer project team recently presented autostereoscopic technology at the international broadcasting conference in Amsterdam. Their current version works offline but Zilly hopes to introduce a real-time version of broadcast technology at the conference next year.

Markus Aha is a 3D TV producer, also a founder and CEO of Aha international media in Berlin. He knew very well about Zilly and Fraunhofer's work, partly because both were part of the new 3D innovation collaborative group in Berlin.

"The faster 3D production without glass grows, the sooner the market opens for 3D content , " he said.

However, at this time, consumer electronics companies are still developing autostereoscopic displays. Toshiba presented a prototype of this high-definition LCD screen earlier this year but has yet to appear on the market.

"I think we are still watching the 2 years of development before the generation of this screen is released on the market , " he said.

While consumers are waiting for better TV screens, Aha has witnessed a glass-free 3D screen used for digital advertising in Europe. Aha also saw an experiment in the UK, where 3D stereo rugby matches were converted for autostereoscopic displays in sports bars. While family needs do not need high quality, sporting events are considered to be one of the best candidates for the need to transfer 3D content. Cultural events and live concerts are also on this list.

The global market for 3D TVs is quite small and this phenomenon has been ridiculed as a fad. Consumers also expressed concern about eyestrain and nausea when constantly watching programs in this way. Despite many barriers, researchers, especially in Europe, continue to make efforts to improve the 3D TV viewing experience.

Zilly thinks that when viewers get a 3D TV screen that feels comfortable to watch, they will want more."It's time to look at adding colors to the black and white image just before. I think 3D without glasses will be the future of television," he said.