An overview of depth distortion in stereoscopic 3D displays

Abstract

This article reviews how different presentation techniques of stereoscopic 3D (S3D) TVs affect depth perception. Many S3D TVs employ various interlacing techniques to present two eye views using one screen. The spatial or temporal interocular offsets introduced by these interlacing techniques can affect the image's perceived depth, resulting in depth distortion. Temporal interlacing delivers the two eye views with an interocular delay, which can be interpreted by the visual system as a horizontal disparity. Spatial interlacing presents the two eye views in alternating fashion on every other pixel row, thereby creating a vertical interocular offset, which can induce an additional horizontal disparity while the visual system performs binocular matching. Recently, novel S3D presentation techniques were introduced to improve depth perception. Spatiotemporal hybrid interlacing combines spatial interlacing and temporal interlacing: it presents the two eye views as spatial interlacing does, but each pixel row switches between the two views overtime. This hybrid technique has been proven to be free from depth distortion. By contrast, color interlacing presents the two eye views with an interocular delay, but the sign of the delay differs among the color channels. Such a configuration effectively decreases the interocular delay and improves the depth perception.