How Does RealD 3D Movie Works?
This is a guest post by Craig Walkup. If you would like to contribute too, please contact me.
I was reading an article today about how Calvin Klein is getting into the market of designer 3D glasses (as if there is an existing market for them). The glasses are set to work with RealD 3D technology, and with all the news that I have heard recently about shows, movies, and video games being shot in RealD 3D, I got to wondering just how this new technology works.
When I originally heard of 3D televisions coming out and 3D movies being made, I remembered the halftime show of Super Bowl XXIII, played in January 1989. In this particular Super Bowl, Coca-Cola supplied 3D glasses to distributors all over the world for fans to use while watching a special 3D halftime show on television. The glasses were constructed of simple cardboard with one transparent blue lens and a transparent red lens. The images on the screen had a blue and red outline on them that, when looked at through the glasses, had an effect like it was popping out at you.
RealD 3D isn’t nearly as primitive, but it uses the same general idea. How realD 3D works, is the movie is shot with two cameras, left and right. The film from each camera has a different polarization filter applied to it, the left lens is made to catch the light from the left camera, and the right is made to catch the light from the right camera. When a movie is projected on to the screen, the one side’s image is shot immediately before the other side. As a result, your left eye sees a slightly different image than your right eye, and being that the cameras are so close to each other it’s almost as if you are there looking at something with your own two eyes. In short, a realD 3D camera shoots a movie as if it is two human eyes looking at it, and the glasses are needed to translate that to your eyes.
3D movies are pretty cool, if you have never seen one I would definitely recommend it. I haven’t been quite sold on 3D television sets yet though. First of all they are very expensive, at least USD$1,500 for a 42 inch. There is also a significant lack of 3D Programming right now. The only thing I know of is a 3D channel that ESPN started, but even with that, there isn’t much programming to offer yet. Movies are also still pretty scarce in 3D, and lastly, I’m not sure I want to sit in my house and have to wear glasses to watch a movie, even if they are Calvin Klein designer glasses.
Craig Walkup is a freelance writer for iPhone repair techs at iFixyour.
Learn more about 3D Technology on Amazon.com
