Planar3D: An Exploration of Stereoscopic Displays

3D/Stereoscopic Video Samples

2009-07-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for some examples of stereoscopic video to show on a StereoMirror? We have uploaded some sample videos of MOV and MPEG4 formats.

To play stereoscopic video, download the 3D Player at 3DTV.at. The site that allows left and right video to be played in stereo via Stereoscopic Player. Video files can be played using either the Quad-buffered OpenGL setting or the side-by-side stereo option with the monitors in Horizontal span mode. This site also has some other sample stereo video available for download.

Tweak RV is another application that can be used for stereo video playback. It does not support AVI files like the 3DTV Stereoscopic Player, but it allows .mov files to be played in stereo.

Download the sample 3D videos - left video, right video. You will need both downloads.

If you have some interesting 3D video samples, we'd love to see them.

Planar StereoMirror on Display at SIGGRAPH and GEOINT

2009-07-02T13:43:00.001-07:00

Have you seen Planar's line of StereoMirror displays? Now you'll have a chance to see what all the talk is about during a demonstration that will answer your stereoscopic display questions about the viewing angle, resolution and image quality of these monitors. Planar will exhibit the SD2620W and the newest version, SD2220W, in booth #3627 at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans, LA, August 4-6 and again in booth #544 at GEOINT 2009 Symposium in San Antonio, TX, October 18-21.

StereoMirror technology enables an unprecedented level of stereo viewing comfort and there is no restrictive "sweet spot" for viewing stereo images or any need to work in a dimly-lit environment. The Stereoscopic displays make it easier for many professionals to do their job. Applications include geospatial and 3D for simulation and training, among others.

Do you use a stereoscopic display for your work? What features do you find most important?

StereoMirror Provides Best Real-Time Display

2009-05-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to figure out how to get the best image quality for aerial photography product processing and triangulation of ortho photos? According to AeroTech Mapping Inc., Planar's 3D StereoMirror monitor provides an image that is almost as clear as the negative itself. They have three displays for triangulation and compilation, which is the process of collecting digital data from stereo photography for use in creating topographical maps. They use Datem Systems' Summit Evolution software and three P-3 analytical plotters.

With several StereoMirror monitors in their office, including an SD1710 and SD2020, AeroTech has doubled their production stations while using a fraction of the space compared to analytical plotters. Besides excellent image quality, AeroTech's technicians are able to use the stereo monitors for up to ten hours at a time with only a few breaks in between. The comfort level of Planar's StereoMirror monitors is very high.

Have you used a StereoMirror monitor for your mapping projects? How does it compare to the quality of analytical plotters?

StereoMirror Used For Aerial Surveys

2009-05-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Providing accurate 3D photogrammetric mapping is complicated and photogrammetrists are always looking for monitors that will improve their viewing experiences and aid in verifying data. Planar's StereoMirror SD2420W with Planar's PX 2411W has been used by Keystone Aerial Surveys, Inc. to suit their needs moving into a complete digital workflow and provide better image quality.

In verifying the accuracy of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) used in their orthophoto production process, Keystone's team was able to confirm that the data was "correct" and then, if needed, correct any problem areas quickly and effectively using a StereoMirror. They use Inpho DTMaster and 3D Stealth mouse. The SD2420W widescreen allows each user to view a much larger area without sacrificing the desired image magnification extent which is helpful when working with multiple users.

Are you a photogrammetrist? What stereoscopic viewing features would be beneficial for your work?

StereoMirror at NAB

2009-04-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

Planar showed footage from the 3D movie, Coraline (http://coraline.com/), produced by LAIKA (http://www.laika.com/) at the recent NAB convention held in Las Vegas.

Folks watched the opening scene of Coraline’s family moving into their Pink Palace Apartment and the amazing mouse circus scene that took place in “the other world.” The content was shown using “RV” image and sequence viewer from Tweak Software (http://www.tweakfilms.com/). The StereoMirror technology is an excellent tool for 3D modeling, stereoscopic photography and 3D post production work, among other applications.

What movies do you think would be "other worldly" in 3D? Do you have an application need for a stereo 3D display?

StereoMirror v. Perceiva

2009-04-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Obviously the team has been busy with another comparison document to highlight the differences between Planar's StereoMirror and dual stacked LCD stereoscopic monitors.

Download the comparison

StereoMirror v. Red Rover

2009-04-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Our product management team recently assembled a comparison of Planar's StereoMirror and True 3Di's Red Rover product. Download the comparison document.

Entry-level Version of StereoMirror 3D/Stereoscopic Display

2009-03-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

3D/stereoscopic displays are quickly becoming the "need to have" technology. Now, it's easier with the lower-cost, entry-level SD1710 recently announced by Planar. The redesigned version is almost 40% less than the original version. That'll keep some money in your pocket!

Perfect for photogrammetry production houses and molecular modeling teams who want to put a StereoMirror on every desktop, we found the SD1710 maintains the strong stereoscopic viewing performance required in critical daily applications. If you are looking for appropriate StereoMirror solutions should consider frequency of use, the stereo image quality requirements, the criticality of the application and price.

Check out a comparison of Planar's other StereoMirror displays for your 3D/stereoscopic needs. What application could you use a 3D/stereoscopic display for?

Presidential 3D Vision

2009-03-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

At the recent ASPRS show, Miguel Pelaz Puebla of GeoToolBox Ibérica S.L. shared a picture with us. The image shows the President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, trying a Planar StereoMirror stereoscopic display.

SD1710 Stereo/3D Monitor - Now More Affordable

2009-02-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Our entry-level model of the StereoMirror product line is now more affordable. The SD1710 has not undergone any radical changes except an almost 40% reduction in price. It has the same compatibility with graphics cards and stereo supportive software as the other SD products. This model offers 1280x1024 resolution in stereo, while the other StereoMirror products can support resolutions as high as 1920x1200. The only trade offs of the low cost model are slightly more stereo cross-talk and lower brightness than our high-performance line. The viewing performance and comfort of the StereoMirror can now be experienced by even more users. The new SD1710 is perfect for photogrammetry production houses and molecular modeling teams who want to put a StereoMirror on every desktop.

Product highlights include:

Full SXGA (1280x1024) resolution in stereo
Flicker-free, high contrast imaging
Useable in standard office lighting
Fast (12ms) LCD response time
Multi – user, wide angle viewing
Compatible with a number of commercially available graphics cards
Plug and play with OpenGL and DirectX applications that support stereo
Simple polarizing glasses are used
Readily converts from stereo/3D or standard 2D

3D Goes Hollywood

2009-01-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

Get out those awesome 3D viewing glasses! The 3D movie craze is alive and well at a theater near you. There are 30 movies that will soon be leaping off a screen near you, including the soon-to-be released Coraline.

Planar is expanding its StereoMirror display opportunities into the entertainment arena and looking at options in the post-production sector of the movie industry. The StereoMirror display can be used in real time on the movie set to allow the film director to review scenes in a 3D format as they are shot - just like the audience will view it at the theater!

Have you caught any of the newly released 3D movies? 3D movies are showing in an IMAX 3D cinema or REAL D cinema near you.

Tell us about your 3D movie, game and concert viewing experiences!

3D Printers

2008-12-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Obviously we're fans of everything 3D, which is why 3D printing technology is very intriguing. Once you have the ability to fab your own prototypes the barriers to experimentation come down even more. Companies, such as Desktop Factory, are already working hard to make this a reality. With a desktop 3D monitor and a desktop 3D printer, you can make your ideas into physical form at a rapid rate.

What would you create with a 3D monitor and printer bundle?

3D Football

2008-11-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Looks like 3ality Digital is working hard again to make 3D media production a little more mainstream. First it was the U2 concert, now the NFL. The Wall Street Journal covers the proof of concept production. Here's an excerpt.

"The several hundred guests at the three participating theaters Dec. 4 will include representatives from the NFL's broadcasting partners and from consumer-electronics companies. The event will be closed to the general public. Burbank, Calif.-based 3ality Digital LLC will shoot the game with special cameras and transmit it to a satellite. Thomson SA's Technicolor Digital Cinema is providing the satellite services and digital downlink to each theater, and Real D 3D Inc. will power the display in the theaters."

Image source: 3ality Digital.

What other types of media would work well in 3D?

StereoMirror and Planetary Research

2008-11-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

Planar's StereoMirror is being used at the Carl Sagan Center at SETI Institute to perform planetary surface characteristics research. StereoMirror Case Study: Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute provides details about how the SD2420W stereoscopic monitor is helping researchers like Dr. Ross Beyer with remote sensing and geographical modeling of Mars and other terrestrial planets.

After discussions with his colleagues about the best approach to view stereoscopic images, Dr. Beyer was told that the Planar StereoMirror was working out well for many in his field. So, what was his impression with the SD2420W StereoMirror technology? "It is excellent. The images are presented clearly and crisply, and alignment is trivial. The monitors can be used for reasonable periods without eye fatigue, which I am told is problematical with the older stereo display technologies." says Dr. Beyer.

3D is expected to take 9.2% of the total display market by 2015

2008-10-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Display Bank recent release an interesting forecast of the 3D display market. It looks pretty comprehensive. Here's an excerpt.

The biggest issue in 3D display is to develop super high resolution display to offer real sensation and resolve visual fatigue which occurs when observing the display for a long period of time. Specially, 3D display TV market is expected to radically expand when digital broadcasting is imported to generalize HD and Full HD grade TV's and when the resolution and visual fatigue issues are resolved. The 3D display market is likely to further develop through various 3D contents development and 3D standardization.

You can also order the full report which includes coverage of various 3D/stereoscopic technologies.

Nvidia & 3D Internet

2008-09-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

GigaOm has an interesting post related to Nvidia's Nvision Conference. While the information isn't specifically about 3D/stereoscopic displays, it does show some other innovations for presenting information in a new way. Here's an excerpt.

Startups like Bumptop, which is creating a 3-D desktop interface that screams out for touch screens; Cooliris, developers of PicLens visual web site displays; and SpaceTime, which allows for viewing the web in 3-D (it’s like tabbed browsing taken to the next level) all are pushing what people call the 3-D Internet. Other firms such as SeeFront and Spatial View (a SeeFront licensee) enable 3-D displays.

http://gigaom.com/2008/08/25/nvidia-pushes-the-3-d-internet/

StereorMirror Visits Beijing

2008-07-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Every four years the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) organization holds a conference with worldwide participation. The quadrennial conference is synchronized with Summer Olympics and, this year, it coincided with the Olympic site as well. About two javelin throws from Beijing’s new Bird’s Nest stadium, a different group of well-trained experts assembled to see the latest developments in imaging, software and hardware for photogrammetry.

We demonstrated our StereoMirror technology to a good portion of the 3,000 people that attended the meeting. Planar stereo monitors could also be found in booths belonging to photogrammetry software leaders ERDAS (formerly Leica Geosystems), Intergraph, DAT/EM Systems International and Inpho. In addition to showing aerial images for photogrammetry, we highlighted the superior image quality of our monitors with a slideshow of the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and the nearby Olympic sites. Unfortunately, the stereo pictures of the Summer Palace and The Great Wall were not captured until the exhibition had concluded. We'll have to bring those to the 2012 ISPRS meeting in Melbourne, Australia.

In addition to the image quality and viewing comfort, there were many visitors that appreciated the open viewing angle for collaboration. Whether standing or sitting, it was easy for 3 or 4 people to gather around the SD2020 and see high quality stereo imagery. It was a great to talk with people from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and others. There was also plenty of local interest that will keep our new distributor in China busy.

Schrödinger User Symposium

2008-06-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple days at the Schrödinger User Symposium in Portland recently. I was really impressed with the topics presented at the conference. I was humbled at how little I know about computational chemistry, but I appreciate the geniuses working in drug discovery. For example, one speaker (Michael Podvinec) shared about the development of drugs to treat a viral infection called Dengue Fever. This disease affects 50 million people and kills 12,000 per year . The people working on a cure or vaccine for this and other deadly diseases analyze complex 3D molecules to determine whether compounds can perform a needed function. Although I don’t understand the composition and functionality of these drugs – I was a physics guy – I do see the need to have an accurate understanding of the three-dimensional structure of these molecules and binding sites.

Many computational chemists use stereo to analyze complex molecules. We showed our StereoMirror technology to the symposium attendees and had a very positive response. A number of Maestro users said our monitor was the best stereo display they had ever seen. I believe we can provide a very good tool for viewing protein structures in 3D without compromising the image quality or comfort that people are used to seeing on a 2D monitor. Perhaps an SD monitor will contribute to the success of developing a cure for some awful disease. I hope so.

Bjork in 3D

2008-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

U2 isn't the only artist playing with 3D. Bjork's new video Wanderlust also explores the potential of 3D. You can check out this time elapse footage of some of the production.

Or see a 2D version of Wanderlust.

3D Cinema Boom

2008-04-14T11:11:00.001-07:00

The market for 3-D cinema is getting even more mainstream media coverage these days. This time, it's Fortune, getting in the mix with "Who's Cashing In on the 3-D Boom?" The article is solid overview of the various players, including the production side of the business.

Shooting 3-D films used to be a nightmare; you needed a pair of perfectly synced cameras for every scene. Shooting digital 3-D is easier, but you still need a two-camera setup that captures images fast enough to play back at 144 frames a second (rather than 24). The leader in the field is Pace Technologies, based in Burbank, Calif. Founder Vince Pace, best known for the underwater rigs he built to shoot "Abyss" and "Titanic," has now shifted his entire production business to 3-D. His equipment has been used to make every major 3-D feature film so far, including "Hannah Montana," "Avatar," and "Journey."
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/03/technology/cash_3D_boom.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008040706

ABC News Includes Footage of Planar's StereoMirror

2008-03-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

We are very proud of our involvement in the clinical studies at Emory University. The results of this study were previewed at RSNA and receieved a lot of media coverage. Now ABC News has covered the story, and their video footage includes prominent shots of Planar's StereoMirror.

See the complete coverage by ABC News. Be sure to go to clip #3 for the story "Seeing Mammograms Like Never Before."Visit Planar3D for more more details about the clinical study.

Trends in Medical Displays

2008-03-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Planar's Chief Scientist, Adi Abileah, recently presented on Trends in Medical Displays. There is a lot of great content here, including coverage on Planar's StereoMirror and stereoscopic displays.

The presentation is available on SlideShare.

View Upload your own

StereoMirror Goes to West Point

2008-02-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

Military Geospatial Technology covered the Geospatial Information Science program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The article includes a shot of a current cadet using Planar's StereoMirror.

At the heart of that effort is the Geospatial Information Science (GISc) degree program, one of five majors within the Geography and Environmental Engineering Department. The goal of the GISc program, according to its Website, is to give "future Army officers, regardless of branch, the knowledge set to leverage these tools when leading soldiers in our high-tech digital Army."

from Geospatial Academy, Military Geospatial Technology

3D Display Immersed in Work

2008-02-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

The February issue of ProAV magazine has a great article on how 3D/stereoscopic technology is being used in professional applications. The article includes stats about the growth of the 3D market and photos of other 3D environments.

Planar's own Scott Robinson, StereoMirror Product Manager, gets quoted throughout the piece.

“They found that the 3D view has reduced false positives by something like 49 percent and false negatives by 40 percent,” says Robinson, product manager of
stereoscopic displays at Planar. “What we're seeing in the medical market is that we need to go through some of these clinical trials and give evidence that not only does a stereoscopic view not do any harm, but it also enhances, for example, a radiologist's diagnosis.”

ProAV article, Immersed in Work, February 2008.

U23D

2008-01-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

You don't need a StereoMirror to see this film, but it probably could have helped during production. 3ality Digital did the production work, including the sophisticated stereoscopic camera set-up. We look forward to seeing this one when it's released at Sundance.

For more coverage, check out this article.

"Previous generations of 3D film relied heavily on gimmicks, and the limits of the technology resulted in eyestrain--diminishing the life-like qualities," according to production company 3ality Digital, which, in an overview posted at the film's website, said it was shot using "cutting-edge technologies ... from artificial intelligence that aligns 'eye position' of a stereoscopic camera in real time, to first-ever high-res 3D systems with zoom lenses, robotic control, and integrated digital processing."