How 3-D works

Anyone who has seen James Cameron's "Avatar" has had 3-D on the brain lately (at least I know I have). The New York Times published an article today that contained a concise explanation of how the new 3D works, so I thought I'd share it. I'm sure personal 3-D televisions are a ways out for most of us who are right out of college, but who knows? Maybe we'll get buddy buddy with Bill Gates and he'll have us over.

"New 3-D televisions, like the 3-D screens in theaters, work by dividing picture images into two sets, one for each eye. A viewer must wear special glasses, so each eye captures a different image, creating the illusion of depth. Filming entails two connected cameras, one for the left-eye image and the other for the right.

Manufacturers have developed two technologies for 3-D glasses in the home. In so-called polarized glasses, which can cost under a dollar, each lens blocks a set of images transmitted in certain types of light. “Active” glasses, which are better suited for LCD screens in particular, have battery-powered shutters that open and close rapidly, so each eye sees different views of each frame. These glasses can cost up to $100, but television makers are expected to package at least two pairs with each monitor."

Pulled from "Television Begins a Push Into the 3rd Dimension"