Polarized 3D system – All You Need to Know About Polarized 3D

There are two types of 3D systems available – anaglyph 3D and polarized 3D systems. Anaglyph 3D uses a red-cyan color filter. In this article, we will discuss polarized 3D systems. If you are curious about “3D without glass” you can read our article here

Firstly, polarized 3D systems need a display and 3D glass. A polarizer is an optical filter. Light waves can have multiple polarizations and polarizers allow specific polarization to pass through. In other words, polarizers allow specific property of light to pass through. In comparison to anaglyph 3D, a polarized 3D system produces natural color images.

Based on the polarizer used two polarized 3D systems are available

1. Linear polarized 3D
2. Circular polarized 3D

All 3D systems need left and right images to produce depth of the scene.

In linear polarizing 3D, left and right images are projected superimposed onto the same screen through polarizing filters. Therefore, the viewers should wear linear polarized 3D glass. This 3D glass will contain the same filter as the display. The viewing quality depends on the tilt of the viewer.

In circular polarizing 3D, left and right images are projected superimposed onto the same screen through circular polarizing filters. Therefore, the viewers should wear circularly polarized 3D glass. However, the viewing quality does not depend on the tilt of the viewer. Let us see sample images of anaglyph 3D and polarized 3D.

Anaglyph 3D(Red-cyan 3D) frame as shown below (Screenshot from ExMplayer)

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Screenshot of a polarized 3D video frame (Screenshot from ExMplayer)

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Polarized 3D for the Cinema

Dating back to the 1950s, linear polarization 3D technology first used in 1953’s horror film House of Wax. Today’s 3D movies use the circular polarization method. The projector will send Polarized 3D images to the screen thus it will get reflected back to the viewer’s Polarized 3D glass.

Polarized 3D for Computers and TVs

Linear polarization 3D displays are best for gamers because they will look straight into the monitor. Circular polarization best works for television because people may move around the TV. The Circular polarization technology used by brands like RealD, MasterImage, LG, DepthQ, and others.

3D Polarization techniques are easy to apply in cathode ray tube (CRT) displays however Liquid Crystal Displays(LCD) already contain polarizers. These polarizers can interfere with 3D polarizers, therefore LCD is not suitable for polarized 3D. Polarized 3D systems are superior in producing color 3D images.