Why 3D doesn't work

Why 3D doesn’t work and never will. Case closed. article tells about a letter is from Walter Murch, the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema (and not a big fan of 3D). The article comments on 3D cinema: dark, small, stroby, headache inducing, alienating. And expensive.

The first problem is that the 3D image is dark (about a camera stop darker) and looks small. Somehow the glasses seem to “gather in” the image and make it seem half the scope of the same image when looked at without the glasses.

Walter edited one 3D film back in the 1980′s — “Captain Eo” — and also noticed that horizontal movement will strobe much sooner in 3D than it does in 2D. This was true then, and it is still true now.

The biggest problem with 3D, though, is the “convergence/focus” issue. The audience must focus their eyes at the plane of the screen, but their eyes must converge at different distances depending on what the illusion is. So 3D films require us to focus at one distance and converge at another. This is a deep problem, which no amount of technical tweaking can fix (unless we can change to true “holographic” images).

Read also 3D Cinema Doesn’t Work and Never Will comments at Slashdot. Read also my earlier 3D postings Why Bad 3D Gives You Headaches, 3D is dangerous?, 3D Vision Problems and 3-D is coming soon.

3dglass

7 Comments

  1. Tomi says:

    Read also:

    CES 2011: The 3-D Party’s Not Over, But After Last Year’s Binge, Here Comes The Hangover
    http://www.edn.com/blog/Brian_s_Brain/40418-CES_2011_The_3_D_Party_s_Not_Over_But_After_Last_Year_s_Binge_Here_Comes_The_Hangover.php

    Reply
  2. Tomi says:

    3D: Does It Make Your Head Happy … or Ache?
    http://hothardware.com/News/3D-Does-It-Make-Your-Head-Happy–or-Ache/

    About a year ago, much news was made about how 3D could cause headaches and visual disturbances. One report went so far as to blame 3D for causing a car crash.

    Fast forward to today. People have been complaining that Nintendo’s new glasses-free 3DS handheld game causes headaches.

    The issue, doctors say, is that 3D works by tricking the brain into making you think you are physically moving in relation to your surroundings. But you aren’t. So your inner ear is not experiencing the movement that corresponds to what the eyes are seeing. This doesn’t normally happen in real life.

    No one would deny that 3D is more immersive, that’s why people like it, particularly for gaming. But the question is … does the brain love 3D or not? Answer: not really.

    Reply
  3. Tomi says:

    What turns people off from buying 3D TV
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20052923-260.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

    Try as they might, Panasonic and Sony have yet to convince consumers that 3D TV is a necessity.

    Released today, a new study commissioned by The NPD Group found that while people know more about 3D TV now, they’re not generally any more convinced of why they need one.

    This NPD study follows a survey Nielsen conducted last fall that found, among other things, that 90 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t want to wear glasses for 3D TV because it would hinder multitasking–like working on a laptop, or other things people generally do while sitting in front of the TV.

    And therein lies the main problem with 3D TV. The prices of the sets will eventually fall–in fact it’s already happening, more on that in a moment–but we’re still not that close to not wearing 3D glasses while watching a 3D television at home. And unlike HDTV, which went from the new must-have feature to commodity item in less than half a decade, 3D TV still doesn’t feel like it’s anywhere near becoming as ubiquitous as HD despite the best efforts of TV makers.

    Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20052923-260.html#ixzz1JIHBWYDl

    Reply
  4. Tomi says:

    The Hobbit Filming at 48fps
    http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/04/12/1949205/emThe-Hobbitem-Filming-at-48fps

    “Peter Jackson has announced via his Facebook page that The Hobbit is being shot at 48 frames per second, ameliorating the ’3D headaches’ that many viewers have complained of in the last few boom-years for the format. Film has been shot and projected at 24fps since the 1920s, with the exception of Douglas Trumbull’s 60fps ‘ShowScan’ format, used for the Universal Back To The Future ride, amongst others. Jackson himself predicts that the widespread adoption of 48fps workflow could not only improve the 3D but also the general cinematic experience”

    Peter Jackson easing 3D eyestrain for The Hobbit?
    http://www.shadowlocked.com/201104121721/news/peter-jackson-easing-3d-eyestrain-for-the-hobbit.html

    “Shooting at 24fps is one thing, but until now the need to project at that rate would likely have called for a complete refit of the world’s projection systems, a stumbling-block overcome by the increasing use of digital projectors.”

    “Now that the world’s cinemas are moving towards digital projection, and many films are being shot with digital cameras, increasing the frame rate becomes much easier. Most of the new digital projectors are capable of projecting at 48 fps, with only the digital servers needing some firmware upgrades. We tested both 48 fps and 60 fps. The difference between those speeds is almost impossible to detect, but the increase in quality over 24 fps is significant. ”

    “Film purists will criticize the lack of blur and strobing artifacts, but all of our crew–many of whom are film purists–are now converts. You get used to this new look very quickly and it becomes a much more lifelike and comfortable viewing experience. It’s similar to the moment when vinyl records were supplanted by digital CDs.There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re heading towards movies being shot and projected at higher frame rates.”

    Reply
  5. Tomi says:

    Movie-goer punts 3D-to-2D cinema specs
    http://www.reghardware.com/2011/06/06/glasses_change_3d_back_to_2d/

    Are you regularly forced to sit through 3D kids’ flicks in the cinema, generating inevitable headaches and eyestrain, powerless to do anything except hide behind your popcorn and cower at the daunting visuals?

    Who needs aspirin when you have 2D Glasses?

    Technically, the glasses feature two identical polarising lenses, blocking the same part of the image broadcast, so both eyes see the image intended for only one of them.

    http://www.2d-glasses.com/

    2D-glasses allow any RealD 3D movie to be viewed as if it is a normal two-dimensional movie. I created them so my wife could come see 3D movies with me without getting a headache. Soon, I realized that we weren’t the only people with this problem, so i decided to make them avaliable online.

    Reply
  6. NaNt says:

    Very instructive and good bodily structure of subject matter, now that

    Reply
  7. bol bol oyun says:

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    Reply

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