Planar SD2020 manual StereoMirror Technology

Operating principle of the StereoMirror monitor.

StereoMirror™ Technology

A StereoMirror™ monitor consists of two AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display) units, oriented at a 110º angle and mounted on a specially designed stand. A passive beamsplitter mirror bisects the angle formed between the two monitors, and there is a fine mechanical adjustment for the mirror angle between the two displays. One side of the glass mirror has a reflective coating, and the other side has an anti-reflective coating to minimize secondary reflections. The mirror has been treated with a hard top coating to accommodate cleaning.

In general, the objective of a stereoscopic display is to efficiently present

a left eye image solely to the left eye while the right eye image is directed to the right eye. This allows the human visual system to merge the two images and results in the

perception of depth,

th

i

or stereopsis. In the

w

e

tor

g

i

a

Right Eye

on

m

StereoMirror™ design

M

I

e

op

y

E

T

t

this stereo separation

h

g

i

R

is achieved using the

principle of conservation

of polarization.

Bottom

Left Eye

Liquid crystal displays

Monitor

operate based on the

with Left

ability of liquid crystal

Eye Image

Beamsplitter

material to modulate

plane-polarized light. Mirror

The two AMLCDs in the SD2020 model have been manufactured so that the

polarized light emitted from the top monitor is 90° rotated from that of the bottom monitor. The image from the lower monitor is seen through the mirror, as shown in the illustration above. When stereo pair images from the two monitors are viewed through crossed-polarizing glasses (glasses with polarizing films mounted on the eyepieces with their planes of polarization at a right angle to one another), the user only sees the left eye image with the eyepiece having the 0°-oriented polarizer and the right eye image with the eyepiece having the 90° polarizer. Light with a perpendicular polarization is not transmitted. The result is a single, fused stereoscopic image.

SD2020 2 User's Guide