A block diagram describing the process of driving a StereoMirror™ monitor with a computer is shown below. The left eye and right eye images are sent to their respective AMLCDs independently and without any special treatment (with the exception of accommodating for the fact that the upper monitor is seen in a mirror; see discussion below). Presenting the stereo pair of images requires a setup or software application that accommodates dual-monitor stereo viewing. No additional modification is needed for use with the StereoMirror™ monitor design.
Any software application that uses the OpenGL quad-buffered stereo features is compatible with the StereoMirror.™ Quad-buffered stereo is a feature of the OpenGL 3D graphics library that allows an application to define two separate right/left eye viewpoints instead of the normal single monoscopic viewpoint. The two viewpoints are defined to give the correct parallax separation for the proper stereo effect. Once the two viewpoints have been defined, the 3D scene is rendered identical for each of the two viewpoints. Many commercial 3D applications already have stereo viewing modes using the OpenGL stereo features.
Since the upper display of the monitor is seen in reflection, a mirror-flip operation must be performed on that data path. In the current product this is accomplished using an auxiliary signal processing board in the data path to the upper monitor. Driving a StereoMirror™ monitor is identical to driving a pair of projection displays used to show stereoscopic images with crossed polarizers in the two separate light paths. An off-the-shelf, dual-output graphics card is employed to drive the two monitors, again with no
special preparation.
Mirror-flip
PCI Card
| Right | | |
| Eye | | Top |
| Image | |
| Left Eye | Monitor |
| |
| | Image | |
| Dual Output | |
| Graphics Card | Lower |
| | |
| | | Monitor |
| Computer and | |
| Software Application | |
Driving the StereoMirror monitor
User’s Guide 3
