Characterizing and reducing crosstalk in printed anaglyph stereoscopic 3D images

Abstract

The anaglyph three-dimensional (3D) method is a widely used technique for presenting stereoscopic 3D images. Its primary advantages are that it will work on any full-color display and only requires that the user view the anaglyph image using a pair of anaglyph 3D glasses with usually one lens tinted red and the other lens tinted cyan. A common image quality problem of anaglyph 3D images is high levels of crosstalk–the incomplete isolation of the left and right image channels such that each eye sees a “ghost” of the opposite perspective view. In printed anaglyph images, the crosstalk levels are often very high–much higher than when anaglyph images are presented on emissive displays. The sources of crosstalk in printed anaglyph images are described and a simulation model is developed that allows the amount of printed anaglyph crosstalk to be estimated based on the spectral characteristics of the light source, paper, ink set, and anaglyph glasses. The model is validated using a visual crosstalk ranking test, which indicates good agreement. The model is then used to consider scenarios for the reduction of crosstalk in printed anaglyph systems and finds a number of options that are likely to reduce crosstalk considerably.