2000 Proceedings
2000 Photos
Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VII
Proceedings of the SPIE Volume 3957
Stereoscopic Imaging Standards Forum Summary
The Session on Stereoscopic Imaging Standards was well attended and generated lively debate and contributions from the audience. The discussion was led by our panel - Lenny Lipton (StereoGraphics), John Roberts (National Institute for Standards and Technology), and Andrew Woods (Curtin University) - and moderated by Mike Weissman (Karl Storz Imaging). Lipton brought us up to date on developments in software standards, Roberts presented a paper on the classification of stereoscopic display methods, and Woods presented a working document on field-sequential 3D standards for NTSC and PAL systems. Other topics included:
· Terminology. There was a consensus that a document containing definitions of common technical terms used in stereoscopic imaging would be very useful.· Field-Sequential 3D Standards. There are two polarities for field-sequential 3D video - left image in the odd field or right image in the odd field. Unfortunately a preferred polarity has not been defined and both polarities are in somewhat random usage. Again, there was consensus that the definition of a preferred polarity would be beneficial for the field.
· Progressive Scan. When Field-Sequential 3D is used in a progressive scan system (e.g., HDTV or computer-generated), we don't have odd and even fields to identify the left and right images. How can we "embed" a code into the signal that tells the display equipment which image is which?
· MPEG2 and IEEE 1394. How do we incorporate Left/Right information into these new digital formats? It was pointed out by members of the audience that MPEG does allow special codes in the data stream.
· Standards Body. Should the standards we generate be "issued" by an international standards organization?
· Parallax and Disparity. Can we establish guidelines that will help content producers make better 3D still and moving images?
Our plans for keeping the discussion going and for moving forward on standards formulation are four-fold:
1. Establish a mailing list for the discussion of stereoscopic imaging standards.2. Post positions papers (proposals from members of our group on specific topics) on the www.Stereoscopic.org website.
3. Solicit volunteers from our community to serve on standards committees on specific topics.
4. Survey professional organizations to determine which we should work with, if any.
Mike Weissman,
Karl Storz Imaging.