Controlling Miniaturization in Stereoscopic 3D Imagery

Viewers of stereoscopic 3D imagery can perceive the absolute size of objects within a scene. On larger screens the perceptual size of objects commonly appears bigger than reality, which matches viewers' expectations for big-screen “larger than life” theatrical experiences. The geometry involved in stereoscopic imaging can cause the perceptual size of objects to appear smaller than reality (“miniaturization”). Miniaturization can be distracting for viewers and is more extreme on smaller screens like 3DTV and handheld 3D devices. — A common misconception is that miniaturization occurs only when the stereo camera separation (interaxial) is larger than the human eye separation (interocular) 2.5 inches. Counter-examples of this misconception will be provided as well as an analysis framework that allows stereo-camera-operators to accurately predict when the miniaturization effect will on any screen size. — During the presentation of this paper, example stereoscopic 3D images will be shown illustrating control of perceptual size.