Crosstalk Evaluation in Stereoscopic Displays

Substantial progress in liquid-crystal display and polarization film technology has enabled several types of stereoscopic displays. Despite all progress, some image distortions still exist in these 3-D displays, of which interocular crosstalk-light leakage of the image for one eye to the other eye-is probably the most annoying. The aim of the current research is to investigate how the two most important physical quantities, contrast and binocular disparity, influence crosstalk perception. Images consisting of a single character and varying in contrast and disparity were computer-generated to measure crosstalk visibility and acceptability thresholds for two stereoscopic displays; one display was based on active shutter glasses, and the other on passive glasses. Results show that, under the same experimental condition, there is no significant difference in crosstalk perception between both 3-D display technologies. Crosstalk annoyance increases with increasing contrast and disparity, i.e., less crosstalk is allowed for higher levels of contrast and disparity. Based on the experimental results, an analytical formula for predicting crosstalk perception is proposed.