It’s Friday and I like to blog about standards on topics that may relate to your weekend activities. So I was delighted to find a new IEC standard that provides guidance for testing those glasses you wear when you go to a 3D movie! The IEC 62629 series is focusing on stereoscopic displays. So the release of IEC 62629-12-1, “3D Display devices – Part 12-1: Measuring methods for stereoscopic displays using glasses – Optical,” ultimately means you’ll be getting an even better effect at the cinema.
3D display (also known as stereoscopic display) comes in several flavors. You can create the effect with a headset, with glasses, or with no aids at all (autostereoscopic display). It all has to do with providing 1 viewing angle for 1 eye and a slightly different one for the other.
The IEC 62629-12-1 focuses (pardon the pun) on the various methods you can use to characterize the performance of stereoscopic displays that rely on the use of glasses. The glasses may be either active or passive. The difference here is that active glasses actually alternate the view from the left and right lenses, synchronizing to the timing of the stereoscopic image on the viewing device. Passive glasses just have fixed lenses that separate the display into two different images, one for each eye.
The standard lists out the different factors that need to be measured in order to characterize the results of a given product. Some are based on both the glasses and the display unit. The others are for the glasses only. These can include luminance, “dark-room” contrast ratio, how dependent the lenses are on the distance from the display, and so on.
Then for each of the criteria, specific tests are recommended, along with figures showing the set-up of the equipment, the various angles required for specific tests, and so on. Since you’re working with the measurement of light, there’s no shortage of equations and you’ll be pleased that Annex A provides you with rules for the various symbols used in the standard.
The list of tests is lengthy and the result is 69 pages of technical information for you to review. However, when you think about it, the technologies “behind the glasses” as it were is really remarkable.
The other two published standards in the IEC 62629 series are:
IEC 62629-1-2, 1st Edition, 3D display devices – Part 1-2: Generic – Terminology and letter symbols
IEC 62629-22-1, 1st Edition, 3D display devices – Part 22-1: Measuring methods for autostereoscopic displays – Optical
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