Optimal Display Factors in Stereoscopic TV Images for Human Stereoscopic Vision

Experiments to compare the capability of a stereoscopic TV image to generate disparity (binocular parallax), the main depth cue for human stereoscopic vision, with the characteristics of human stereoscopic vision are presented. In this paper we show that, because of the inadequate horizontal resolution of the conventional TV format (NTSC), the minimum amplitude of disparity that a stereoscopic TV image can generate is stereoscopically perceptible thus causing image quality deterioration in the form of false depth contouring. We also showed that the perceptible high frequency limit of disparity is about 4cpd (cycles/degree) for horizontal gratings, and about 3cpd for vertical gratings. These values are below the spatial frequency bandwidth of disparity that a stereoscopic TV image can generate, therefore, efficient bandwidth utilization is possible. Results of these experiments present the guidelines for designing high quality display for three-dimensional image.