Federal workplaces have increased their purchases of high-resolution LCD based flat-panel display monitors, and in many offices the 20^th century low-resolution CRT monitors are no longer to be found.  And while the upgrade in display technology has benefited mainstream users of email, word processing and spreadsheet applications, LCD technology has been unable to match CRTs for users and applications that require graphical 3D video.  The problem:  The nature of liquid crystals does not allow LCD’s to refresh at the 120 Hz rate required to produce frame sequential stereo.

Federal users at NASA, DoD, DMA, NOAA and FEMA, to name just a few, depend on high quality, high-resolution stereo images to accurately create, view or edit 3D data and stereo images.  To address this problem, Planar Systems has begun to introduce their StereoMirror™ technology into the federal marketplace.  It uses two AMLCD monitors in an up/down configuration with a beamsplitter halfway between.  A user of this stereoscopic monitor wears polarized glasses that allow the left eye to see the lower monitor and the right eye to see the upper monitor.  The beamsplitter is positioned so that the user feels like they are looking at one display.  Both eyes see a continuous, flicker-free image without compromising resolution, color, contrast or the image quality that is common on a 2D monitor.  The result is an excellent stereoscopic image that is comfortable to view even for lengthy viewing.

There are three important criteria when evaluating 3D displays.  First, it has to have a good stereo image.  People who are accustomed to seeing a good image on their regular desktop monitor expect that same quality for a stereo 3D image.  The left and right images must be separated without sacrificing the image attributes. Second, the display system has to be comfortable.  People want to be able to view a stereo 3D image without changing their normal display viewing behavior or being subjected to an annoyance.  Lastly, a good 3D display solution has so be easy to setup and easy to use.  It has to interface with the computer, graphics card and software in a simple way.  People use 3D displays to view complex data and images and they should be able to focus their attention on the content rather than the means to view the content.  The StereoMirror meets all three criteria.

This is an exciting time as stereoscopic technologies continue to accelerate the adoption of 3D in government applications. Stereo 3D displays have the potential to benefit geospatial intelligence, geophysical exploration, complex visualization, simulation, remote operation, surveillance, medical procedures/diagnosis and other difficult tasks.  A stereo view allows the user to make faster and more accurate assessments and analysis of a scene.  The ability to perceive depth on a desktop monitor takes advantage of the way humans observe the real world.  Because a stereoscopic view gives users two perspectives of a situation, the image noise associated with that scene is reduced.  Companies like Planar Systems are working to provide a display solution that adds realism to an electronic image that literally adds a new dimension to federal monitors.