REAL D 3D Lexicon

2D to 3D conversion
The conversion of a standard film into the stereo format. Any 3D film can be converted to the REAL D Cinema format.

2K digital projector
Currently the projector of choice for REAL D Cinema with a native resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels.

3D
The term that was used for years to describe stereoscopic movies that require two eyes to get the full effect. People in the computer graphics field use the term 3D to describe any realistic image even if you can see the effect with one eye.

Anaglyph
A stereo image that requires glasses with red and green (or blue) lenses for 3D viewing. It's been widely used for print media and lately for a few kids? movies. Most people complain about eye-strain and fatigue after only a short viewing experience.

Autostereoscopic
A term that describes seeing 3D without having to wear special glasses.

CGI (computer-generated imagery)
The modern process for creating cartoon animation using computer graphics. CGI films are particularly easy to convert to true stereoscopic 3D.

Circular polarization
Linear polarization has been the standard technique used for 3D projection since the 1930's. Circular polarization, unlike linear polarization, allows you to tip your head and still see a 3D image.

Crosstalk
Incomplete isolation of the left and right image channels. Crosstalk is a physical entity, whereas ghosting is a psychophysical entity. Crosstalk detracts from the enjoyment of a stereoscopic film.

DCI/Digital Cinema Initiatives compliant
Compliance with the standards set by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.

D-cinema/digital cinema
The projection of movies in digital format using digital projectors such as the DLP units from TI.

Flicker rate
The number of individual images flashed on the movie screen per second. The conventional cinema uses 48 flashes of image per second. REAL D stereoscopic movies use 144 flashes per second.

Gain
Movie screens are rated on their reflectivity on a scale called gain in which a screen is compared to a flat white surface. A gain of 2, typical for 3D screens, means that the screen is twice as bright as the reference screen.

Ghosting
The perception of crosstalk is called ghosting.

Head tilt
Tilting your head will cause you to lose the stereo effect by increasing crosstalk for most linear 3D movie systems, but not for the REAL D system that uses circular polarization.

Polarized glasses
Glasses with polarizing filers that, when used in combination with the appropriate projection lens filters, select the left image for the left eye and the right for the right eye and block the unwanted images from the inappropriate eyes.

Shutter glasses
Glasses with electro-optical shutters that alternately close and open over one eye, and then the other, in synchronization with the field rate of a digital projector orvcomputer monitor. The projector/monitor alternately displays left and right perspectives. CrystalEyes is the original flicker-free product of this kind and has been in production serving scientific visualization of almost two decades.

Stereoscopic
A display that allows us to see the world with the unique depth sense (binocular stereopsis) that originates because we have two eyes.

Triple flash
REAL D's process where each picture frame is repeated three times, rather than twice as has been done in the past for stereoscopic projection. The result is you see no flicker and the motion looks as smooth as a conventional 2D movie.