Stereoscopic hardcopy methods
OwnerDennis R. Hall, Philip A. Johnsoninventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A full color stereoscopic hard copy is printed using a first group of color inks that reflect one handedness of circularly polarized light and a second group of color inks that reflect the opposite handedness of circularly polarized light. One image of a stereo pair is printed using the first group of inks and the other of the stereo pair is printed using the second group of inks.
Claims31
A full color stereoscopic hardcopy printing method, for presenting an image of a stereo pair of images encoded to each eye of a viewer so that the viewer can perceive a stereoscopic image, said method comprising:
- providing a first group of color inks that reflect circularly polarized light of one handedness,
- providing a second group of color inks that reflect circularly polarized light of handedness opposite said one handedness, and
- printing said stereo pair of images together in an intimately mixed or superimposed fashion to form a coextensive, composite image, employing the first group of color inks to print one of said stereo pair of images and the second group of color inks to print the other of said stereo pair of images, and thereby encoding the composite image to the viewer's eyes with circularly polarized light of orthogonal handednesses, so that when the composite image of the stereo pair of images is viewed with circularly polarizing decoding glasses, wherein the lenses of said glasses transmit to each eye only the image of the stereo pair of images encoded for that eye, the viewer perceives said color stereoscopic image.
A method of printing a full color stereoscopic image, comprising:
- printing one image of a stereo pair of images on a transparent substrate employing color inks that reflect circularly polarizing light of one handedness,
- printing the other image of said stereo pair of images on a second substrate employing color inks that reflect polarized light of the same said one handedness, and
- placing the transparent substrate over the second substrate with a halfwave plate interposed between the first and second substrates, so that when images on the two substrates are viewed from the side of the first substrate, the reflected circularly polarized light from the image on the second substrate, passing through the halfwave plate has its polarization encoding changed to circularly polarized light of the opposite handedness from said one handedness, whereas the circularly polarized light reflected from the image on the first substrate is unaltered, so that when the images of the stereo pair of images upon the two substrates are viewed with polarization decoding glasses, wherein the lenses of said glasses transmit to each eye only the image of the stereo pair of images encoded for that eye, the viewer perceives a color stereoscopic image.
A method of manufacturing a polarization encoded medium, comprising resolving a surface of a substrate into a linear array of area elements 0 . . . n in one dimension, and depositing inks that reflect and transmit circularly polarized light at the ith area element (i=0 . . . n), and wherein the inks that are deposited at each area element for which i is an odd number reflect light that is circularly polarized with one handedness and the inks that are deposited at each area element for which i is an even number reflect light that is circularly polarized with handedness opposite said one handedness and the circularly polarized light being transmitted by said area elements being of orthogonal handedness to that which is reflected by said area elements.
A method of creating a stereoscopic hardcopy from the images of a stereoscopic pair of images, comprising:
- providing a polarization encoded medium having a linear or a rectangular array of area elements and in which the area elements are in first and second sets such that each area element of the first set is separated in at least one of the second and first dimensions of the array from other elements of the first set by at least one element of the second set and each element of the second set is separated from other elements of the second set by at least one element of the first set, and wherein the area elements of the first set transmit and reflect polarized light of one handedness or orientation and the area elements of the second set transmit and reflect polarized light of the opposite handedness or of orthogonal orientation, and
- printing the left eye's stereo perspective view by depositing inks that transmit light of respective colors on the first set of area elements and printing the right eye's stereo perspective view by depositing inks that transmit light of respective colors on the second set of area elements, so that when viewed with polarization decoding glasses, wherein the lenses of said glasses transmit the polarization of the first set to the viewer's left eye and transmit the polarization of the second set to the viewer's right eye, a stereoscopic image is presented to the viewer.
A full color stereoscopic photographic film processing method, which presents a first and second image of a stereo pair of images to the left and right eyes of a viewer so that the viewer can perceive a stereoscopic image, comprising:
- processing the individual emulsion layers of the photographic films of said first image of the stereo pair of images with polarizing dyes that reflect light of one color and one handedness of circularly polarized light,
- processing said second image of the stereo pair of images with polarizing dyes that reflect light of one color and the opposite handedness of circularly polarized light, and
- combining the color emulsion layers of each stereo pair of images to form a processed film of a first or second image of the stereo pair of images, which films of the first and second image when laminated together to form a coextensive, superimposed, composite image of the stereo pair of images, when viewed with circularly polarizing decoding glasses, wherein the lenses of said glasses transmit to each eye only the image of the stereo pair of images encoded for that eye, presents to the viewer said stereoscopic image.
A method of printing a color image, comprising depositing chiral nematic-liquid crystal inks to form an intimately mixed or superimposed, coextensive, composite image, the color components of said composite image being of either single or dual handedness, that reflect light of respective colors on a print receiving sheet.
A full color stereoscopic hardcopy printing method, which presents an image of a stereo pair of images encoded to each eye of the viewer so that the viewer can perceive a stereoscopic image produced by printing said image of the stereo pair of images together in an intimately mixed or superimposed, coextensive, composite image on a transparent medium with color inks that transmit circularly polarized light of two orthogonal handednesses, one handedness of the polarized light for each image of the stereo pair of images, and thereby encoding the composite image to the viewer's eyes with circularly polarized light of orthogonal handednesses, when viewed directly or through projection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.