Field sequential 3D-DVD's for shutterglasses and 3D-HMD's

page released on Jan. 2, 2002
last update on August 25, 2003

Contents
How to get 3D-DVD's working on a TV-set or projector with TV-shutterglasses

How to get 3D-DVD's working on a PC with PC-shutterglasses or red/blue-glasses

IMAX-3D-DVD Review (Encounter..., Haunted..., Alien...)

Sensio 3DVD format for full-res progressive stereo3d in the home-theatre - NEW

IMAX 3D - Terrific format, modest results by Michael Starks

TriDVD an over-under DVD format for PC-shutterglasses
 

Movies:

'Encounter in the Third Dimension' technical specs

'Haunted Castle' technical specs

'Haunted Castle' review by Jim Krisvoy

'Alien Adventure' technical specs

'Ultimate G's' - technical specs and review

'Sorority House Vampires From Hell: The 3D Special Edition' - review

'Erotek Dimensions 3D' - technical specs and review
 



the 3d-image as it looks like on your tv-screen

How to get 3D-DVD's working on a TV-set or projector with TV-shutterglasses

System requirements:

- A DVD-player set to standard 60Hz-NTSC output mode! If you got a progressive-player turn off progressive!
- Some TV-shutterglasses
- A standard TV-set or CRT-projector which supports NTSC in 60 Hz!!! Non-NTSC-TV-sets, european 100 Hz TV's, certain digital TV's, HDTV's, Plasma, LCD, LCoS, DLP and other fancy stuff will usually cause severe problems!
- Some european 50Hz-PAL TV's which usually don't support NTSC may do so via the Scart-RGB input.
- Some standard DLP- and LCD-projectors do work via the video-input, as long as they don't do de-interlacing and as long as the time-gap between video-input and projection isn't too large. Just try it!
- Alternatively you could use a 3D-video compatible HMD, a special 3D-projector or a dual-projector-setup with demultiplexer, polarizer-filters, polarizer-glasses and a special non-depolarizing silver-screen.



How to get 3D-DVD's working on a PC with PC-shutterglasses:

Method 1) Line-Blanker-Shutterglasses (such as VRJoy)

- get some PC-shutterglasses with line-blanker technology, such as i-glasses, i-Art 4-in-1, VRStandard VRJoy, AnotherWorld AnotherI's, classic H3D, etc. (Elsa Revelator has no line-blanker)
- if you have an ASUS board with bundled glasses use interlace 3D and the image viewer to get the board into interlace mode
- set your VGA-board to a 480-line mode, such as 640x480 or 720x480.
- get PowerDVD and choose Configuartion -> Video -> Advanced -> Force Weave
- use buttons or software to set your glasses into line-blanker mode
- use buttons or software to adjust stereo left-right order - avoid reversed stereo (left eye sees right image and vice versa)

Method 2) Sync-Doubler-Shutterglasses (such as i-glasses, H3D, eDimensional, X3D, NuVision 60GX-NSR, StereoGraphics, i-Art, etc.)

This is the best way to watch 3D-DVD's - apart from projection!

Get the Stereoscopic Player here
Get Cyberlink PowerDVD full version

Use these settings in the Stereoscopic Player:
 

I think the results with the Stereoscopic Player and Sync-Doubler-Glasses are better than the Line-Blanker approach.

Method 3) Red/Blue anaglyph glasses

Use Stereoscopic Player as described above and choose anaglyph mode as viewing method.


'IMAX-3D-DVD's' review
by Christoph Bungert

The 3D-DVD's based on the IMAX-3D movies 'Encounters in the third dimension', 'Alien Adventure' and 'Haunted Castle' are true to the originals and as such suffer from the same problems. Like most non-documentary IMAX-movies they just count on the staggering vision and sound qualities of the format and become terribly dull soon. 'Encounters...' is clearly the most interesting title of the pack, since it's a 3D-movie about 3D-movies and contains interesting clips from classic 3D-features.

Another problem which was already pointed out by Michael Starks in his IMAX-review and which I'd call the IMAX-3D-Disease is the excessive use of out-of-screen effects. There's very little going on inside the screen, most of the action takes place in front of the screen. This causes eye-strain and ultimately headaches. Also the 3D-effect of out-of-screen objects is destroyed when they touch the border of the screen. In an IMAX-theatre this is not so much of a problem since the screen is gigantic and fills almost the entire field of view of the spectators. When playing the movies from 3D-DVD on the little TV-screen this becomes a big problem. There's lots of stuff coming out of the screen which will dazzle your audience and may make them sick at the same time.

The next big problem of 3D on a standard television is flicker. On the PC we're using 100 Hz upwards for stereo, on the TV it's just 60 Hz. There's heavy flicker which becomes really annoying in lighter, high-contrast scenes. Luckily the DVD titles we're talking of are rather dark and low-contrast. This also helps to fight ghosting.

It should also be mentioned, that the TV-resolution is no match for the IMAX-format, which uses ultra-hi-res-full-frames for each eye. Although the DVD is twice as good as 3D-VHS-tapes the original IMAX print has many many times the resolution. IMAX-3D should usually use something like 4096 x 3072 = 12,582,912 pixel per eye, while the DVD has 720 x 240 = 172,800 pixel per eye.  12,582,912 divided by 172,800 equals factor 73!  I even saw the specs of an optical printer which can bring something like 8000x6000 onto an IMAX-negative (factor 278).

What sets the DVD's apart in a positive way from the IMAX-theatre experience is the bonus-material. With the director-commentary switched on the movies are much more enjoyable than in their original form. On 'Encounters...' the director talks about the history of 3D and 3D-movies, about different formats, ghosting and so on. The behind the scenes footage is also interesting for stereo-buffs.

Despite all the problems these 3D-DVD's will stunn your friends and family. They're a nice collectors item for stereo-enthusiasts, so I recommend them, especially 'Encounters...'. Just don't watch more than one movie in a row and have those Aspirins ready.

Also check out this great interview with the director of the 3 movies - Ben Stassen - at Big Movie Zone. He's talking about the commercial situation of IMAX and the digital future of the format.



Sensio 3DVD format for full-res progressive stereo3D in the home-theatre

The IMAX-3D-DVD's by Slingshot Entertainment are also available in the new hi-res Sensio 3D format. These Sensio 3DVD's require a Sensio 3D processor and a progressive diplay, such as a DLP-, LCD- or CRT-projector.




click to enlarge

Encounter in the Third Dimension (an IMAX3D format film)
produced and directed by Ben Stassen

DVD released by Slingshot Entertainment

DVD-Video NTSC 60Hz
Regional coding 0 (plays on all DVD-players worldwide in NTSC-mode)
Suggested retail price: $19,95 (check dvdpricesearch for best price or look for bundle-offer at i-glasses)

Contents of DVD:
Movie in 2D (full-res 720x480 pixel) 36 minutes
Movie in 3D (interlace format for TV-shutterglasses, half-res 720x240 per eye) 36 minutes
audio tracks:  (1) english DolbyDigital 5.1 (2) english dts 5.1 (3) english feature length directors commentary DolbySurround
subtitles: none
Encounters...-trailer in 2D
Alien Adventure-trailer in 2D
Haunted Castle-trailer in 2D
Making of - 5 minutes
Interviews and behind the scenes clips - 10 minutes
box content: 1 DVD, 1 page with title-index

There's also an older DVD-release of 'Encounter...' for red-blue anaglyph glasses available!!!

read the review




click to enlarge

Haunted Castle (an IMAX3D format film)

produced, written and directed by Ben Stassen

DVD released by Slingshot Entertainment

DVD-Video NTSC 60Hz
Regional coding 0 (plays on all DVD-players worldwide in NTSC-mode)
Suggested retail price: $19,95 (check dvdpricesearch for best price or look for bundle-offer at i-glasses)

Contents of DVD:
Movie in 2D (full-res 720x480 pixel)  38 minutes
Movie in 3D (interlace format for TV-shutterglasses, half-res 720x240 per eye) 38 minutes
audio tracks:  (1) english DolbyDigital 5.1 (2) english dts 5.1 (3) english feature length directors commentary  DolbySurround
subtitles: none
Encounter-trailer in 2D
Alien Adventure-trailer in 2D
Haunted Castle-trailer in 2D
Haunted Castle-teaser in 2D
Making of - 8 minutes
Interviews and behind the scenes clips -  14 minutes
Text pages with the biography of ARID, the pop-group who appears in the movie
Photo gallery in 3D (interlace format for TV-shutterglasses, photos occupy full screen)
Photo gallery in 2D (photos occupy just 1/4th of the screen, due to a large border)
box content: 1 DVD, 1 page with title-index, 1 page with TV-shutterglasses offer

'Haunted Castle' review by Jim Krisvoy
'Haunted Castle' review by Christoph Bungert




click to enlarge

Alien Adventure (an IMAX3D format film)

produced, written and directed by Ben Stassen

DVD released by Slingshot Entertainment

DVD-Video NTSC 60Hz
Regional coding 0 (plays on all DVD-players worldwide in NTSC-mode)
Suggested retail price: $19,95 (check dvdpricesearch for best price or look for bundle-offer at i-glasses)

Contents of DVD:
Movie in 2D (full-res 720x480 pixel) 34 minutes
Movie in 3D (interlace format for TV-shutterglasses, half-res 720x240 per eye) 34 minutes
audio tracks:  (1) english DolbyDigital 5.1 (2) english dts 5.1 (3) english feature length directors commentary  DolbySurround
subtitles: none
Encounter...-trailer in 2D
Alien Adventure-trailer in 2D
Haunted Castle-trailer in 2D
Making of -  4 minutes
Interviews and behind the scenes clips - 15 minutes
Photo gallery in 3D (interlace format for TV-shutterglasses, photos occupy full screen)
Photo gallery in 2D (photos occupy just 1/4th of the screen, due to a large border)
box content: 1 DVD, 1 page with title-index, 1 page with special TV-shutterglasses offer

read the review




Ultimate G's  (an IMAX3D format film)

DVD released by Slingshot Entertainment

DVD-Video NTSC 60Hz
Regional coding 0 (plays on all DVD-players worldwide in NTSC-mode)

Audio tracks in main movie:

English Dolby Digital 5.1
English dts 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
German Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
English Director's Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Content:

Main movie in 2D - 37:09 min
Main movie in 3D - 37:09 min
Zac's dream short film in 2D - 4:38 min
Aerobatics American Style - Scenes from Expo 2000 in 2D - 7:52
Making of... in 2D - 6:45
Electronic press kit in 2D - 16:17
Trailer in 2D - 1:17
3D-glasses installation guide in 2D/3D - 1:22
 

Suggested retail price: $19,95 (check dvdpricesearch for best price or look for bundle-offer at i-glasses)
 

Wrong intro!?

Before the start of the 3D main movie there's a short segment with 3D-glasses installation instructions, a stereo left/right-orientation check and a 3D-demo. Problem is that this segment seems to be inverted in relation to the main movie. So if you follow the stereo orientation check the main movie will be inverted (left eye sees right image and vice versa, which is really really really bad). So never buy shutterglasses without a reverse switch and always do your own checks.

Ultimate G's movie review

Ultimate G's is the story of a boy who dreams about flying and builds some 'Pippi Longstockings'-type flying machines which doesn't quite work. He becomes an aerobatics pilot, competes against another, less likable pilot and get's the girl - kiss - flight into sunset - curtain.

Ultimate G's is your typical IMAX movie which is a mix of feature, documentary and ride film. Based on the title, the trailer, the movie stills, the movie poster and the DVD-cover the audience will certainly expect a ride film. What they get is a mildly entertaining feature with a few minutes of aerial  footage, which on the IMAX screen will certainly be extremely impressive. On the small TV-screen these scenes doesn't work quite as well. The movie just started at my local IMAX-3D theatre (german title: Akrobaten der Lüfte) and the DVD just gives me the urge to go to the theatre to see the real stuff.

The movie-makers were longing for an emotionally engaging feature film and they claim to have the first love scene (kiss) in the IMAX format. Well, the emotional part didn't work on me. Maybe I already saw too many cute family oriented TV-series which try to play the same emotional cord, but do it better.

What sets this IMAX-3D-DVD apart from the other available DVD titles (Encounter, Haunted House and Alien Adventure) are the real IMAX-3D-camera shots. The other movies are completely or almost completely done by computer animation.
So Ultimate G's is kind of refreshing and in my opinion visually richer and more refined. People, grass, trees, interiors, planes, landscapes give much more stereoscopic detail and a stronger sense of being there than the artificial stuff from the other movies. If you want stereoscopic CGI better go for the nVidia driver and play some computer games in hi-res on the PC.

As usual the movie is much more enjoyable with the director's commentary switched on. I found the other extras on the DVD also more interesting than the movie itself, but they are all in 2D only. Technically this is a good DVD with average picture quality, outstanding 5.1 sound, large selection of languages (all in DD 5.1) and lots of extras.

Despite the shortcomings, if you enjoyed the other IMAX-3D-DVD's and need more stuff for your 3D-glasses, go for Ultimate G's.


More movies:
 

'Sorority House Vampires From Hell: The 3D Special Edition' - review - NEW

'Erotek Dimensions 3D' - technical specs and review - NEW
 

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