Colorcode 3-D

[Tim Dashwood]

Has any anyone here ever used Colorcode 3-D?
I think it is very new. It seems to be a passive color filtration system that just uses "hints" at depth. Much like anaglyph there no need for special hardware or two projectors/polarizers. I've spent the past hour leafing through the patents to try to figure it out but the math is very in-depth.
ColorCode 3-D

Also, here's a comparison chart they provide.
Comparison chart

And a pdf overview.
http://www.colorcode3d.com/info/pages/what_is_cc3d.pdf


I can see this being an ideal delivery format for my corporate clients.

[Tim Dashwood]

I just ordered a couple sets of glasses to check this out.

[Alister Chapman]

Looks interesting and if it works a nice alternative to Anaglyphs.. The prices are quite reasonable.

[Ron Labbe]

I've seen it and do not like it at all. The blue lens is very heavy, darkens the image substantially and tints everything quite blue. The complimentaries are not as well balanced as red/cyan.

[Tim Dashwood]

My demo box arrived today and I must say I am impressed this idea even works. It is definitely leaps and bounds better than anaglyph, but obviously not as good as polarization or active systems.

The demo box comes with two pairs of cardboard ColorCode 3D glasses, a printed photo of two bridesmaids in pink dresses, and a DVD-ROM with loads of sample images and movies in Colorcode 3D format.

The first thing I looked at was the physical photo included. Upon first glance (without the glasses on) it looks like a normal photo, just with some purple fringing. I think this is one of the major advantages of this system over old-style anaglyph that makes it feasible for network broadcast 3D. If you don't have the glasses you can still see an "OK" image in 2D.

When you put the glasses on and look at the image the exposure is correct and the 3D effect is very convincing. What is most impressive is that the skin tones and dress colour are maintained. There is actually a slideshow on the DVD with the same photo and the dress colour changed to various hues to demonstrate how the system handles all colours.

The interesting thing about the glasses is that to the untrained eye they would appear like the century old anaglyph glasses we all hate. The right-eye filter is a deep pure blue but the left eye is brown. The brown filter has a less dramatic effect on the colour of the image but it does warm it up a bit (seems like an 85/ND filter.)
If I close my right eye I see a warmed & darkened version of the image but colour hues and saturation are maintained. When I close my left eye I see a dark monochromatic blue image.
I measured the transmittance of each filter with my light meter and there seems to be a 2 and a half stop loss in the brown filter and a bit more than 3 stops in the blue.
Obviously the encoding software does some sort of gamma correction to make up for this loss in transmittance because the source images almost seem a bit overexposed until you look through the glasses. Unfortunately the blue tone dominates any large areas of bright whites, especially on a computer monitor.

The movie samples look good. There is a great nature doc on there with a butterfly and a praying mantis. There's also an animated snake that slithers out of the screen towards you.

I've read the pdf materials included with the demo box and it seems you can buy the ColorCode software to create still images in ColorCode 3-D, but it seems the company only offers a movie encoding option as a service. Too bad.

Overall... better than anaglyph but won't replace polarized or active systems anytime soon.

[Ron Labbe]

In my opinion, anaglyph is still way better.

Check out a new book coming out next month IN YOUR FACE 3-D if you want to see good printed anaglyph. As far as looking ok in 2D, either system can converge on the main subject (usually a face) which will exhibit no fringing, since it's "at the window".

Anaglyph is brighter and better balance.
A new format employs green and magenta filters, I've yet to see it.

[Ken Plotin]

Um, the process IS anaglyph...just with a different set of color opposites. It is slightly easier to maintain good flesh tones with the amber/blue version than with red/cyan. Other exotic color combos have been used over the years. I don't know how they were able to patent it, unless there is a lot of 'secret sauce" stuff in the software. Darker images in anaglyph are pretty much a fact of life to keep ghosting to a minimum (hence the darker "brown" instead of lighter amber). As you probably know, careful tweaking of the left and right eye images can help with this. Which anaglyph color system you find easier on the eyes varies markedly from person to person.
I'm in agreement with Tim on polarized 3D...lot easier on the brain.

Hope this helps,
Ken

[Steve Brady]

Originally Posted by Ken Plotin

Um, the process IS anaglyph...just with a different set of color opposites. It is slightly easier to maintain good flesh tones with the amber/blue version than with red/cyan. Other exotic color combos have been used over the years. I don't know how they were able to patent it, unless there is a lot of 'secret sauce" stuff in the software. Darker images in anaglyph are pretty much a fact of life to keep ghosting to a minimum (hence the darker "brown" instead of lighter amber). As you probably know, careful tweaking of the left and right eye images can help with this. Which anaglyph color system you find easier on the eyes varies markedly from person to person.
I'm in agreement with Tim on polarized 3D...lot easier on the brain.

Hope this helps,
Ken

What makes it patentable (the "secret sauce") is the mathematical formula that modifies the luminance of the right eye record and the luminance and chrominance of the left eye record to best transmit the colour information. The darker brown is necessary for balance, because blue is low luminance.

Whilst I haven't read the patent thoroughly, their process doesn't seem to attempt to determine which point in each image represents each point in the three dimensional scene, so it seems to me that they are effectively presenting a luminance-based stereoscopic pair combined with a flat chrominance image based on the average of the two views.

[Ken Plotin]

Steve,
Thanks for that patent link.
After reading the abstract I agree that their software doesn't seem do this on a variable basis (in the case of video) based on continuously changing scene information. That would be very interesting indeed, as that mathmatical profile could be used to optimize many other anaglyph color pair choices.
The darker brown to offset the dark blue is the unfortunate side effect of the process, and one of the caveats of anaglyph in general. It's a delicate trade off between ghosting cancellation and luminance of the image.

The 3D patent stuff is a real mind bender. Some years ago I wrote a supplementary patent explanation/clarification of a specific anaglyph viewing process for a client's attorney. It had been initially rejected as being too vague. During my research I discovered an incredible number of patents for stereoscopic devices and processes that stepped all over each others' toes. Some were actually unique (and Color Code probably falls into this category based on their encoding AND viewing approach), but many simply showed the lack of knowledge of the patent examiner on the case.
It's a black art/science indeed.
Ken

[Frank Hool]

As far they use color tinted glasses a few statements from their comparsion chart aren't just true.... Full depth, Full Color.

Second important aspect is for indie videomaker that algorithm of assembling stereoscopic stream should be implemented After Effects(like) level. Content producer is the key for vital stereoscopic playback standard. If wide area of tools is not available for content producers then this method has no future.

[Tim Dashwood]

The first big commercial application...

http://nab365.bdmetrics.com/NST-2-50...owl-promo.aspx

[Tim Dashwood]

NBC will also air Chuck on February 2nd with ColorCode 3D encoding.

[Tim Dashwood]

Press release

April 16, 2009


3-D on LED at NAB 2009

3-D is a hot topic at this year's NAB Show. As one of the groundbreaking events Wagner Media and ColorCode 3-D will be showing 3-D on a large LED wall. The possibility to show 3-D on LED walls opens up for a whole new use of 3-D entertainment, from arena shows like concerts and sports to marketing events. The power of the modern high quality LED wall together with the ColorCode 3-D system makes it possible to deliver a great 3-D experience to large audiences even in bright day light...


You can get the whole press release at:
http://www.colorcode3d.com/press/press_cc3d_at_nab.pdf