Stereoscopic Glossary

As part of an article written for Analogue Wonderland, I have put together this glossary to explain some of the more common terms used in relation to Stereoscopic Photography.

Anaglyph

Anaglyph images are produced where one lens has a red filter, the other a blue/cyan. This was popular in the 1950s for 3D Movies. 

Beam Splitter

A device built out of mirrors to split light. This lets you create parallel stereoviews with a single lens camera.

Charles Wheatstone

Sir Charles Wheatstone, (1802, Eng.—1875, France.), Knighted in 1868

English physicist who invented the stereoscope, a device for observing pictures in three dimensions still used in viewing X-rays and aerial photographs.

His other inventions include the concertina, a type of small accordion, and as well as devices used to record the speed of light.. 

Lenticular

The only form of 3D images that does not need a special viewer/glasses or headset. These images have raised bumps that when you til the image you see different angles and can perceive the depth. A basic one has 2 layers, the Reto3D is designed for this, however some of the best examples are made by a series of 28 lenses!

Stereoscope

A stereoscope is a device for viewing a stereoscopic pair of separate images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, as a single three-dimensional image.

Stereoscopic or 3D Cameras

Any camera that allows you to create stereo images in a single frame. These range from 1 lens to 4 lenses

T. R. Williams

Thomas Richard Williams was a stereoscopic photographer and one of the key names of 1850s Stereoscopy. 

His most notable work includes Scenes in Our Village - a series of Stereo images in a small village in Oxfordshire. He was also an official photographer for the Royal Family.

View-Master

View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film. It was originally manufactured and sold by Sawyer's.

The View-Master system was introduced in 1939, four years after the advent of Kodachrome color film made the use of small, high-quality photographic color images practical. Tourist attraction and travel views predominated in View-Master's early lists of reels, most of which were meant to be of interest to users of all ages. Most current View-Master reels are intended for children

Virtual Reality (V.R)

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world.