On the distinction between perceived & predicted depth in S3D films

A primary concern when making stereoscopic 3D (S3D) movies is to promote an effective and comfortable S3D experience for the audience when displayed on the screen. The amount of depth produced on-screen can be controlled using a variety of parameters. Many of these are lighting related such as lighting architecture and technology. Others are optical or positional and thus have a geometrical effect including camera interaxial distance, camera convergence, lens properties, viewing distance and angle, screen/projector properties and viewer anatomy (interocular distance). The amount of estimated depth from disparity alone can be precisely predicted from simple trigonometry; however, perceived depth from disparity in complex scenes is difficult to evaluate and most likely different from the predicted depth based on geometry. This discrepancy is mediated by perceptual and cognitive factors, including resolution of the combination/conflict of pictorial, motion and binocular depth cues. This paper will review geometric predictions of depth from disparity and present the results of experiments which assess perceived S3D depth and the effect of the complexity of scene content.