Abstract

A Method and apparatus is provided for producing and displaying pairs of spectrally-multiplexed gray-scale or color images of 3-D scenery for use in stereoscopic viewing thereof. In one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, pairs of spectrally-multiplexed color images of 3-D scenery are produced using a camera system records left and right color perspective images thereof and optically processes the spectral components thereof. In another illustrative embodiment of the present invention, pairs of spectrally-multiplexed color images of 3-D imagery are produced within a computer-based system which generates left and right perspective images thereof using computer graphic processes, and processes the pixel data thereof using pixel-data processing methods of the present invention. Thereafter, produced pairs of spectrally-multiplexed images can be recorded on diverse recording mediums, and accessed by the display system of the present invention for real-time display on diverse display surfaces including, for example, flat-panel liquid-crystal display (LCD) surfaces, CRT display surfaces, projection display screen surfaces, and electro-luminescent panel display surfaces. In the various illustrative embodiments of the display system, stereoscopic viewing of 3-D imagery is facilitated by wearing electrically passive or electrically-active light polarizing spectacles during the image display process of the present invention.