homemade polarisation monitor possible ?

[elypter]

Im dont know how commercial polarisation based monitors work but i had an idea how could theoretically been done.

imagine a polarisationfoil that changes polarisationsdirection every ~milimeter. if you put it on a screen with exactly the same pixel distance then every vertical line should be either + or - polarised. then it would be easy to view different images on each polarisation direction.

my question: does such a foil exist? or can i make it myself? or is the whole idea doomed to fail?

[mickeyjaw]

What you are decribing is what is known as a uPol filter. The Zalman monitor uses this technique. They need to be made to match the pixel (dot) pitch very precisely. They also need to be aligned very precisely. No idea where you can buy them though.

[cybereality]

I have thought of this myself but the sizing has to be so exact that a generic film wouldn't work. It would need to be tailored to each display and thus drive up cost. I don't know of anyway to DIY a film like that with consumer level equipment (hell, I wouldn't even know what kind of professional equipment you would need). Needless to say, I'm sure its expensive. Why not just buy a Zalman? They are under $300 bucks these days...

[elypter]

thanks for your posts

i thought about doing that for a 50" monitor, but i would if possible at all first try a smaller one.
truely it needs to be very precise, but if there is no other way it would still be possible to reduce the resolution and make the griddistance 2 or 4 pixels wide.

I think the main problem is to get such a film or >maybe< make it yourself:

one idea for do it yourself: using a printer and some kind of acid like it is done for circuit printing to make two comb like structures. and then put them somehow together. But that would needed to be done very precisely.

if the pixeldistances match, harvesting dead electronics may also be an option.

does anyone think that one of these options is possible?

[Likay]

You could try the parallaxbarriermethod first if such things is in interest. if you succeed you'll have an autostereoscopic monitor but don't have too great expectations on it. At least both i as well as cybereality made somewhat successful tests with those. I had stereoscopy at about 7 centimetres at one pixelwidth while cyber made the whole screen quite decent. Don't remember the pixelwidth or printer though (check the diy section here).
If you try the diy method about cutting polarizers or retarderfilm in such tiny laces i'm quite sure you're going to be out of luck. Alignment as well as manufacturing has to be very precise and i really doubt it's worth the effort. A tip if you're going this route anyway: try getting cheap quarterwave retarderfilm as a start. It's easier to cut than most polarizerfilms. It gives circular polarization though (real-d glasses works with that). There is driversupport for interleved imaging but i think it's only for one pixel widths. You need to care about the rotation of the retarder as well. Check with glasses and manual alignment before cutting it up.
Just a friendly warning: Your hair will probably turn grey in a very soon future if you try...

[elypter]

thanks,
i will take a look at it