Play3D

Play3D makes it easy to view stereoscopic photos on a 3D TV. It uses AirPlay to stream them from the iPhone Photo Library to an Apple TV connected to a 3D TV. Play3D finds all the albums in the Photo Library which contain 3D photos.

• Browse these albums and pick a photo to view.
• Swipe left or right to view the other 3D photos in the album.
• Double tap to zoom to 100% or 200% for an in-depth 3D view.
• Pan by dragging to move around in 3D.

A 3D photo in the Photo Library consists of a stereo pair: a left-eye image and a right-eye image stored side-by-side in a JPG file. This format is widely used to distribute 3D photos. Play3D also supports the MPO files used by many 3D digital cameras. MPO files cannot be stored in the Photo Library, so Play3D converts them to side-by-side format before storing them in the Play3D album. Play3D has a handy WiFi feature allowing wireless upload of selected MPO and JPG files from a file server on a local network. These are the alternative ways of loading 3D photos:-

• iTunes Sync Photos (JPG only)
• Photostream (JPG only)
• iTunes File Sharing
• Play3D WiFi feature
• Mail app: upload 3D photos attached to emails and Open In Play3D
• Other apps like Dropbox or FileBrowser or iFiles: upload 3D photos and Open In Play3D

The stereo pairs are displayed on the iPhone as well as on the 3D TV, and keep in sync as you zoom and pan. You can pan left and right zoomed images independently to alter the stereo depth. Instead of viewing them on the 3D TV, you can view them in 3D on the iPhone if you have learnt the cross or parallel technique for stereoscopic free-viewing. (With practice, you train your eyes to converge or diverge and fuse left and right images together.) Just rotate the iPhone between the two landscape orientations to switch between cross and parallel viewing.

On a 3D HDTV with Apple TV, the photos are displayed at 720p resolution (1280 x 720 pixels). You can also use Play3D with your iPhone connected to the TV using an Apple Digital AV Adapter and an HDMI cable. Photos can then be displayed at 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels).