In praise of anaglyphs

TY - JOUR

T1 - In praise of anaglyphs

AU - Wade, Nicholas J.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

PY - 2026/5/12

Y1 - 2026/5/12

N2 - Anaglyphs are displays in which the left and right eye images are presented in different colours, such as red and cyan, and they are viewed through filters of the same colours so that each eye sees a different image. They have typically been used to present slightly different images to each eye so that they are seen in relief – stereoscopic depth. Anaglyphs have become increasingly popular as a means for printing and projecting stereoscopic drawings and photographs. The general standard now is for red/left eye, cyan/right eye filters for viewing similarly coloured printed or projected images and these are recommended for viewing the anaglyphs in this article. Despite the disdain for anaglyphs in visual science, they have been used extensively in visual art and education. However, anaglyphs can be constructed that yield displays that would be difficult to produce for refracting or reflecting stereoscopes.

AB - Anaglyphs are displays in which the left and right eye images are presented in different colours, such as red and cyan, and they are viewed through filters of the same colours so that each eye sees a different image. They have typically been used to present slightly different images to each eye so that they are seen in relief – stereoscopic depth. Anaglyphs have become increasingly popular as a means for printing and projecting stereoscopic drawings and photographs. The general standard now is for red/left eye, cyan/right eye filters for viewing similarly coloured printed or projected images and these are recommended for viewing the anaglyphs in this article. Despite the disdain for anaglyphs in visual science, they have been used extensively in visual art and education. However, anaglyphs can be constructed that yield displays that would be difficult to produce for refracting or reflecting stereoscopes.

KW - anaglyphs

KW - binocular rivalry

KW - graphics

KW - photography

KW - stereoscopic depth

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038778249

U2 - 10.1177/20416695261448396

DO - 10.1177/20416695261448396

M3 - Article

C2 - 42146728

AN - SCOPUS:105038778249

SN - 2041-6695

VL - 17

JO - I-Perception

JF - I-Perception

IS - 3

ER -