Whats the best way to display stereo images for a general audience?

Pat. Side by side pair. Kodachrome.

quixotic wrote:

I bring a Geoscope stereo viewer to work, where I set it up in the coffee room, along with a tiny flourescent light to illuminate the photos a bit better. My co-workers rave about it. I use 4" x 6" prints pasted 9 cm's apart on mat board. Works really well. Needs parallel imagery, of course...as well as stereophotomaker.

I know, I know, old topic. But perennial one for audiences. And never resolvable in a neat packaged way...but I have preferences. And have been doing stereo long enough to have seen this and that and a few other gizmos. So I will plunge in and add a few thoughts. Or maybe even more than a few...here goes...  As to which is more natural, well, one can argue for either one.   We usually converge to look at a screen, so relaxing the muscles may seem a strain.  On the other hand, if you look at the moon or stars, you are actually relaxing the eyes and that is good for the muscles and brain.  But, the big but is that the SBS only works when the eyes are not called on to Diverge.  That is not only painful but usually impossible.

So, the brilliant stereographers came up with viewing devices. Ta DA...stereoscopes, lads, stereoscopes.  I find that one can use a simple prism or mirror gizmo and see big sharp images.  And a pair of reading glass, Rx or generic will help....something to look into if one is interested in the raumbild/  en relief  images....

For viewing on a page or on a screen, the two most common methods are side by side and cross. Some of us learned to do SBS and cross methods without viewing aids. So there is no standard. Nor will there be. I guess if one has the time and interest, posting both ways is a kind approach. But then again, if one prefers SBS and it costs little for an audience to buy a viewing device...then one deserves no reproach for choosing one method. Bottom line is that the original method for viewing was in a Holmes stereoscope or a two lens viewer with a light. And by golly that is still the way I find enjoyment. All other systems are kind of half baked. So there you have it as the Emperor Joseph said...

Pat, CROSS pair. Florida. Via Stereo Realist and film.