Lenticular printing Lenticular printing is a multi-step process consisting of creating a lenticular image from at least two existing images, and combining it with a lenticular lens. This process can be used to create various frames of
animation (for a motion effect), offsetting the various layers at different increments (for a
3D effect), or simply to show a set of alternate images which may appear to transform into each other.
Corrective lenses Lenticular lenses are sometimes used as
corrective lenses for improving vision. A
bifocal lens could be considered a simple example. Lenticular
eyeglass lenses have been employed to correct extreme
hyperopia (farsightedness), a condition often created by
cataract surgery when
lens implants are not possible. To limit the great thickness and weight that such high-power lenses would otherwise require, all the
power of the lens is concentrated in a small area in the center. In appearance, such a lens is often described as resembling a
fried egg: a hemisphere atop a flat surface. The flat surface or "carrier lens" has little or no power and is there merely to fill up the rest of the eyeglass frame and to hold or "carry" the lenticular portion of the lens. This portion is typically in diameter but may be smaller, as little as , in sufficiently high powers. These lenses are generally used for plus (hyperopic) corrections at about 12
diopters or higher. A similar sort of eyeglass lens is the
myodisc, sometimes termed a minus lenticular lens, used for very high negative (
myopic) corrections. More aesthetic
aspheric lens designs are sometimes fitted. A film made of cylindrical lenses molded in a plastic substrate as shown in above picture, can be applied to the inside of standard glasses to correct for
diplopia. The film is typically applied to the eye with the good muscle control of direction. Diplopia (also known as double vision) is typically caused by a sixth cranial nerve palsy that prevents full control of the muscles that control the direction the eye is pointed in. These films are defined in the number of degrees of correction that is needed where the higher the degree, the higher the directive correction that is needed.
Lenticular screens Screens with a molded lenticular surface are frequently used with
projection television systems. In this case, the purpose of the lenses is to focus more of the light into a horizontal beam and allow less of the light to escape above and below the
plane of the viewer. In this way, the apparent brightness of the image is increased. Ordinary front-projection screens can also be described as lenticular. In this case, rather than transparent lenses, the shapes formed are tiny curved reflectors. Lenticular screens are most often used for ambient light rejecting projector screens for ultra-short throw projectors. The lenticular structure of the surface reflects the light from the projector to the viewer without reflecting the light from sources above the screen.
3D television , a number of manufacturers were developing auto-stereoscopic high definition
3D televisions, using lenticular lens systems to avoid the need for special
spectacles. One of these, Chinese manufacturer TCL, was selling a LCD model—the TD-42F—in China for around US$20,000. In 2021 only specialist manufacturers are making these kinds of display.
Lenticular color motion picture processes Lenticular lenses were used in early color motion picture processes of the 1920s such as the
Keller-Dorian system and
Kodacolor. This enabled color pictures with the use of merely monochrome film stock. ==Angle of view of a lenticular print==