The trademark
S3D®
because quality matters.
S3D® is a registered trademark — and, above all, a quality certificate for Stereo-3D products and services. It is meant as a reference level that helps users, buyers and decision makers recognise good quality before they invest in it.
Registered since 2006 — 2026 marks the 20th year.
A quality label, not a gatekeeper
Every wave of interest in Stereo-3D so far has been damaged by the same thing: poor execution. Too much badly made content reached the market, audiences drew their conclusions, and good work suffered alongside the bad. The purpose of S3D® is to make the difference visible in advance.
The certificate is deliberately additional to what the market already offers. It is not there to keep anyone out — anyone may continue to do as they wish. It is meant as a guide and a help for the people who have to choose: a signal that a product or a service has been measured against criteria that were defined openly and can be checked.
We are open to cooperation with everyone who shares these quality standards — and in practice, a great many experienced Stereo-3D professionals do, precisely because they have watched poor quality damage the market before.
How the criteria are defined
Five principles
Scientific knowledge
Criteria are grounded in scientific knowledge and research-based evidence — not in marketing claims.
Expert cooperation
Defined together with national and international experts who have decades of practical Stereo-3D experience.
Objective measurement
Based on objective, reproducible analysis and measurements, so that a result can be checked by others.
Manufacturer independent
No trading, no own hardware or software products — and therefore no interest in any particular vendor passing.
Regularly reviewed
Criteria are reviewed and adjusted to reflect new knowledge, rather than being fixed once and left to age.
The criteria are not invented from scratch. They build on material that has existed in the field for decades and on the judgement of practising experts — named and traceable, rather than the outcome of a committee compromise.
Scope
What the mark covers
Hardware & optics
Displays, projectors, cameras, optical components — and stereoscopic devices by name.
Software
Software products and their development, including consulting on the design of 3D hardware and software.
Content & production
Film production, photography, digital imaging and electronic publications.
Events & training
Conferences, exhibitions, live events, workshops, courses and coaching.
Licensing & rights
Licensing of industrial property rights and of software, and the administration of copyright.
The mark is registered across five classes, covering products as well as services. The register lists them in full — including, in its own wording, consulting on the design of 3D hardware and software products. The complete entry is public: view the S3D® record in the DPMA register.
Licensing S3D®
Companies and individuals are welcome to apply for licensing the S3D® trademark for their products and services. Certification is voluntary — but those who carry the mark commit to the criteria behind it, and a mark that is not lived up to can be withdrawn again. That is what keeps it worth something.
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