Stereoscopic Displays and Applications (SD&A) is the pre-eminent academic technical conference in the field of stereoscopic 3D imaging. It is an annual conference that specialises in all forms of stereoscopic imaging, including stereoscopic 3D display hardware, stereoscopic 3D image capture, stereoscopic 3D image storage and processing, and also applications of these technologies. Although the name of the conference suggests that it concerns only two-view 3D images, the conference includes significant coverage of multi-view autostereoscopic displays and volumetric 3D displays. The conference is held as part of the annual Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology Symposium organised by the two technical imaging societies IS&T and SPIE.
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SD&A is an academic technical conference dedicated to stereoscopic imaging topics. Its backbone is the technical presentations, which are all accompanied by a technical paper published in the conference proceedings by SPIE Press (in cooperation with IS&T). Alongside the technical sessions, the conference has its own keynote, a popular demonstration session (where 20-30 stereoscopic displays can be seen in one place at one time), the 3D theater (where the latest stereoscopic content is shown) and a discussion forum.
In January 2009, SD&A celebrated its 20th Anniversary.
The technical proceedings are published by SPIE press. Over 1100 technical papers have been published over the history of the SD&A conference. The full list of conference proceedings, including a compilation DVD-ROM (1990-2009), is here.
The DVD-ROM compilation "Stereoscopic Displays and Applications 1990-2009: A Complete 20-Year Retrospective - and The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality 1994-2009 (CDP51)" released in 2010 represents a highly significant technical knowledge base containing the complete technical record of the Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference (1990-2009), The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality conference (1994-2009), and papers from a selection of ten other 3D related SPIE conferences (1977-1989) predating SD&A. The disc contains 1260 individual technical papers – 816 from the Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference, 223 from The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality conference, and 221 papers from the SPIE 3D conferences prior to SD&A.
Videos of some of the presentations at the conference are also available online: SD&A 2008 and SD&A 2011.
Over the years the SD&A conference has hosted an impressive lineup of keynote presenters. These sessions allow a leading light to focus and reflect on a particular area of stereoscopic imaging.
| Year | Keynote Presenter | Title |
| 1996 | Ray Zone, The 3D Zone | The Deep Image: 3D in Art and Science |
| 1997 | Peter Anderson, Consultant (3D cinematographer) | Large-format 3D Film in Special Venues |
| 1998 | Peter Smith, University of Arizona | Imager for Mars Pathfinder Experiment (IMP): A Multispectral Stereo Imaging System |
| 1999 | Sean MacLeod Philips, MacLeod Productions | 3D Large Format Film Production |
| 2000 | Chris Condon, StereoVision International | Current Status of Large Screen Stereoscopic Cinema Systems |
| 2001 | Jeff Kleiser, Kleiser Walczak Construction Company | Stereoscopic Computer Animation for Location-Based Entertainment |
| 2002 | Vince Pace, Pace Technologies | Titanic in 3D HDTV |
| 2003 | Emeritus Professor Ian Howard, Centre for Vision Research, York University | Understanding stereoscopic vision |
| 2004 | Dave Cook, NVIDIA Corporation | Stereoscopic Gaming: Technology and Applications |
| 2005 | Steve Schklair, Cobalt Entertainment | Digital Technology and the Resurgence of Commercial Stereoscopic Entertainment |
| 2006 | Hugh Murray, IMAX Corporation | 3D Animation in Three Dimensions - The Rocky Road to the Obvious |
| 2007 | James Fergason, Fergason Patent Properties | A Look at the Past and Future of Stereoscopic Displays Through a ‘(Liquid) Crystal Ball’ |
| 2008 | Larry J. Hornbeck, Texas Instruments | Stereoscopic and Volumetric 3D Displays Based on DLP Technology |
| 2009 | Lenny Lipton, REAL D Corporation | Archimedes’ Tub |
| 2010 | Bob Whitehill, PIXAR Animation Studios | Three-Dimensional Storytelling |
| 2011 | Michael G Robinson, RealD | The Current Status of Stereoscopic 3D |
| 2011 | Ramesh Raskar, MIT Media Lab | Content-Adaptive Parallax Barriers and Six-Dimensional Displays: new ideas from MIT Media Lab |
SD&A was founded in 1990 by John O. Merritt and Scott Fisher, and has been held annually since. Holography pioneer Stephen Benton was also an SD&A conference chair from 2000 until his death in 2003. The conference committee and conference chairs are summarised here.
| Year | Conference (Name and Number) | Location | Proc. SPIE Vol. | Published in Volume (name) | SD&A Conference Chairs |
| 1990 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications | Santa Clara | 1256 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications | John O. Merritt, Scott S. Fisher |
| 1991 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications II | San Jose | 1457 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications II | John O. Merritt, Scott S. Fisher |
| 1992 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications III | San Jose | 1669 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications III | John O. Merritt, Scott S. Fisher |
| 1993 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications IV | San Jose | 1915 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications IV | John O. Merritt, Scott S. Fisher |
| 1994 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications V | San Jose | 2177 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems | Scott S. Fisher, John O. Merritt |
| 1995 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications VI | San Jose | 2409 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems II | Scott S. Fisher, John O. Merritt |
| 1996 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications VII | San Jose | 2653 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems III | Scott S. Fisher, John O. Merritt |
| 1997 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications VIII | San Jose | 3012 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems IV | Scott S. Fisher, John O. Merritt |
| 1998 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications IX | San Jose | 3295 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems V | Scott S. Fisher, John O. Merritt |
| 1999 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications X | San Jose | 3639 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VI | John O. Merritt, Scott S. Fisher |
| 2000 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XI | San Jose | 3957 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VII | John O. Merritt, Stephen A. Benton, Andrew J. Woods |
| 2001 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XII | San Jose | 4297 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems VIII | Andrew J. Woods, John O. Merritt, Stephen A. Benton |
| 2002 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIII | San Jose | 4660 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems IX | Andrew J. Woods, John O. Merritt, Stephen A. Benton |
| 2003 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIV | Santa Clara | 5006 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems X | Andrew J. Woods, John O. Merritt, Stephen A. Benton |
| 2004 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XV | San Jose | 5291 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XI | Andrew J. Woods, John O. Merritt, Stephen A. Benton |
| 2005 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XVI | San Jose | 5664 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XII | Andrew J. Woods, John O. Merritt |
| 2006 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XVII | San Jose | 6055 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XIII | Andrew J. Woods, Neil A. Dodgson, John O. Merritt |
| 2007 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XVIII | San Jose | 6490 | Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XIV | Andrew J. Woods, Neil A. Dodgson, John O. Merritt |
| 2008 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIX | San Jose | 6803 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIX | Andrew J. Woods, Nick S. Holliman, John O. Merritt |
| 2009 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XX | San Jose | 7237 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XX | Andrew J. Woods, Nick S. Holliman, John O. Merritt |
| 2010 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXI | San Jose | 7524 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXI | Andrew J. Woods, Nick S. Holliman, Neil A. Dodgson |
| 2011 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXII | south San Francisco | 7863 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXII | Andrew J. Woods, Nick S. Holliman, Neil A. Dodgson |
| 2012 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXIII | south San Francisco | 8288 | Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXIII | Andrew J. Woods, Nick S. Holliman, Gregg Favalora |
From 1990 to 1993, papers from the SD&A conference were published in its own self-titled proceedings volume. From 1994, the papers from the SD&A conference were co-published with papers from The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality conference (which was co-located with SD&A) in a volume series titled Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems. From 2008, SD&A went back to the publication of papers in its own self-titled proceedings volume.
Of course, stereoscopic 3D imaging was also a major topic of discussion at SPIE conferences before the first Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference: