Anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D is the earliest method of presenting theatrical 3-D and requires less specialized hardware. In a Anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D video, the two images are superimposed in an additive light setting through two filters, one red and one cyan. Glasses with colored filters in each eye separate the appropriate images by canceling the filter color out and rendering the complementary color black.

So, to watch a Anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D video, all you need is a pair of archetypical 3-D glasses. You can play the video on a common computer with common media player software, or watch it on common TV. No special hardware or software needed.

Side-by-Side 3D video consists of two halves on the left and right, with the entire frame for the left eye scaled down horizontally to fit the left-half of the frame, and the entire frame for the right eye scaled down horizontally to fit the right side of the frame. Thus, in the case of 720p content (resolution of 1280 x 720), each frame will actually consist of the horizontally scaled frame for the left eye with a resolution of 640 x 720 and adjacent to it, the corresponding frame for the right eye at the same 640×720 resolution.

When playing a Side-by-Side 3D video, a 3D PC or 3D TV will play the file with different 3D display technologies, mainly active shutter or polarization. That depends on your 3D hardware. Here are more details about how a 3D PC or 3D TV will play a Side-by-Side 3D video.

The visual effect of Side-by-Side 3D videos is much better compared to that of Anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D video, but more specialized hardware are needed to play Side-by-Side 3D videos, including a 3D PC or 3D TV and a pair of assorted glasses.

Tips:
If the 2D video files you have are DRM protected, you need to convert the DRM files and remove the DRM protection first before converting them to 3D videos.