Anaglyph stereoscopic system wherein left and right images are encoded as complementary color fringes in the defocus regions such that the image, when viewed through appropriately filtered glasses, is perceived as a three-dimensional colored image but, when viewed without glasses, appears essentially as a normal two-dimensional colored image. In order to enhance the three-dimensional effect and the compatibility of the two-dimensional image, a special iris (38) is employed for controlling the amount of light passing through the taking lenses of the imaging system. Essentially, the iris restricts the amount of light in the vertical direction only, thereby retaining full left right separation as the amount of light passing through the filter is restricted by the iris. The taking filters (34) of the imaging system are selected so that after normal processing, the image colorimetry is not disturbed. This requires that the spectral characteristics of the photoreceptors maintain the same ratios with the filters as without. The glasses through which the three-dimensional image is viewed includes complementary color filtering means (Figs. 10 and 11) for the left and right lenses of approximately balanced luminosity characteristics. Viewer comfort is materially enhanced without substantial degradation of the stereoscopic image by providing for a limited amount of cross-talk between the respective lenses.