1. A method for rendering 3D video images on a stereo-enabled display, comprising: (a) during a 3D model-view transformation of video data: culling facets facing away from a viewer; for a first view, defining first foreground facets corresponding to scene elements disposed closer than a pre-determined depth threshold and first background facets corresponding to the scene elements disposed beyond said threshold; and for a second view, selectively defining second foreground facets corresponding to the scene elements disposed closer than said threshold and adopting the first background facets as second background facets; (b) determining lighting for the first foreground facets, the first background facets, and the second foreground facets; (c) performing screen mapping and scene rendering calculations for the first view based on the first foreground facets and the first background facets; and (d) performing screen mapping and scene rendering calculations for the second view based on the second foreground facets and the first background facets.