Nvidia 3d Vision 2 Glasses

[BecauseScience]

I'm looking at buying a 3D display of some sort. I've narrowed the options down to a Nvidia 3D Vision 2 Lightboost LCD or a passive FPR LCD with polarized glasses. I'm familiar with all of the technical pro's and con's of the two but nothing means as much to me as the comfort of the glasses. Do any of you wear prescription glasses and use the Nvidia 3D Vision 2 glasses over them? I wear prescription glasses and I also have a big head. I'm concerned that I'll have comfort issues with the Nvidia active shutter glasses.

In addition to regular polarized glasses, the FPR monitors come with clip-on's for people who wear glasses. You can even get prescription glasses made with the correct FPR polarization. This seems like a big win for FPR and has me leaning that way despite the lower resolution, narrow viewing angles, and lower refresh rate.

I don't get the chance to game often but when free time does come up it's usually a multi-hour block. I don't want to end up with a 3D solution that's uncomfortable after an hour or two of use.

One other thing, I read that the Nvidia shutter glasses do not work when tilted 90 degree on their side. Is that true?

 

[CrazyRob]

I have not yet upgraded to 3d vision 2 glasses, but I currently use 3d vision 1 with my prescription glasses. I also apparently have a large head, as I just bought an xl-xxl snowboard helmet. However, I have heard others complain they don't fit well. The 3d vision 2 glasses are supposed to be larger, so I would expect most of those situations to be resolved, however, the only real way to tell would be to try some on.

As for the 90 degree issue, I've never tried laying down while playing on my 3d vision surround setup, so i couldn't be certain. I don't know of anyone that's tried 3d vision in portrait, so I don't know if that works, either.

I can't tell you whether it's my subconscious being a snob, or actually a dramatic difference, but every time i try out fpr 1080p tv's, they look awful in comparison, so my money is on active 3d. But I'm sure there are others that would argue the opposite (headaches from flickering, etc)

 

[cybereality]

I have the 3D Vision 1 glasses, and also a passive display. The passive glasses are slightly more comfortable, but I don't think that either are a problem. I also wear prescription glasses. and I don't have much issue with the Nvidia glasses. The only minor complaint I have is that if you wear large headphones that are tight on the face, they can hurt around the ears a bit with double glasses. But aside from that, no problems.

 

[The Resident]

I have the 3D Vision 2, and the comfort level depends on a bunch of factors (glasses size, nose bridge, etc).. and you're going to get a variety of answers. My wife can't stand my 3D Vision 2 glasses over her prescription glasses, but other folks don't seem to mind. Do you have a Micro Center or any store nearby that might carry the 3D Vision 2? If so, try talking them into letting you try it on.

Since you're talking about playing for hours at a time, it's even more of a gamble because even if the glasses are comfortable enough, some folks get headaches after a few hours. So you really need to try before you buy if at all possible. That said, if I had to gamble here, I would bet on the 3D Vision 2, because even if it's ultimately uncomfortable for you (or if your games aren't supported in 3D!) then at least you get a true 120 Hz monitor out of it, and that by itself is huge in any game.

90 degree angle - yeah pretty sure there's a problem with that. If you really want portrait aspect ratio, you have to use a projector rather than an LCD.

 

[cybereality]

And, yes, the glasses only work when the monitor is in landscape mode and you are sitting normal. If you turn your head 90 degrees then the screen turns black due to polarization.

 

[BecauseScience]

I have the 3D Vision 2, and the comfort level depends on a bunch of factors (glasses size, nose bridge, etc).. and you're going to get a variety of answers. My wife can't stand my 3D Vision 2 glasses over her prescription glasses, but other folks don't seem to mind. Do you have a Micro Center or any store nearby that might carry the 3D Vision 2? If so, try talking them into letting you try it on.

Unfortunately, I don't have a Microcenter or Fry's nearby. The best I could do would be to buy a pair of V2 glasses before I bought the monitor. The Vision 2 monitor I want comes with glasses so this isn't a great solution.

I've seen reviews from a few people who upgraded from V1 to V2 and are not happy with the V2 glasses. The complaints all seem to be the same. V2 is bulkier/heavier, doesn't fit over prescription glasses as easily, and has reflections due to the shiny plastic.

Since you're talking about playing for hours at a time, it's even more of a gamble because even if the glasses are comfortable enough, some folks get headaches after a few hours. So you really need to try before you buy if at all possible.

That's another concern but there's no way to figure it out ahead of time. I have no way to game on a Vision 2 setup for 2+ hours before I buy.

I have experience with the ancient shutter glasses that worked with CRT's back in the 90's. I didn't do well with those but they were low frequency. I think they were 30hz or less.

That said, if I had to gamble here, I would bet on the 3D Vision 2, because even if it's ultimately uncomfortable for you (or if your games aren't supported in 3D!) then at least you get a true 120 Hz monitor out of it, and that by itself is huge in any game.

Yea, don't really have any interest in a 120hz monitor. I'm not a competitive gamer. I'm happy when my framerates are 30fps or better. If a Vision 2 monitor didn't work out I'd sell it and try passive.

I haven't made up my mind yet but I've abandoned the idea of a passive FPR monitor. In its place, I'm considering a large (> 27") passive television. I keep seeing over and over that bigger is better for 3D. It supposedly adds a great deal to the 3D effect. Some guys are even installing fresnel lenses over their monitors to get larger FOV out of them. I would have loved to screw around with stuff like that 20 years ago but these days I need something that just works or I'll spend all my free time setting stuff up and zero time gaming.

The passive FPR tech supposedly performs much better on larger screens too. The vertical viewing angles improve a lot.

The other thing I should add is that I don't plan to hang onto whatever I buy for too long. 3D is going to be moving fast over the next 1-2 years. My gut tells me that a passive TV would be the easiest thing to resell but maybe I'm wrong...