I'm intrigued by 3d Vision after going to see the movie 'A christmas Carol' (Scrooge 3d to you and me) and was fascinated by the prospect of gaming in such an environment. With Christmas approaching I thought it migght be a good opportunity to aquire the tech to do it so if anyone on here has such a setup...is it any good? I'd trust the opinions of [H] folks over reviewers online
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Nvidia 3d Vision users..Is it worth it?
- Thread starter goodl
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novemberrain
Weaksauce
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Absolutely it's worth it. But I'm unsure whether it's worth the money...
I bought shutter 3d glasses for $10 off ebay and used them with my 24" crt and pretty much only games i played were cod series, but it was definitely worth it. But I still wouldn't buy a 22" monitor and glasses for whatever they ask.. $500? Now the glasses itself are a good investment, but the monitor is a bit weak, with 3d bigger is always better and i'd wait for at least 24" 1080p monitors, since you cant use a 22" monitor as a main display anyway. I do not have experience with the nVidia drivers though, but the iz3d drivers were a bit difficult to set up and many games did not work very well because of 2d huds and other things. And you got to remember that 3d is pretty much useless online, so singleplayers only.
e: I'd be very interested to hear from actual users of nVidia drivers, how do they work and are huds and sights corrected on driver level?
I bought shutter 3d glasses for $10 off ebay and used them with my 24" crt and pretty much only games i played were cod series, but it was definitely worth it. But I still wouldn't buy a 22" monitor and glasses for whatever they ask.. $500? Now the glasses itself are a good investment, but the monitor is a bit weak, with 3d bigger is always better and i'd wait for at least 24" 1080p monitors, since you cant use a 22" monitor as a main display anyway. I do not have experience with the nVidia drivers though, but the iz3d drivers were a bit difficult to set up and many games did not work very well because of 2d huds and other things. And you got to remember that 3d is pretty much useless online, so singleplayers only.
e: I'd be very interested to hear from actual users of nVidia drivers, how do they work and are huds and sights corrected on driver level?
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Farkle
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I bought into the whole 3D Vision thing. I find the ViewSonic monitor for it to be a much more enjoyable purchase compared to the glasses themselves. I actually downgraded when it comes to monitor resolution, I built my gaming machine with 2x GTX285, and a GTX275 for PhysX, to power a 30" monitor. So 1680x1050, I'm really wasting resources, but on the other hand... I can crank settings to the max, and never experience lag (other than in WoW in Dalaran.)
I'm not sure about the Samsung monitor, but there is no display adjustment available for the ViewSonic in 120Hz mode. It's super bright, and even calibrating it with my i1 Display 2. I've read that is because the 3D Vision glasses go quite dark when they're active. Display brightness with the glasses enabled, seems just a hint under proper 2.2 gamma. I usually have to notch it up a few in games, to make it match other calibrated LCDs in my house.
When I initially bought the glasses, hitting the nVidia button on the module would often trigger a bluescreen. The keyboard hotkey to disable it, always worked though. Recent driver updates, have rid me of that blue screen but as to the actual use of the product?
World of Warcraft -- Nice for PVE, you absolutely cannot PVP with it. The cursor isn't part of the 3D effect. So you have this depth field looking off of cliffs, at NPCs that sort of 'pop', and then this flat hard to deal with cursor that gives me the feeling that I am always 'slightly off' target when I click. Your button bar (no matter which UI you use) is also rendered in 2D, so it takes a bit of getting used to.
Street Fighter IV -- I thought it was cool at first, but then I kept tweaking the scene. I ended up with 1 notch from minimum settings. It doesn't work so well during a combo sequence, the effects in the background basically make it look like there are double black lines [spaced apart] around all of the characters. Actual gameplay, with no special combos looks pretty neat though.
Tales of Monkey Island -- Not officially supported, gets annoying in the jungle on the island, but looks pretty neat in towns and indoors. It's also pretty cool when you go to the menu and the blades of grass fly at you. Gimmicky for this game at best, after a few minutes I found I was turning the feature off, and just playing the game without it.
Eve Online -- Same with WoW, cursor follies. Some rocks while mining just don't look right either. Much easier game with 3D disabled.
The Witcher -- Pretty cool, since the game pace is pretty lax for a fighter/RPG you can actually sit around between your quests/adventures and admire the scenery.
Oblivion -- I find myself constantly adjusting the 3D effect, when moving from forest, to meadow, to cave. Certain things stand out when they shouldn't. You'll notice a big fat tree long before you'll notice an NPC walking next to it without the right depth set.
Civilization 4 -- Everyone just chop rushes and runs to destroy you before you're able to pin down some resources and defenses, but it's cool to watch the fight animations in 3D for such notoriously short games. I haven't tried against the computer in a while.
Comfort is also a concern. They're THICK rimmed. None of the nose pieces ever really fit me, so I went with the originals that were installed. I get a little bit of pain after prolonged use on the ridge of my nose.
Correlated to the discomfort, I find myself adjusting them from time to time, or taking them off, seeing if it helps for a particular part in a game I'm having difficulty with, and managing to smudge the glasses putting them back on or reaching under the glasses to cure an itch while wearing them. I have a microfiber cloth near-by for my monitors, but getting smudges off of them takes a little bit of work. Screen Klear and such sprays tend to make things more difficult towards the edges of the lenses, since it pools in the tiny crevices. The good news is, I haven't had mine cause any problems while wet from cleaning.
The battery charge, is quite nice. I plug mine in before I go to bed, when I remember to. I think I've gone about 3 days without a single charge, and could get right back into gaming without worrying about it farting out.
The video player, kind of looks cool at minimum settings with non-3D native content, but it takes some tweaking. I find myself always adjusting the parallax a lot while watching something like Farscape, or Sliders that has a lot of special effects.
The tech demo is probably the coolest thing I've seen, when that nVidia logo spins forward, it really does look like it's closer to you than the screen. I haven't found a game yet, that even comes close.
I wouldn't recommend a friend buy the glasses, but I'd recommend the monitor. Hopefully others will chime in, and give their own personal experiences in a timely fashion to help you decide.
I'm not sure about the Samsung monitor, but there is no display adjustment available for the ViewSonic in 120Hz mode. It's super bright, and even calibrating it with my i1 Display 2. I've read that is because the 3D Vision glasses go quite dark when they're active. Display brightness with the glasses enabled, seems just a hint under proper 2.2 gamma. I usually have to notch it up a few in games, to make it match other calibrated LCDs in my house.
When I initially bought the glasses, hitting the nVidia button on the module would often trigger a bluescreen. The keyboard hotkey to disable it, always worked though. Recent driver updates, have rid me of that blue screen but as to the actual use of the product?
World of Warcraft -- Nice for PVE, you absolutely cannot PVP with it. The cursor isn't part of the 3D effect. So you have this depth field looking off of cliffs, at NPCs that sort of 'pop', and then this flat hard to deal with cursor that gives me the feeling that I am always 'slightly off' target when I click. Your button bar (no matter which UI you use) is also rendered in 2D, so it takes a bit of getting used to.
Street Fighter IV -- I thought it was cool at first, but then I kept tweaking the scene. I ended up with 1 notch from minimum settings. It doesn't work so well during a combo sequence, the effects in the background basically make it look like there are double black lines [spaced apart] around all of the characters. Actual gameplay, with no special combos looks pretty neat though.
Tales of Monkey Island -- Not officially supported, gets annoying in the jungle on the island, but looks pretty neat in towns and indoors. It's also pretty cool when you go to the menu and the blades of grass fly at you. Gimmicky for this game at best, after a few minutes I found I was turning the feature off, and just playing the game without it.
Eve Online -- Same with WoW, cursor follies. Some rocks while mining just don't look right either. Much easier game with 3D disabled.
The Witcher -- Pretty cool, since the game pace is pretty lax for a fighter/RPG you can actually sit around between your quests/adventures and admire the scenery.
Oblivion -- I find myself constantly adjusting the 3D effect, when moving from forest, to meadow, to cave. Certain things stand out when they shouldn't. You'll notice a big fat tree long before you'll notice an NPC walking next to it without the right depth set.
Civilization 4 -- Everyone just chop rushes and runs to destroy you before you're able to pin down some resources and defenses, but it's cool to watch the fight animations in 3D for such notoriously short games. I haven't tried against the computer in a while.
Comfort is also a concern. They're THICK rimmed. None of the nose pieces ever really fit me, so I went with the originals that were installed. I get a little bit of pain after prolonged use on the ridge of my nose.
Correlated to the discomfort, I find myself adjusting them from time to time, or taking them off, seeing if it helps for a particular part in a game I'm having difficulty with, and managing to smudge the glasses putting them back on or reaching under the glasses to cure an itch while wearing them. I have a microfiber cloth near-by for my monitors, but getting smudges off of them takes a little bit of work. Screen Klear and such sprays tend to make things more difficult towards the edges of the lenses, since it pools in the tiny crevices. The good news is, I haven't had mine cause any problems while wet from cleaning.
The battery charge, is quite nice. I plug mine in before I go to bed, when I remember to. I think I've gone about 3 days without a single charge, and could get right back into gaming without worrying about it farting out.
The video player, kind of looks cool at minimum settings with non-3D native content, but it takes some tweaking. I find myself always adjusting the parallax a lot while watching something like Farscape, or Sliders that has a lot of special effects.
The tech demo is probably the coolest thing I've seen, when that nVidia logo spins forward, it really does look like it's closer to you than the screen. I haven't found a game yet, that even comes close.
I wouldn't recommend a friend buy the glasses, but I'd recommend the monitor. Hopefully others will chime in, and give their own personal experiences in a timely fashion to help you decide.
drinkingsilk
n00b
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2009
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- 4
I had a compatable nvidia card and a compatable dlp tv, so i bought the 3d vision kit close to when it was first released, since the kit was the only extra expense. (although it required me carrying my pc from my monitor over to the tv whenever i wanted to use 3dvision).
Seeing the games in 3d was cool at first, but i think the novelty wore off after awhile. The 3d effect was compatable with a surprising number of games, but it seemed like no game was just 'perfect.' It requires turning off settings like bloom and post processing effects in just about every game. Also, most games have pieces that dont conatain depth information, so they are always rendered at screen depth. Usually it's the UI, but sometime it's moving objects which can be disorienting. For example, in L4D the player's floating names were at screen depth, so a player and their name would be at a different focus depth (exact same issues was in Dungeons and Dragons online as well.) I also seemed to get headaches after an extended play period. It could be from the issue i just mentioned, or could have just been a coincidence...
All that said, my favorite game to play in 3d was actually L4D. The limited viewing distance due to the fog created just the right depth effect. The 3d really added to the atmosphere in the game, especially when playing in the dark, and actually made the game seem a bit scary. That's the one game ill miss playing in 3d when my Radeon 5970 arrives today or tomarrow.
One last thing to consider is: in 3d mode the game must render a different frame for each eye. This will cause your framerate to decrease, so make sure you also have a good graphics card before springing for the 3d vision kit.
Seeing the games in 3d was cool at first, but i think the novelty wore off after awhile. The 3d effect was compatable with a surprising number of games, but it seemed like no game was just 'perfect.' It requires turning off settings like bloom and post processing effects in just about every game. Also, most games have pieces that dont conatain depth information, so they are always rendered at screen depth. Usually it's the UI, but sometime it's moving objects which can be disorienting. For example, in L4D the player's floating names were at screen depth, so a player and their name would be at a different focus depth (exact same issues was in Dungeons and Dragons online as well.) I also seemed to get headaches after an extended play period. It could be from the issue i just mentioned, or could have just been a coincidence...
All that said, my favorite game to play in 3d was actually L4D. The limited viewing distance due to the fog created just the right depth effect. The 3d really added to the atmosphere in the game, especially when playing in the dark, and actually made the game seem a bit scary. That's the one game ill miss playing in 3d when my Radeon 5970 arrives today or tomarrow.
One last thing to consider is: in 3d mode the game must render a different frame for each eye. This will cause your framerate to decrease, so make sure you also have a good graphics card before springing for the 3d vision kit.
LGabrielPhoto
2[H]4U
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- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 3,240
Hi!
Please read my mini review here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1459151&highlight=vision
I am now using a Mitsubishi 60" DLP (should be a pic in that review).
To summarize, there is no going back to flat gaming after you try this, specially on the DLP because of how much faster the DLP is, ghosting is completely gone.
Not all games are perfect but even when you some times need to disable glow, or dynamic shadow, it is a compromise I am more than willing to do in order to experience the games in REAL 3D.
I wish you live close to demo it for you.
Feel free to PM with any questions.
Regards
Please read my mini review here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1459151&highlight=vision
I am now using a Mitsubishi 60" DLP (should be a pic in that review).
To summarize, there is no going back to flat gaming after you try this, specially on the DLP because of how much faster the DLP is, ghosting is completely gone.
Not all games are perfect but even when you some times need to disable glow, or dynamic shadow, it is a compromise I am more than willing to do in order to experience the games in REAL 3D.
I wish you live close to demo it for you.
Feel free to PM with any questions.
Regards
ya I found the nvidia discover to be very enjoyable, my biggest problem though was finding a pair of red/blue glasses.
Those green/red ones that comes with alot of movies like caroline will work but they need to be turned inside out and the green tint makes it harder to distinguish colours (cant tell between.red and blue in TF2 lol)
I ended up finding a pair of red/blue off ebay for $3 and it wokrs alot better, and give you a ncie idea of what its like. And yes nvidia 3d works amazingly well with l4d
Those green/red ones that comes with alot of movies like caroline will work but they need to be turned inside out and the green tint makes it harder to distinguish colours (cant tell between.red and blue in TF2 lol)
I ended up finding a pair of red/blue off ebay for $3 and it wokrs alot better, and give you a ncie idea of what its like. And yes nvidia 3d works amazingly well with l4d
LGabrielPhoto
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The key and best thing about it is that it can be tweaked to fit any user.
Because you can control depth and convergence you can fine tune it to your preferred style like a lot of depth inside the monitor style or perhaps more outside the monitor style with the car in Burnout, for example, just floating outside the monitors screen.
I normally adjust depth to 50% then maximize the pop out effect as much as possible.
With the DLP you can do this to stunning levels....when you see Batman on the Mitsubishi with high pop out levels...it really makes you just want to live in there.
I wish I could express how amazing this is but let's say this, you know who nostalgia normally makes new things hard to top your old time memories of how cool things were...well, this thing blow away any nostalgia memories I have and that is C64 , Amiga stuff lol !
I have not being into gaming like ever.
Oh, and COD4 and 5 for that matter rock on 3d.
Sniping is easier as well because you judge depth so much better. Even long range shots with your regular guns are a lot easier too.
If you have any games on mind, let me know and if I have it, I will test it for you.
Because you can control depth and convergence you can fine tune it to your preferred style like a lot of depth inside the monitor style or perhaps more outside the monitor style with the car in Burnout, for example, just floating outside the monitors screen.
I normally adjust depth to 50% then maximize the pop out effect as much as possible.
With the DLP you can do this to stunning levels....when you see Batman on the Mitsubishi with high pop out levels...it really makes you just want to live in there.
I wish I could express how amazing this is but let's say this, you know who nostalgia normally makes new things hard to top your old time memories of how cool things were...well, this thing blow away any nostalgia memories I have and that is C64 , Amiga stuff lol !
I have not being into gaming like ever.
Oh, and COD4 and 5 for that matter rock on 3d.
Sniping is easier as well because you judge depth so much better. Even long range shots with your regular guns are a lot easier too.
If you have any games on mind, let me know and if I have it, I will test it for you.
So it sounds like the concept is very sound, we just need advancements in the software/hardware....
(3D on the CRT was great, so I'm not surprised. Unfortunately, my DLP is the generation before 3D was offered. And I wasn't keen on swapping my large LCD for a small one...)
On the other side of it, I just bought that 3D camera that's out to get some pics of the holidays. Will see how that goes...
(3D on the CRT was great, so I'm not surprised. Unfortunately, my DLP is the generation before 3D was offered. And I wasn't keen on swapping my large LCD for a small one...)
On the other side of it, I just bought that 3D camera that's out to get some pics of the holidays. Will see how that goes...
Wow so I tried the 3d Vision experience with WoW and the standard paper red/cyan glasses..........
Pretty amazing. You can deff tell that there is depth and it feels like you can almost reach in and touch the plants....
If this is only 25% of the experience offered by the real $500 combo......I might just have to buy it.
Pretty amazing. You can deff tell that there is depth and it feels like you can almost reach in and touch the plants....
If this is only 25% of the experience offered by the real $500 combo......I might just have to buy it.
LGabrielPhoto
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Actually I call it 10% of the experience at best but yeah, isn't the depth you get something else?
Did you try the 3d vision page to look for a local demo place?
Did you try the 3d vision page to look for a local demo place?
No I'm pretty much sold.
At this point I'm just waiting for the new Asus 120htz 22-23" 1080P monitor to be released which has HDMI and DVI ensuring that if the PS3 ever goes 3D I'll have a monitor that can utilize it.
I guarantee if people knew that the 3D discover works in live moving games then people with Nvidia cards would be sold also.
I had thought the 3D discover was just looking at a picture through paper glasses, I had no idea that it was a IN GAME implemented, just like the shutter glasses.
At this point I'm just waiting for the new Asus 120htz 22-23" 1080P monitor to be released which has HDMI and DVI ensuring that if the PS3 ever goes 3D I'll have a monitor that can utilize it.
I guarantee if people knew that the 3D discover works in live moving games then people with Nvidia cards would be sold also.
I had thought the 3D discover was just looking at a picture through paper glasses, I had no idea that it was a IN GAME implemented, just like the shutter glasses.
Ocean
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Messages
- 4,927
i bought a 120hz tv hoping to use 3d some day.
do tvs need to be specifically optimized for shutter glasses or will you be able to sync the settings either through drivers or automatically through an hdmi spec?
do tvs need to be specifically optimized for shutter glasses or will you be able to sync the settings either through drivers or automatically through an hdmi spec?
LGabrielPhoto
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The capability to adjust convergence and depth should be enough to fit the big majority of users.
For some people it takes longer to get use to it so they need to start at lower levels.
Well, it all depends, way too many of the so called 120Hz are just a travesty and not really a 120Hz display thus cannot work with 3D, or at least 3D Vision.
I don't think the Nvidia solution really warrants the cost and it locks you into Nvida video cards only, just what Nvidia wants. I would buy an iZ3D mnonitor instead because you can use eithe rNvidia or ATI video cards and the iZ35 method includes needed glasses with the monitor and not $250.00 extra. In fact they give you about 3 different styles of glasses from what I read. Check 'em out.
http://www.iz3d.com/
http://www.iz3d.com/
I don't quite understand.
Why would a 3-D object - even a spite a-la Doom - require "depth information"? Aren't these games just using the equivalent of alternating two "cameras" to generate the rendered scenes behind the GUI? Why would an NPC next to a tree be so hard to spot? I could understand the GUI being off-putting, but your eyes should recognize that as matching images, it's just a transparent "writing on the window" two feet in front of you.
I tried watching an iZ3D polarized setup in a retail setting, and I don't know how things were set, but the WoW-based demo they were showing looked... wrong, somehow. Rotate or turn your head, and it was a little worse, but even straight on things just didn't seem right. "Optical dissonance" set in. I havn't tried shutter glasses.
Why would a 3-D object - even a spite a-la Doom - require "depth information"? Aren't these games just using the equivalent of alternating two "cameras" to generate the rendered scenes behind the GUI? Why would an NPC next to a tree be so hard to spot? I could understand the GUI being off-putting, but your eyes should recognize that as matching images, it's just a transparent "writing on the window" two feet in front of you.
I tried watching an iZ3D polarized setup in a retail setting, and I don't know how things were set, but the WoW-based demo they were showing looked... wrong, somehow. Rotate or turn your head, and it was a little worse, but even straight on things just didn't seem right. "Optical dissonance" set in. I havn't tried shutter glasses.
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Went to Tokyo for the Tokyo Game Show this year. and tried on a pair. they had RE5 video player, LOOKED AMAZING. the problem though you need a bad arse computer to play since it had to draw the image 3x on the screen. The RE5 video was playing at 15FPS MAX
I don't think there is a single non-DLP (rear projection) commercially available TV out there that supports discrete 120hz input (required for non-vomit-inducing 3D). All the 120hz / 240hz TVs only support 60hz input, and then they 'upscale' it (frame-interpolate to be accurate) to 120hz.
It's also worth adding that you really want to be able to play a game at close to 120fps @ the native resolution of the monitor (1680x1050 or 1920xwhatver) to be able to enjoy a smooth experience. Enabling 3D effectively cuts the frame rate in half. I'd say my GTX 260 and 4870 (2nd PC) are not quite up to the challenge in many current games without turning the settings down. I think Nvidia should have enabled a 1/2 resolution mode (i.e. only render at 1920x540 and then line double it on each frame) for the games where frame rate is an issue.