3D Vision Blog

Finally Nvidia has raised the curtain and the 3D Vision Discover anaglyph glasses are a “secret” no more as you can see on the picture above of the real thing. They do not seem much different than normal paper anaglyph glasses, although the color filters do seem to be quite bigger, which should be a nice thing. Also maybe there is some improvement in the two color filters for better results or at least Nvidia states so, but still somebody has to confirm this by comparing both type of glasses. Also there is a page with more information on how, when and where you can get a pair of the 3D Vision Discover Glasses that you can use to experience games in Stereo 3D without having to invest too much into hardware. In general there are two way you can get the anaglyph glasses: either bundled with NVIDIA GeForce GPUs from participating etailers and authorized board partners or from upcoming trade shows and events where Nvidia will be present and handing out the glasses (only in the States so far). All that you need to try 3D Vision Discover in anaglyph stereo 3d is an Nvidia-based video card (GeForce 8 or later), 3D Vision drivers and of course the 3D Vision Discover glasses. This will give you a good idea of what you can expect from the much better 3D Vision shutter glasses that do require a big investment in specialized shutter glasses and display or projector that is 3D Ready. Of course anaglyph is still nice, but you don’t get good results in color reproduction and this is something that messes quite a lot with the actual fun you get playing in Stereo 3D mode…

- To learn where and how you can get a pair of 3D Vision Discover glasses…

I’ve already written about the 3D Vision Discover anaglyph glasses that Nvidia is going to start distributing very soon as an easy and affordable solution to try 3D stereo, before going for the advanced and expensive solution provided by GeForce 3D Vision and 120 Hz display. Today I’ve decided to try how well with the free anaglyph mode work when using some generic paper and plastic anaglyph glasses that I already own while waiting to see Nvidia’s optimized anaglyph glasses. I’ve previously used these different types of anaglyph glasses with other software solutions such as IZ3D’s drivers and others where the anachrome anaglyph glasses got the best results. Imagine my surprise when I’ve tried the 4 different types of glasses in the picture above… you can say that the best result I was able to achieve was with the plain paper glasses, but the other plastic solutions that are more expensive and better designed also performed very well too. Anyway, the results from trying different anaglyph glasses with 3D Vision only mean that you should be able to enjoy the added level of depth perception using 3D stereo with just about any type of plain paper anaglyph glasses… ;)

With the 3D Vision drivers you get a nice bonus, or at least you may call it like that, because apart you’ll also get free support for anaglyph 3D stereo mode. Or said with simpler words you’ll be able to play with a depth perception using your normal computer system and a pair of anaglyph (those plain old red/cyan paper or plastic) glasses. Of course using the anaglyph mode will not provide the same impressive and great looking depth perception in games and 3D applications, but will give you a nice upgrade when gaming, because you’ll be able to at least have some 3D effect. The requirements that the anaglyph mode has to you is to own a pair of anaglyph glasses and it seems Nvidia will start offering some of these very soon, but you can also get them from other places pretty cheap. The only other thing you’ll need is an Nvidia-based videocard, preferably a faster one that can provide enough frames for comfortable playing. There is no limit to the supported GPUs as when using the 3D Vision shutter glasses, and also there is no need to have a special 120Hz display, because anaglyph mode can work just fine with your normal CRT or LCD monitor. Just have in mind that the 3D Vision drivers require you to be using Windows Vista or Windows 7 in order to function, because they are not available for Windows XP! So why don’t you install the latest video drivers version 186.18 and the 3D Vision drivers included in the package and try the anaglyph 3D mode…

Here is a quick setup guide:
1. Open “Nvidia Control Panel” in Standard or Advanced mode.
2. Select “Stereoscopic 3D” and choose “Set up stereoscopic 3D”.
3. Click on the checkbox called “Enable stereoscopic 3D” in the main panel.
4. A new window will open, where you need to click on the button labeled Next.
5. Put a tick in the checkbox celled “Enable 3D Vision Discover” and click on the Next.
6. You’ll see a message saying no compatible 3D display is found, again click on Next.
7. Now you have to put on your anaglyph glasses and pass the test you’ll be provided with.
8. A new test is being displayed to verify if you are actually seeing depth on a special image.
9. Finally you can see some 3D stereo demo images if everything is fine, but you can as well skip this step.
10. If you’ve passed the two tests everything is ok and you can start playing games in 3D Stereo using your anaglyph glasses.

By default you have set a depth value of 15% which should be Ok for a start, but you’ll probably want to be able to adjust it during gameplay to achieve the best possible perception of depth. If you’ve had GeForce 3D Vision there is a hardware button to easily change the depth percentage, but here you’ll have to do it with a key combination. Another thing that you should know is how to activate and deactivate the anaglyph 3D mode with a key combination, because by default when you run a 3D application it will be automatically activated. If you don’t want that check the Hide stereoscopic 3D effects when game stars in drivers’ control panel. Then when you want the 3D mode turned on you need to just press CTRL + T and then a second time to disable the anaglyph mode so your game will be back to normal. The other useful key combinations are CTRL + F3 to decrease level of depth and CTRL + F4 to increase it, of course there are more kay combinations, but I’ll discuss them later on in a separate topic. This should be just enough to get you started in playing games with anaglyph glasses with a pretty nice 3D effect, although you’ll notice that you have some problems with color reproduction, but that is normal when using anaglyph glasses so don’t worry…

Aside from the color reproduction and perception you might notice one other thing that is also completely normal after using anaglyph glasses so don’t freak out if/when that happens. If you haven’t used anaglyph glasses up until now when you wear them for some time and take them off your vision will be a bit strange for a while. And if you close one of your eyes you’ll either see a hotter image (more reddish) or a colder one (more bluish)… as I told you it is normal and a few minutes later everything will be back to normal. This happens because your eyes adjust with the different color filters the anaglyph glasses use and even when you take them off there is some time needed for them to revert to normal. ;)

- To download the latest Nvidia drivers for your videocard…