3D Vision Blog

Stereoscopic Player is probably the most versatile software player for stereoscopic 3D content, supporting the playback of 3D photos and 3D videos on a wide array of systems including, but not limited to 3D Vision, iZ3D, Interlaced, Quad Buffered OpenGL and of course a lot of different Anaglyph modes. The player offers an easy to use interface similar to the classic Media Player look and is able to play very wide array of file formats with extensive functionality for configuring file splitters and decoders. The Stereoscopic Player also supports the playback Windows Media Dual Stream S3D files, a format which allow you to see 2D content when played back with a normal player and 3D only with an S3D capable player. There is also an option to capture video from live sources, including a TV tuner for example and displaying it in 3D with the option to process the file over a video filter for example to make 2D to 3D conversion of live 2D TV programs. So this is definitely great to have, especially if you own more than one Stereoscopic 3D solution and/or are an S3D enthusiast. Just have in mind that the player can be freely used, but is limited to 5 minutes playback and a personal license to lift the limit will cost you about $55 USD, but it is worth purchasing it.

In the new version 1.5.5, aside from the normal fixes of some issues, the Stereoscopic Player has added support for QuickTime Video Decoder and Stream Splitter DirectShow filters, MXF Stream Splitter DirectShow filter and MJPEG2000 Video Decoder DirectShow filter to allow more control to the user in terms of what codec to use for different formats. Another interesting new feature is the added JPS descriptor support that will help the player not to ask the user to select the stereoscopic format for JPS files anymore.

- To download the latest version of the Stereoscopic Player…

You should know that GeForce 3D Vision is not only intended to be used just for gaming, but also for watching 3D Stereo digital images and even for 3D movies. But in order to use the shutter glasses for watching moves you should first get a special player that can play 3D stereo movies the right way and they you should get movies that are supported. Nvidia provides a free Stereoscopic 3D Video Player that should be more than enough to get you started in the world of 3D movies, but there are also some other solutions that I’m going to talk about some other time. Nivida’s Stereoscopic 3D Video Player has built in support for playing back 3D Stereo videos in the following file formats: AVI, AVIS, WMV, WMVS, ASF, MPG, MPGS, MPEG, M1V, MP2, M2TS, VOB, MP4, SVI and SPP. There is also support for playing 3D Stereo movies in DVD Video format if you own any of these of course and they are in the right format. And by the right format I mean movies that are not encoded for anaglyph viewing, but provide a video with two full separate frames for each eye. You should know that most of the DVD video 3D movies are designed for paper anaglyph glasses and these will not work with the shutter glasses form the GeForce 3D Vision kit!

To get you started there are some short videos in 3D Stereo that are looking quite well when played with the Stereoscopic 3D Video Player and the GeForce 3D Vision kit. There are 6 short movies, two of which are animated and the other 4 are of different real world scenes and places so you can actually see the difference. You can also look around over the net for more compatible videos, these should be quite a few more that will look and work great with the added depth perception. Have in mind that all those videos can be viewed in normal 2D mode on a normal or 3D-compatible monitor and in 3D Stereo only on a compatible display. When you run the player and a movie on a Samsung 2233RZ for instance when you switch to full screen the movies automatically goes in 3D mode, otherwise when it is being displayed in a small window it is in 2D mode by default.

- To download Nivida’s Stereoscopic 3D Video Player
- To download the demo 3D Stereo video clips for testing the player