3D Vision Blog » 3d vision

New Approach In Making Games Work Better in Stereo 3D Mode

Bloody — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:59:21 +0000

How often does it happen that when you run some new game in stereo 3D mode it looks almost perfect, but there are just one or two small things that don’t look Ok in stereo 3D and this ruins all the experience, so you have to revert back to playing in 2D mode? The answer to this question is very often and just a few games make things better by offering you an advanced options menu or config file that you can use to turn off some of the extra details or effects in order to get rid of the problematic things in stereo 3D mode, so that the game can be fully enjoyed with the added perception of volume. Moreover not a lot of game developers do address issues in their games related to stereoscopic 3D rendering in their patches, so the ever growing community of stereo 3D gamers is left alone to find alternative ways to fixing things…

One new such alternative, made by the user -=HeliX=- in the Nvidia Forums, is a DirectX 9 wrapper DLL file that can give you the ability to modify the pixel and vertex shaders in games using DirectX 9. The wrapper comes in two versions, one a Debug to find and save the problematic shaders and another Release version for when you just need to run a game with the modified shaders. Now, the idea is that when running a game in stereo 3D mode using the Debug wrapper and you find something not rendered properly in stereo 3D, you would be able to save the problematic shader and then you have two options – either fixing the shader yourself (not something most people can do) or deleting the contents of the shader, so the next time you run the game via the Release wrapper you will either have the shader rendered properly or it will not be shown anymore and the game will look better in stereo 3D mode, and after finding the few pixel and vertex shaders that are causing the issues in the game it might become much more stereoscopic 3D friendly. The author has also provided an example fixes for some of the issues inside Assassin’s creed Brotherhood and Dead Space along with the two versions of the DLL wrappers, so you are ready to go and try this solution. There is a more detailed explanation on how to use it in the dedicated topic in the Nvidia Forums, you can read all the details following the link below. And while this wrapper has apparently been developed for use with 3D Vision, it might also work well with other solutions for rendering games in stereoscopic 3D mode such as the iZ3D driver or DDD’s TriDef 3D Ignition.

- For more information on how to fix or disable shaders in games you play in stereo 3D…

3D Vision over DisplayPort 1.1 Interface with BenQ XL2420T or XL2420TX

Bloody — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:54:56 +0000

The BenQ XL2420T and BenQ XL2420TX are the first 3D Vision-ready 3D LCD monitors that come with support for 3D over DisplayPort 1.1, so you actually have an alternative to using the Dual-Link DVI interface they they are also equipped with for 3D. You should have in mind however that there are some specific limitations and requirements when using 3D Vision over DisplayPort with these displays and you should be well aware of these if you plan on purchasing any of these two displays for use in stereo 3D and that goes not only regarding the use of DP. The BenQ XL2420T/TX are still the only 24-inch 3D Vision-ready monitors that support the new 3D Lightboost technology for providing increased level of brightness when in stereo 3D mode, the other two alternatives are from Asus and Acer, but they are 27-inch models and they do not feature DisplayPort connectivity. The support for 3D vision over display port has been introduced in the R290 video drivers from Nvidia and more specifically in the 290.36 Beta drivers, so it will not work with older drivers.

The BenQ XL2420T is the more affordable version that does not come bundled with 3D Vision 2 active shutter glasses and it also does not feature a built-in IR emitter for the 3D Vision glasses. This is very important, because without the built-in IR emitter you will not be able to use the HDMI interface of the monitor for stereo 3D, even if you connect an external IR emitter to your PC. Using an external infrared emitter for 3D Vision glasses gives you only the ability to use the monitor in stereo 3D mode with a PC over the DL-DVI or the DisplayPort 1.1 interface. This means that the BenQ XL2420T monitor is more suitable for gaming in 120Hz 2D mode or using for stereo 3D content only with a PC, you should not get the T-only version of the monitor if you plan on using it with a PS3 in 3D or any other HDMI 1.4-based stereo 3D-capable devices, because you would not be able to. The HDMI interface present on the BenQ XL2420T monitor is 2D-capable only and you are of course not able to use 120Hz refresh rate over the HDMI, you need to use the other interfaces for the higher refresh rate.

The BenQ XL2420TX is the more expensive version that comes with a built-in infrared emitter and a pair of 3D Vision 2 active shutter glasses, so you are ready to use the monitor in 3D mode over DL-DVI, DisplayPort or HDMI 1.4. Using this monitor over the DisplayPort interface however has some limitations based on the GeForce GPU you have in your computer, so have in mind that if your video card is based on GeForce 8 series, GeForce 9 series, or GeForce GTX 295/280/260 GPU you would still need an external IR emitter to use the monitor over the DP interface. Of course this is only related to using DisplayPort, if you have any of these older GPUs you can still use the built-in IR emitter over the DL-DVI interface. If your GPU is any newer you would be able to take advantage of the DisplayPort 1.1 connectivity with the built-in IR emitter inside the display. And one more thing, currently NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround setups are still not supported over DisplayPort, so if you plan on using a three monitor 3D setup, then you’ll have to stick to using the Dual-Link DVI interface for now.

New GeForce 295.51 Beta Video Drivers Are Now Available

Bloody — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:37:10 +0000

Nvidia has just made available a new beta video driver in the form of 295.51 with some interesting new features and improvements regarding stereoscopic 3D support and not only. It is interesting to note that Nvidia has not released a WHQL driver for a while now, and the last such one is 285.58 back from October last year, but there have been multiple beta versions released in the meantime. Not everyone however installs and users beta drivers due to the fact that they may have some issues and not work properly at times or with specific setups, so have this in mind if you decide to try the new beta driver as well…

The most notable stereoscopic 3D-related new feature in the 295.51 beta drivers is the addition of support for 3D Vision windowed mode on 3D-capable DLP HDTVs and on “Optimized for GeForce” passive 3D monitors, so you will be able to run games and applications in stereo 3D mode in a window on these as well. Other than that there are quite a few updated or new 3D Vision game profiles, and these are:

- The Adventures of Tintin – rated Good
- Afterfall: Insanity – rated Fair
- Black Prophecy – rated Not Recommended
- Chaos Online – rated Fair
- Da Vinci Online – rated Fair
- DotA 2 – rating upgraded to Fair
- Dungeon and Dragons: Daggerdale – rated Fair
- Ferrari Project – rated Not Recommended
- The First Templar – rated Fair
- Fractal – rated Excellent
- FreeStyle 2 – rated Good
- The Haunted Halls Reach – rated Excellent
- King Arthur II – rated Not Recommended
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – rated Fair
- Kong Fu Ying Xiong – rated Fair
- Love Beat – rated Good
- Marvel Super Hero Squad Online – rated Good
- Microsoft Flight – rated Fair
- Perpetuum – rated Fair
- Post Apocalyptic Mayhem – rated Fair
- Prototype 2 – rated Fair
- Q.U.B.E. – rated Excellent
- Quan Qiu Shi Ming – rated Excellent
- rFactor 2 (mod mode) – rated Good
- Saints Row: The Third – Rated Not Recommended
- Shadow Company: Left for Dead – rated Not Recommended
- Special Force – Rated Good
- Tera – rated Good
- Top Gun: Hard Lock – rated Not Recommended
- Tropico 4 – rated Good
- Worms Blast – rated Good

A word of advice for the game Q.U.B.E. that is rated as excellent, the game kind of reminds of Portal in style and is actually quite fun and works really well in stereo 3D mode, however similarly to Portal the color palette in the game is often highly contrasting and this can lead to experiencing more crosstalk than usual. Also the new driver does add SLI profile for the upcoming game Mass Effect 3, but there is not yet a 3D Vision profile or rating for the game, and the previous games from the series had some issues in stereo 3D mode. Mass Effect 3 has the potential to turn out to be a great game to play in stereo 3D mode if it works properly this time, so hold your fingers crossed for when the game becomes available in March this year.

- To download and try the just released new GeForce 295.51 Beta video drivers …

The Game Alan Wake will Support Multi-Monitor and Stereo 3D Setups

Bloody — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:26 +0000

The developers of the game Alan Wake have published some interesting photos on the official game’s blog that are hinting at some interesting features about to come in the PC version of the game. On the photo above you can see a three monitor configuration built with 2D-capable only Samsung monitors (probably an Nvidia Surround setup), and there is also a pair of the new 3D Vision 2 glasses lying around…

The PC version of the game Alan Wake itself should be released sometime in February and it should be available trough Steam according to the latest information available. It will apparently work on multi-monitor configurations very well, and although it probably will not be a 3D Vision-ready title it should work very will in stereo 3D mode with 3D Vision setups… hopefully in 3D Vision Surround setups as well. For playing in stereoscopic 3D mode however you should be ready with some quite serious hardware, especially in terms of GPU performance. The game does not feature AMD HD3D native support either, but it might also work well with a middle-ware such as the DDD TriDef 3D software and hopefully by the time the game gets released AMD will also release an official driver supporting Eyefinity 3D configurations as well as Crossfire setups in stereo 3D mode as well.

Choplifter HD, a Game You Should Try in Stereo 3D with 3D Vision

Bloody — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:58:32 +0000

I’ve just found a new and interesting game that works really well in stereo 3D mode using 3D Vision. The game is called Choplifter HD an in it you take the role of a rescue pilot asked to join the elite, international helicopter rescue team and in it you will be flying a helicopter doing a bunch of different stuff in more than 30 missions. The game combines things from reality with fantasy elements, and your missions will range from the extraction of captured military prisoners, to saving survivors of viral outbreaks. You will have to bank, hover, touch-down and sometimes even shake zombies from your chopper during lift-off in order to make the rescue and complete your mission. Oh, and there is a lot of shooting you have to do from your chopper, but even more enemies are going to be shooting at you…

Choplifter HD is based on Unreal engine and probably a fairly new version was used, because the game works really well in stereo 3D mode, although there is not yet an official profile for 3D Vision available in the latest drivers. Even without a profile the game looks quite nice in stereo 3D and you can easily crank up the depth level, but the real fun starts when you play a bit with the convergence as the game will look even better in stereoscopic 3D mode. The good thing is that the HUD is rendered in 2D and there aren’t any issues with lights, shadows or any pretty much any of the effects in the game, so you can have some fun playing this game in stereo 3D mode without any issues. You can pick up the game off Steam for $14.99 USD in US or for 9.99 Euro in Europe, but unfortunately there is no demo you can download and try before buying it.

- You can visit the official Choplifter HD game website for more information…

Stereo 3D Video Interview with Andrew Fear from Nvidia at 2012 CES

Bloody — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:13:55 +0000

Neil Schneider from MTBS has managed to catch Andrew Fear, Senior Product Manager for Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision for a short interview at the 2012 CES. In the interview Andrew Fear talks about a new VR racing simulator for stereoscopic 3D gaming with triple monitor setup, the new 3D Vision 2 Glasses and 3D Lightboost monitors, stereo 3D game profiles and compatibility as well as MTBS’ GameGrade3D, timelines for the next round of GPU technology, stereoscopic 3D notebooks and S3D-capable mobile devices based on Tegra…

Here is the first part of the video interview with Andrew Fear, Senior Product Manager for Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision, and the second part you can watch by following the link below. With the interview you can quickly catch up on the latest stereoscopic 3D-capable offerings from Nvidia and also get some information about what to expect from the company this year. Stereoscopic 3D-capable tablets with Tegra 3 is something that I’d be very interested to see not only as a demo, but as an actual products on the market…

My 2012 Wishlist for New Features and Improvements in 3D Vision

Bloody — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:13:41 +0000

It is a new year and the right time to prepare a short wishlist of new features and improvements that I would want to see implemented in 3D Vision this year. It is not like Nvidia is not working on 3D Vision by improving it and fixing issues, but they kind of miss implementing some small, but important things. As for AMD, they have just announced some new stereo 3D features in their latest preview drivers as well as with the upcoming Radeon HD 7970 GPUs, so let us first wait to see how, what and when they will deliver them…

- Bringing back the monitor size user selection that was available in the old stereoscopic drivers. 3D Vision is not longer used only on a certain size of 3D monitors, there are users that use large screen displays in the form of 3D HDTVs and even 3D DLP projectors and the available depth slider may provide insignificant depth levels for them. It is not like it has been completely removed as a feature, but the drivers detect it and save a value in the registry, thus there are workarounds for getting higher depth but why should it be hard when it could be made earier and more accessible.

- Providing a visual indicator for adjustment of convergence level, two simple lines that form a X could easily be used to provide a more user friendly guide on setting up the level of convergence by showing you the converging point. This one actually sounds easier that it actually is, but is something that should be very useful for novice users just starting with stereo 3D gaming.

- Saving stereo 3D screenshots in PNS (Stereo PNG) format by default and not some low quality JPS (Stereo JPEG) wuth a lot of compression, making them small in size, but with pretty bad quality and you need to edit the registry to either improve the quality or switch to PNS. It would’ve been much easier to just use the PNS format with no compression for best quality stereoscopic 3D screenshots, the file size won’t be that big anyway.

- Not deleting all your custom game profiles every time you install new video drivers. Something that is very annoying if you happen to forget to back them up by exporting the keys from the registry and then importing them again after you install new drivers. The driver installer could check for availability of custom game profiles saved by the user and offer the ability to preserve them in the new version as well.

- More options for advanced users to customize and create stereo 3D game profiles, so that they can share them with not so experienced users and help the stereo 3D gaming community that has grown quite a lot already. And not having to wait for official driver updates that are not released so often and not always contain profiles for all games that users want to be able to play well in stereo 3D mode. Of course sometimes the game just is a no go for stereo 3D, but there are rare occasions and with some tweaking most games can provide good results in stereo 3D mode.

You are also welcome to share what features you’d want to see in the new 3D Vision drivers this year from Nvidia in the comments below…

Club 3D DisplayPort to Active DVI Dual-Link Stereo 3D Adapter

Bloody — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:55:19 +0000

If you are looking for an active DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter for use together with a laptop that only has a DisplayPort interface available, but you want to be able to connect a 3D-capable LCD monitor with a DVI interface, then Club 3D might have exactly what you need. The Club 3D CAC-1051 DisplayPort to active DVI Dual-Link stereo 3D adapter is a claimed to be compatible with both AMD HD3D technology and Nvidia 3D Vision technology, so it should work problem free for both. According to the manufacturer the adapter should also work with AMD Eyefinity and Nvidia 3D Vision Surround setups as well, so not only useable for laptops, but also for desktop systems what feature more DisplayPort connectors than DVI for example and you have 2D or 3D monitors that don’t have DisplayPort support. The adapter comes with a standard DisplayPort input (not a mini one) and standard size digital only DVI-D output, there is an extra USB connector that needs to be plugged in a free connector in order to provide the extra power required for the adapter. So if you are looking for an active DP to DL-DVI adapter to go with your stereo 3D setup this one should work flawlessly, as not all such adapters may provide you with a problem free experience when used for building a stereoscopic 3D setup.

- For more information about the Club 3D DisplayPort to DL-DVI Stereo 3D Adapter…

Trine 2 is Out Now and Looks Simply Amazing with 3D Vision

Bloody — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:43:59 +0000

If you have missed playing the first Trine game, then you should not miss Trine 2 for sure. Trine got a 3D Vision Ready certification some time after its release and looked really nice when played with 3D Vision in stereo 3D mode, but the new Trine 2 game is even better. Trine 2 is out for a few days already and although when you run it with 3D Vision enabled you will see that there is no 3D Vision profile for the game, it will work and look great in stereo 3D mode…

The game even has a menu with controls for adjusting the 3D effect, both for depth and convergence in the game as well as a separate control for the menu. And everything works very well apart for one very minor issue that I’ve noticed – the in-game crosshair’s depth (and some in-game hints’ depth) is varying based not on what it is passing over, but based on what settings for depth and convergence you have set. So depending on your 3D settings and where you position it, it might get semi-transparent if it passes behind some objects. Anyway, this is not a serious issue at all and can easily pass by without bothering you at all, especially considering the fact that the game looks really impressive when you increase the depth and play with the convergence. So definitely something that you should try, and don’t forget to set the monitor at 120 Hz refresh rate from the game launcher when running Trine 2.

- Visit the official website for more information about the game Trine 2…

Acer HR274H is a 27″ Passive 3D Monitor with 3D Vision Support

Bloody — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:14:39 +0000

Today Acer has announced in USA the release of their new 27-inch Acer HR274H 3D monitor using passive film-patterned retarder (FPR) technology, but at the same time it also apparently supports what Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology does (according to what Acer has released in the official press release)… falling into a category of products called “Optimized for GeForce”. But there is more, this monitor is equipped only with HDMI 1.4a interface and analogue VGA, there is no Dual-Link DVI. Acer HR274H apparently also features real-time 2D to 3D conversion built in the display, so it is done by dedicated hardware and should work with different inputs.

Acer HR274H 3D monitor specifications:

Panel Size: 27″ (69 cm) Wide Screen 16:9, TN, LED backlight
Native Resolution: 1920×1080 pixels
Pixel Pitch: 0.3114 mm
Brightness(Max): 250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio (Max.): 100,000,000:1 (dynamic)
Viewing Angles: 170° H / 160° V
Response Time: 2 ms (Gray to Gray)
Video Inputs: 2x HDMI 1.4a, VGA
Power Consumption: 27.50 W On, 1.4W Sleep, 0.6W Off/Standby
Integrated Audio: 2x 2W stereo speakers
Monitor stand: tilt +30°~-30°
Dimension (WxHxD): 25.5″ x 18.5″ x 7.6″ (648.1 x 468.5 x 192 mm)
Weight: 13.2 lbs (6 kg)

It is interesting to not that the user has control over the 3D functionality that allows the activation of 2D-to-3D conversion on demand as well as the option to choose between not only frame packaged 3D input, but also Side by Side and Top/Bottom. And this is something that we did not have with some of the first 3D-capable monitors that came out with HDMI 1.4 interface also supporting stereo 3D.

Acer HR274H comes bundled with a pair of Acer-branded passive 3D glasses. And since it uses HDMI 1.4a interface, the 3D modes you are going to be limited are of course 720p 50/60Hz 3D and 1080p 24Hz 3D as well as 1080i 50/60Hz 3D mode. The new 27-inch Acer HR274H 3D LCD monitor should be available for U.S. customers at leading retailers with an MSRP of $599 USD. The European price of the 27-inch Acer HR274H should be at around 450 Euro and it should soon be available. There is also a smaller 23-inch 3D model with the same features and capabilities – Acer GR235HA, that is an alternative to Acer GR235H, but not the same model. The price of the Acer GR235HA monitor in Europe should be about 240 Euro.

Update: Ok, so it is not exactly official 3D Vision support, but instead Acer has licensed the GeForce 3D software driver from Nvidia in order to get the same game support, features, etc. as 3D Vision-ready active monitors do offer, but in the form of a passive 3D solution.

3D Vision Blog » 3d vision

New Approach In Making Games Work Better in Stereo 3D Mode

Related posts you might be interested in:

3D Vision over DisplayPort 1.1 Interface with BenQ XL2420T or XL2420TX

Related posts you might be interested in:

New GeForce 295.51 Beta Video Drivers Are Now Available

Related posts you might be interested in:

The Game Alan Wake will Support Multi-Monitor and Stereo 3D Setups

Related posts you might be interested in:

Choplifter HD, a Game You Should Try in Stereo 3D with 3D Vision

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Stereo 3D Video Interview with Andrew Fear from Nvidia at 2012 CES

Related posts you might be interested in:

My 2012 Wishlist for New Features and Improvements in 3D Vision

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Club 3D DisplayPort to Active DVI Dual-Link Stereo 3D Adapter

Related posts you might be interested in:

Trine 2 is Out Now and Looks Simply Amazing with 3D Vision

Related posts you might be interested in:

Acer HR274H is a 27″ Passive 3D Monitor with 3D Vision Support

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