Bringing 3D to Your Homes - NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision
Announced recently at the Consumer Electronics Show, NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision aims to bring realistic 3D visuals to your homes. We take a closer look at the technology behind it, and more importantly, see if it can live up to its hype.
See Things in a Different Light
Apart from the fearsome GeForce and , NVIDIA also introduced something entirely new at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. If you've seen a 3D movie before, the kind where you have to put on funky glasses, then you'd probably already have a good idea of what NVIDIA has announced. That's right, 3D images, and more specifically, the GeForce 3D Vision.
In a nutshell, NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision makes use of stereoscopy to present to viewers 3D images. The working principle behind this is fairly simple and has been in existence for well over a century, having been invented by a certain Sir Charles Wheatstone back in 1840.
For the eyes to perceive something in 3D, there must be some perception of depth. To achieve this, stereoscopy presents two images to the eye, nearly identical to one another but with minor deviations. In doing so, it creates an illusion of depth, leading the mind to believe that it is seeing the image in 3D.
NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision comes with everything you need to enjoy the 3D stereoscopic experience (minus the monitor).
However, the 3D Vision concept is not exactly new. In fact, NVIDIA had earlier, since the days of the RIVA TNT2, supported stereoscopic 3D via a dedicated driver but required either 3D capable displays (Zalman comes to mind here), or the much more economical anaglyph glasses (those cheap and funky blue-red shades) and passive polarized 3D glasses. While they were decent enough to wow users those days, it soon became a cheap thrill. Despite some special 3D bundles by vendors, sadly that didn't take off, because the stereoscopic effect wasn't quite pronounced and the images produced were regularly criticized of being poor quality. Thus the entire user experience generally left much to be desired - especially for extended usage. Fortunately, advances in technology have allowed NVIDIA to have a second go at bringing 3D images to your homes. Still requiring stereoscopic 3D drivers, but now combined with their own hardware and updated requirements to re-ignite their 3D efforts, this time they are confident they'll succeed.
3D images generally convey a sense of heightened involvement and awareness. So having said this, NVIDIA hopes games and movies would become a more immersive and fulfilling experience with their new GeForce 3D Vision kit, and we'll be giving it a look-see to see if it really works, or if it's all hype and hot air.
How Does It Work?
NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision works using the principle of stereoscopy by creating the illusion of depth by presenting two different images to the eye. But unlike the 3D experience of old, which uses primitive red-blue anaglyph glasses, this new GeForce 3D Vision does it with an ultra-high 120Hz LCD monitor and special glasses provided by NVIDIA that use active shutter technology to enable stereoscopic 3D experience. The retail kit itself comes only with the special wireless glasses, a USB IR emitter and the necessary cables.
Let's talk about the screen first, since it is the main vehicle used to present images to the eye. The important thing to note here is that the GeForce 3D Vision requires a screen with a minimum refresh rate of 120Hz to work. A refresh rate of 120Hz is crucial because working in tandem with the special glasses provided by NVIDIA, the lens of the special glasses rapidly 'open and close' at 60Hz, alternating between the left and right sides to present slightly different images to each eye. And it is because of this that we perceive the objects on the screen to be in 3D. Therefore anything lower than 120Hz would be too slow, causing the image to look as if it was flickering. Also take caution that you'll require a Dual-Link DVI cable to support 120Hz input. Fortunately, to help you pick the right display for the job, NVIDIA recommends buyers to look for the GeForce 3D Vision Ready logo when shopping for a compatible display.
Currently, only Samsung's SyncMaster 2233RZ and ViewSonic FuHzion VX2265wm LCD displays fit the criteria of supporting a 120Hz refresh rate at their native resolution. You can also go with analog CRTs as long as they can do 120Hz refresh rate. For higher-end consumers, Mitsubishi's range of 1080p DLP Home Theater TVs also fit the bill. However note that several other new HDTVs can support '120Hz mode', but this is not supported by the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision kit. These LCD TV's actually only accept the standard 1080/60p or 1080/24p input but use their internal processor to add additional frames to recreate a 120Hz internal refresh rate. The GeForce 3D Vision kit requires LCDs that can accept a 120Hz refresh rate input over Dual-Link DVI.
As you can see, setup is an extremely easy affair. Points to note are that GeForce 3D Vision will only work with a DVI connection, and that the IR emitter has an effective range of up to 20 feet (6 metres) and can be used with more than one pair of glasses.
As for graphics cards, GeForce 3D Vision is supported on any GeForce 8 series graphics card that is a 8800 GT and above; any GeForce 9 series graphics card that is a 9600 GT or higher; and all GTX 200 cards. And amazingly, GeForce 3D Vision will work on over 350 games right out of the box (with varying degrees of effectiveness, of course), without the need for any major patches or game updates.
Using NVIDIA Control Panel, you can activate and deactivate 3D Vision and also check up on the compatibility of games.
Right now, 3D Vision support is only for games and stereoscopic videos. Support for 3D photos is said to be in the works and will be available in the near future via driver updates. Also, take note that compatibility between games can vary significantly. For example, Left 4 Dead and Far Cry 2 are rated "Excellent", whereas Crysis was rated only "Good". We'll elaborate more on this later.
A Taste of 3D
In reviewing the GeForce 3D Vision kit, there are certain limitations to what we can do, chief amongst which is how we can show you the true 3D effect of the 3D Vision kit. We busted our heads, but there's simply no conceivable way of showing to you just how good the 3D visuals are, so we're sorry, but you'll have to make do with photos.
We've tested the GeForce 3D Vision by watching a simple 3D stereoscopic test video, and then playing Left 4 Dead, the popular zombie-survival game.
Watching the 3D stereoscopic test video, we were immediately impressed by the stunning visuals offered by the GeForce 3D Vision kit. The words really seem to float towards you, and as they spun about, they really looked as if they were spinning right in front of you. What's more amusing was when we got passers-by to give it a go, many of them actually tried to reach out and touch the visuals.
This image was obtained by using Printscreen, therefore you can't see the 3D stereoscopic effect at work here. But if you could, the words NVIDIA would appear as if they are floating just off the screen.
This image was obtained with a camera. You can clearly see that there are doubles in the image, which can be corrected by wearing the special 3D glasses, which open and close at 60Hz intervals. It is this doubling of images (stereoscopic images) that allows us to "see" images in 3D.
But that was not all. We were even more flabbergasted when playing the shooter Left 4 Dead. The zombies will, quite literally, leap out at you, and it really feels as if you are being surrounded and supported by your team mates as you make way through the game's zombie-infested levels. However, as we've mentioned, 3D visuals can vary from game to game. While Left 4 Dead was brilliant, Crysis (rated "Good") was less so. With 3D Vision activated, there were some obvious clipping issues and visual artifacts. Additionally, the 3D effect wasn't as pronounced.
Again, obtained from print screen. Games like Left 4 Dead benefit greatly from 3D Vision as it heightens your senses and makes you feel more involved.
Obtained from a camera shot, we can clearly see the 3D stereoscopic effect at work. It is hard to describe what the experience is like, and the only advice we can give you is that if you have the chance, go try it for yourself. It will astound you.
3D for the Masses
Although 3D imaging have been around since the 19th century, it is only recently that they are being ported for home use. In light of what we've seen here, we are pretty impressed with NVIDIA's offering. Not only is it easy to setup, it is also relatively affordable - well, at least the glasses. While the compatible display is still expensive as they are pretty new in the market, the GeForce 3D Vision kit alone will set you back a reasonable US$199 (US$296). In light of the high cost of the screens, NVIDIA is currently running a special promotion on their website, providing both the GeForce 3D Vision kit and a compatible Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ 120Hz LCD screen for US$598 (S$890).
All in all, the GeForce 3D Vision offers something radically different from what NVIDIA, or their competitor ATI, have done in the past. Instead of introducing a faster graphics card, they are offering a different way to enjoy our games. We dare say that with the GeForce 3D Vision, coupled with a set of good speakers, you'll no longer be merely playing your games, you'll be 'experiencing' them.
Of course, the GeForce 3D Vision does have its setbacks. For one, compatibility with games are highly dependent on drivers and those not rated "Excellent" tend to perform badly. Crysis, as we've tried, was barely playable with its numerous visual artifacts. With that in mind, we highly recommend you getting the GeForce 3D Vision only if the games you intend to play, or spend much time playing, happen to fall within the Excellent category. To see whether or not your favorite game falls into the category, check out the full list here .
Also, 3D Vision can only be experienced with the special glasses, and this could be problem for bespectacled gamers. To add on, the special glasses weren't exactly comfortable either, causing discomfort after only about an hour's use.
One of the most interesting products to ever grace our labs, the GeForce 3D Vision from NVIDIA adds excitement and ups the fun factor of your games, and at the same time, provides an exciting glimpse into the future.
However, if you can look past these grievances of ours, and think that you can afford the money in these tumultuous times, then the GeForce 3D Vision will certainly amaze, astound and astonish you.
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