Nvidia 3D Vision
Encyclopedia
3D Vision is a stereoscopic gaming
kit from Nvidia
which consists of LC shutter glasses and driver software
which enables stereoscopic vision for any Direct3D
game, with various degrees of compatibility. There have been many examples of shutter glasses over the past decade, but the NVIDIA 3D Vision gaming kit introduced in 2008 introduced this technology to mainstream consumers and PC gamers.
The kit is specially designed for 120 Hz LCD monitors. Also it is compatible with late CRT
monitors (some of which may work at 1024×768×120 Hz and even higher refresh rate
s), DLP-projectors, and other. It requires a graphics card from Nvidia.
protocol and can be charged from a USB cable, allowing around 60 hours of continuous use.
The wireless emitter connects to the USB port and interfaces with the underlying driver software. It also contains a VESA Stereo
port for connecting supported DLP TV sets, although standalone operation without a PC with installed Nvidia 3D Vision driver is not allowed.
NVIDIA includes one pair of shutter glasses in their 3D Vision kit, SKU 942-10701-0003. Each lens operates at 60Hz, and alternate to create a 120Hz 3-dimensional experience.
This version of 3D Vision supports select 120 Hz monitors, 720p
DLP projectors, and passive-polarized displays from Zalman
.
The quad-buffered
mode allows developers to control the rendering, avoiding the automatic mode of the driver and just presenting the rendered stereo picture to left and right frame buffers with associated back buffers.
In 2008 Nvidia undertook major rewrite of the driver which was converted to use Windows Display Driver Model
, making it only compatible with Windows Vista
and Nvidia's glasses. The stereo driver was renamed as 3D Vision driver.
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
kit from Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
which consists of LC shutter glasses and driver software
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
which enables stereoscopic vision for any Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
game, with various degrees of compatibility. There have been many examples of shutter glasses over the past decade, but the NVIDIA 3D Vision gaming kit introduced in 2008 introduced this technology to mainstream consumers and PC gamers.
The kit is specially designed for 120 Hz LCD monitors. Also it is compatible with late CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
monitors (some of which may work at 1024×768×120 Hz and even higher refresh rate
Refresh rate
The refresh rate is the number of times in a second that a display hardware draws the data...
s), DLP-projectors, and other. It requires a graphics card from Nvidia.
Shutter glasses
The glasses use wireless IRInfrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
protocol and can be charged from a USB cable, allowing around 60 hours of continuous use.
The wireless emitter connects to the USB port and interfaces with the underlying driver software. It also contains a VESA Stereo
VESA Stereo
VESA Stereo is a liquid crystal shutter glasses interface standard by the Video Electronics Standards Association for stereoscopic 3D displays...
port for connecting supported DLP TV sets, although standalone operation without a PC with installed Nvidia 3D Vision driver is not allowed.
NVIDIA includes one pair of shutter glasses in their 3D Vision kit, SKU 942-10701-0003. Each lens operates at 60Hz, and alternate to create a 120Hz 3-dimensional experience.
This version of 3D Vision supports select 120 Hz monitors, 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
DLP projectors, and passive-polarized displays from Zalman
Zalman
Zalman Tech Co. is a Korean company that develops and provides aftermarket desktop computer products with primary focus on cooling enhancement....
.
Stereo driver
The stereo driver software can perform automatic stereoscopic conversion by using the 3D models submitted by the application and rendering two stereoscopic views instead of the standard mono view. The automatic driver works in two modes: fully "automatic" mode, where 3D Vision driver controls screen depth (convergence) and stereo separation, and "explicit" mode, where control over screen depth, separation, and textures is performed by the game developer with the use of proprietary NVAPI.The quad-buffered
Quad buffering
Quad buffering is a technology for implementing stereoscopic frame rendering in computer graphics. For stereoscopic rendering, each eye must receive a separate image...
mode allows developers to control the rendering, avoiding the automatic mode of the driver and just presenting the rendered stereo picture to left and right frame buffers with associated back buffers.
History
The roots of the Nvidia stereo driver can be traced to the software supplied with the wired ELSA Revelator shutter glasses from 1990s. Nvidia has acquired the technology and has provided support for various stereoscopic display technologies, including stereoscopic shutter glasses, with their own version driver which only worked with Nvidia graphics cards.In 2008 Nvidia undertook major rewrite of the driver which was converted to use Windows Display Driver Model
Windows Display Driver Model
Windows Display Driver Model is the graphic driver architecture for video card drivers running Microsoft Windows versions beginning with Windows Vista....
, making it only compatible with Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
and Nvidia's glasses. The stereo driver was renamed as 3D Vision driver.