Okay, last week or so, I remember telling you guys I went to see Prometheus in 3D. Well, I kept the glasses and took them home thinking I might just be able to view some of my already downloaded video, or perhaps find something online where I could see it in 3D. I learned a lot in a short time. First of all, the 3D in theaters is something you cannot get from a computer monitor or HDTV. This is a physical limitation, not a barrier put up to protect the technology. Those glasses (in my case, they were RealD 3D) work by using filters to multiplex images which are projected side by side to achieve the effect. If you have taken 3D glasses off during a 3D movie, you will know what I mean. They cannot be used at home.
So, how do you get 3D on a computer monitor or a large screen TV without shelling out the bucks? :icon_e_geek:
If you have an Nvidia graphics card which is a GeForce (not all of them), you most likely have a setting in your Nvidia control panel which refers to "Stereoscopic 3D". It is disabled by default, but you can go in there and turn it on.
But before you think of doing this, you will need a pair of Red/Cyan glasses, better known as red-green 3D glasses. Perhaps you already have an old pair of paper ones around. If you bought a 3D movie, then you already know what to expect, and you would have a pair of these. But if you really want to play your games in 3D or watch some of the 3D movies on YouTube, or download 3D stuff, you will need a sturdier, more durable pair.
I bought a pair of these (above) here: http://www.amazon.com/Red-blue-Anaglyph-Simple-Glasses-Upgrade/dp/B003LWYGPE/ref=pd_cp_e_2 for only $1.57 each, and they are GREAT! . I just got them today. So, I went into my Nvidia control panel as shown above, and enabled my 3D. Then I clicked the wizard.
You need to choose the one that says "Discover Glasses" like shown in the picture. Once done, the screen will flicker a bit, and then will go back to normal. So where is the 3D? If you open Word or any of your programs, they will look no different, and you do not need any glasses to do anything. Everything looks normal. But what happens if you open a game? In my case, I opened Starcraft II and OMG. :icon_eek: :daniel_new_anime021 The game automatically went into 3D mode, because I could see the weird anaglyph images (split into red and cyan). So, I grabbed the glasses, and I have to tell you that the graphics were STUNNING in 3D. I have been playing this game regularly several times per week since it was in Beta stage, and this 3D experience was just not expected at all. I was blown away. I noticed that my RAM spiked to double usage, and the CPU was also spiked while in 3D mode. I have enough power to handle it, but I am thinking perhaps others might not. If you have a high end video card, it wont matter much since the memory is on the card itself.
3D on YouTube is more amateurish, but the demo 3D stuff from Nvidia is what best shows the capability. So, for only a minor investment of less than 10 bucks, I can enjoy very realistic 3D from your same old monitor, and play your games in a 3D mode you never knew existed for them (already built into the game). Chances are if you see the Nvidia logo in the beginning of your game, it will have a built in 3D mode you dont know about unless you have it enabled on your card. Pretty cool!
You can disable the 3D by un-ticking the box in the Nvidia panel. Ticking it back will re-enable it. No hotkey toggle yet.
So, how do you get 3D on a computer monitor or a large screen TV without shelling out the bucks? :icon_e_geek:
If you have an Nvidia graphics card which is a GeForce (not all of them), you most likely have a setting in your Nvidia control panel which refers to "Stereoscopic 3D". It is disabled by default, but you can go in there and turn it on.
But before you think of doing this, you will need a pair of Red/Cyan glasses, better known as red-green 3D glasses. Perhaps you already have an old pair of paper ones around. If you bought a 3D movie, then you already know what to expect, and you would have a pair of these. But if you really want to play your games in 3D or watch some of the 3D movies on YouTube, or download 3D stuff, you will need a sturdier, more durable pair.
I bought a pair of these (above) here: http://www.amazon.com/Red-blue-Anaglyph-Simple-Glasses-Upgrade/dp/B003LWYGPE/ref=pd_cp_e_2 for only $1.57 each, and they are GREAT! . I just got them today. So, I went into my Nvidia control panel as shown above, and enabled my 3D. Then I clicked the wizard.
You need to choose the one that says "Discover Glasses" like shown in the picture. Once done, the screen will flicker a bit, and then will go back to normal. So where is the 3D? If you open Word or any of your programs, they will look no different, and you do not need any glasses to do anything. Everything looks normal. But what happens if you open a game? In my case, I opened Starcraft II and OMG. :icon_eek: :daniel_new_anime021 The game automatically went into 3D mode, because I could see the weird anaglyph images (split into red and cyan). So, I grabbed the glasses, and I have to tell you that the graphics were STUNNING in 3D. I have been playing this game regularly several times per week since it was in Beta stage, and this 3D experience was just not expected at all. I was blown away. I noticed that my RAM spiked to double usage, and the CPU was also spiked while in 3D mode. I have enough power to handle it, but I am thinking perhaps others might not. If you have a high end video card, it wont matter much since the memory is on the card itself.
3D on YouTube is more amateurish, but the demo 3D stuff from Nvidia is what best shows the capability. So, for only a minor investment of less than 10 bucks, I can enjoy very realistic 3D from your same old monitor, and play your games in a 3D mode you never knew existed for them (already built into the game). Chances are if you see the Nvidia logo in the beginning of your game, it will have a built in 3D mode you dont know about unless you have it enabled on your card. Pretty cool!
You can disable the 3D by un-ticking the box in the Nvidia panel. Ticking it back will re-enable it. No hotkey toggle yet.