Wall size 3D Move games + 3D MP4 USB videos are inexpensive

[egavi]

I wish to share my current solution which works very well.
Not totally self-less here, I also hope that you let me know about a video converter (as explained below).


I used to have PC solutions (I was among the first adopters of the IZ3D display and I used to have NVIDIA 3D Vision) but costs tend to be high that way, with new games and new features, such as 3DTV Play, often needing new cards. Also, the artifacts in games, the abandoned solutions and the delays in the drivers were unpleasant.

The 3D solution shared below is very inexpensive. It is a pure PS3 + HDMI 1.4 setup, so the small investment should last some time.


I acquired a short throw HD projector. It makes a huge 3D image that fills the whole wall, more than 2 meters by 3.5 meters. I bought this 2200 lumen projector in 'new' condition but very cheaply because it is a HDMI 1.3 projector.
At the same time I purchased the new gadget from VIP. It is called the Gamer. Also relatively inexpensive, this gadget converts the HDMI 1.4 generated by the PS3 on the fly so that the projector displays in 3D.
The setup works very well, with zero cross talk and 60 frames per second per each eye in HD.

All 3d games that use the PS3 3D standard work well (so all games apart from Avatar and Shaun, which do not use HDMI 1.4).
The reason for short-through is that the projector is located between the users and the wall, so that it is easy to stand up and use the Move motion controller with friends.

Apart from the Blu-ray 3D movies, the PS3 is also able to play MP4 3D files from a USB drive.
You simply use the Video Player from the XMB (the XMB being the main menu of the PS3. The firmware I am using is 3.55).

You can test this impressing ability of the PS3 to play 3D video from a single MP4 file saved on the USB drive by downloading this small, 200 MB video made by Sony.
http://poseidon.dl.playstation.net/cdn/ ... country=us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This video is 1280 x 720. It is not Side By Side (SBS): the HD images for the left and right eyes are on consecutive frames (0 left, 1 right and so on). So the quality of the 3D image is excellent. Also, this video is special because, when the PS3 recognises its format, it begins to emit HDMI 1.4 and the projector begins to work in 3D automatically.


The negatives of this solution are:
- currently, I cannot find any sw that is capable of converting the 3D content available into this new MP4 format recognised as 3D by the PS3. Please, please, contact me as soon as you hear of such sw becoming available.
(There are sw claiming that they can convert .SSIF to HD 3D optimised for the PS3 : those sw simply create a lower quality SBS video that the PS3 plays as 2D, and so you would need an expensive TV to show this non-HDMI 1.4 format in 3D).
- occasionally, the projector misses a beat and inverts left and right: in those rare cases, I simply select an option in the projector's menu to invert (my understanding is that all DLP projectors have got this option in their menu).

The unexpected positives are:
- the VIP Gamer is very small, a fraction of the Optoma 3D-XL, and smaller than a XXS Freecom disk. The customer service at the company is great. They ship well internationally (I am not from the US). I perceive no lag due to the on-the-fly conversion. 2D is in full HD.
- no rainbow effect for me.
- HD resolution is high enough that I do not have the issue of noticing single pixels: the overall image still feels at high enough resolution.

Note:
- the combo Gamer + HD DLP projector should also be compatible with NVIDIA 3DTV Play (HD modes).

[Fredz]

currently, I cannot find any sw that is capable of converting the 3D content available into this new MP4 format recognised as 3D by the PS3. Please, please, contact me as soon as you hear of such sw becoming available.

I guess a simple Avisynth script should be able to do that in quite a few lines of code.

[egavi]

Thanks Fredz.

I tried that.
If you send me the lines of code, I would appreciate.

The MP4 3D format by Sony is not standard.

I agree that your suggestion is in the right direction but it is likely that one needs to code at this level to get the result:
http://www.pantarheon.org/AviSynth3DToolbox/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

or most likely at the codec level.

For me, personally, upgrading those functions is beyond my skills. I hope that somebody at that level of skill will advise.
...or alternatively, that a user points us to a sw that writes that format.

[Fredz]

Seems the PS3 frame alternate video format uses proprietary tags as you expected, someone at AVS tried to create compatible 3D videos but without success.

I guess your best bet would be to play with the sources of a video player that is able to play this file in 2D to help you find the proprietary tags. You may have a look at MPlayer for example : http://www.mplayerhq.hu/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[egavi]

Thanks a lot Fredz for the idea: interesting angle to approach it.

[cybereality]

Here the link to the site, the thing costs $200:
http://www.3d-vip.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems it is only compatible with 720P 3D capable DLP projectors. Still, not a bad option if you already have a setup like this.

[egavi]

Personally, I had no PS3, no projector, no VIP and bought all 3 at the same time.
I was planning another "needed" PC GPU upgrade to get DX11 and HDMI 1.4 but then I considered the alternatives.


Yes, concerning projectors, they have to be DLP with HDMI 1.3 input, at least 720 rows, and 120hz or 100hz.
On auction sites, the above are now very inexpensive because new types are now in the consumer market:
- Full HD, HDMI 1.4a projectors
- and Sanyo laser/led projectors (lamps are ecological and last 20k hours rather than 5k hours)


Personally, I believe that the setup described in the opening post makes the most sense today in terms of performance/investment ratio and considering the availability of motion controllers.
For the future:
On one-user devices (3D phone, tablet, handhelds, laptop), I plan to upgrade to glass-less / head-tracking.
On large screen/multi-viewers, I plan to upgrade only when it will be affordable to have:
- full HD, 60 fps per eye (inside the cable bringing info to the projector)
- projector capable of minimum 120hz shutter per eye (or ideally a quick-to-mount, shutter-free tech, but I do not see one becoming affordable in the foreseeable future)
- super short through
- Sanyo style lamps