New to S3D: What to get?

[Reubend]

I have recently become interested in S3D, and have been trying out some drivers with my homemade anaglyph glasses. As I have a birthday coming up, I thought I would look at some S3D systems and see if any look great enough that I can justify their cost. I thought I should ask all of you if you have any particular recommendations for a S3D system one could get with a limited budget. If I got one, my maximum budget would be about $200, which is limits the choices. My current monitor has a maximum refresh rate of 75 hertz (although it only refreshes at 60 hertz), and I have an ATI Radeon 2600 XT HD graphics card, so DDD's "virtual 3D" mode is great for performance, and the NVIDIA driver won't work (I think). Do you have any suggestions?

[cybereality]

Well most 3D solutions cost around $300-500 so if you only have $200 to spend your options are very limited. Your best bet is the Zalman Trimon 19" monitor (ZM-M190) which can be had for $150 at numerous retailers:



I have the 22" version and I am very happy with it. As far as I am concerned the Zalman is probably the best 3D monitor on the consumer market right now. Keep in mind you will also need to spend $50 on the iz3D driver so there is your $200 right there. Let me know if you have any questions.

[anotherFrench]

I have the 22" from zalman too and I really enjoy it, it's a great solution but now the samsung 3D tv are finally available in france and viewsonic 3D projector at 120hz are coming too so it's kind of a big panic here
don't know what to buy anymore

[Reubend]

So the iZ3D driver's free modes don't work with the Zalman Trimon? Also, does the Zalman Trimon come with the required glasses?

[yuriythebest]

So the iZ3D driver's free modes don't work with the Zalman Trimon? Also, does the Zalman Trimon come with the required glasses?

the zalman 3d monitor comes with 3 pairs of 3d glasses I think. Yup, the zalman 3d monitor requires the iz3d interlaced output, you can get the 30 day free trial or buy it. However, currently one disadvantage with the zalman is that games will only work in 3d in the native (maximum) resolution, this may change in the future though.

[phil]

The 19" Zalman comes with 1 ordinary pair of polarised glasses + 1 pair that clip onto prescription lenses.

The 19" is also 3D-compatible with the Xbox 360 8) (although there's currently only one 360 game that supports 3D screens).

[Reubend]

I could get DDD Ignition instead of iZ3D Interlaced driver for the Zalmon monitor... will the NVIDIA driver not work with my ATI card? Also, if I just got the DDD starter pack, would it be playable with my 60 hertz monitor, or would that be too slow?

[cybereality]

While the DDD driver will work with the Zalman, the iz3D driver is a whole lot better in every aspect you can think of. If you are only getting one, then definitely go with iz3d. The only modes that are free with the iz3d driver are iz3d output and anaglyph. All the other modes require a separate license ($50 a piece). The Zalman comes with 2 glasses (one normal pair and some clip-ons).

@yuriythebest: The Zalman can run in any resolution you want (up to the maximum) however in 3D mode you must use 1:1 pixel mapping. This means if you are playing a game in 800x600 there will be a black border around the image. However it will still work in 3D. With the DDD driver is it possible to run a game in a lower resolution and have the driver output at the full resolution, but this is not possible on Nvidia or iz3d. Anyway, I don't know why anyone would want to run anything other than the native resolution, that would just look like crap even if it did work.

@Reubend: No, the Nvidia driver will not work with an ATI card, just like you can't play PS3 games on an Xbox360. That goes without saying. The DDD starter pack is for 3D-Ready DLP TVs or old-school CRT monitors. It will NOT work with LCD monitors regardless of the refresh rate.

[Reubend]

Ok. I was looking at the DDD driver though because of its "Virtual 3D" mode. Is there such a feature in the iZ3D driver, or are they planning on implementing one? It makes a huge performance difference for me. Also, could I get the GeForce 3D kit and use it with the iZ3D driver and my current monitor, or would this again be impossible?

[cybereality]

Also, could I get the GeForce 3D kit and use it with the iZ3D driver and my current monitor, or would this again be impossible?

No, not gonna happen for too many reasons to even get into here.