My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

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jackbauer
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by jackbauer »

@all
Probably I will change my GPU to be on the "right side" of the sync issue. ATIs 5450 seem to be a good choice.
There is something very interesting with NVIDIA cards: The capability to tweak every sync parameter (Advanced sync in control panel - Warning!). I remember having tweaked 60Hz down to 50Hz for some resolution that was capable of 60Hz only. In fact you can set any refresh rate you want.... I have never found such a feature with ATI drivers. Any comment anybody?

@relaxman
I have the 1090T 6-core Phenom overclocked to 3.7GHz. So far, it is the most powerfull CPU from AMD.
Because of flexibility (ffdshow, AVIsynth...), I only use software decoding (coreAVC 2.0).
What I can do with it:
- Play 1080p movies (overlay, reclock).
- Play 720p movies @double the frame rate (48fps, screen @50Hz, overlay, reclock):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1025800" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- Play stereo side-by-side 2x720p movies with color correction (AVIsynth LUTs, VMR9)
- Play stereo half-side-by-side 1x1080p movies with color correction (AVIsynth LUTs, VMR9)

I didn't push my CPU farther (yet to be done), but I guess thats the best I can do with this hardware.

Trick: Although ffdshow/AVIsynth are supposed to run multithreaded, core#6 is often more loaded than the other 5.
So I always run Zoom Player with affinity to the first 5 cores (imagecfg.exe).That leaves more ressources on core #6 for ffdshow/AVIsynth.
I dont know if this is usefull with Intel processors, but with AMD its a big difference in stability!

@likay
About screen brigthness: Thats the point I am upset in my setup. I still dont understand why the infitec (Dolby-3D) technology is known as killing the brightness. See for example http://www.barco.asia/projection_system ... erview.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Barco announces a ridiculous 7% transmission when using Infitec, as opposed to 38% when using polarizers (dual setups).

38-40% are the numbers we are accustomed to when using polarizers. I have tried both the polarizing way and the Infitec way. I must say that the brightness is exactly the same in both cases (color correction included).
What may benefit to the polarizing approach is the silverscreen gain that you have not when using Infitec. But I happened to see that this advantage is only if you are seated right in front of the screen (2.4 gain - 240% of the light). Even in that case, the screen sides may reflect less than 100% of the light (unless you use a curved screen - that I tried too).

Even if you use a narrow angle of placement for the audience, the side seats may perceive less than a 1.0 gain! You do not have this problem with Infitec. Everybody gets the same brightness, all accross the screen width, wide angle of seat placement.

Pictures are better than speaking... When I took a photo of my screen hotspot, he only words that came to my mind were: "Oh, my God.... I wasn't aware of that disaster..." (*):
Image
Image

"right side view" is for a seat exactly in front of the screen's right edge, which is a reasonable angle of viewing for the audience.


Dont pay attention to the wrinkle, they have been removed:
Image


@blackshark
Have you tested the overlay on both screens? If it works (unlikely), that would be the perfect solution to my last issue...

(*) EDIT: Numbers are reported from photoshop assuming a 2.4 gain in the hotspot.

Jack
Last edited by jackbauer on Fri May 13, 2011 2:12 am, edited 6 times in total.
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BlackShark
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

Whoops I just noticed the entry level ATi cards only have one DVI, one VGA and one DP. This might be a problem.
Image

Using different output types may cause delays in processing (either the conversion in the gpu or in the projectors) and break the sync between the displays.
I have not tested this at home, i use the two identical DVI-out on my gpu for the projectors, the DP port is for the monitor only.

The cheapest ATi HD5xxx series card with dual DVI is the 5750, that's not the same price and it's not passive.
Image

Again this is not tested so the 5450 may just work but I have a small doubt.
jackbauer wrote:@all
Probably I will change my GPU to be on the "right side" of the sync issue. ATIs 5450 seem to be a good choice.
There is something very interesting with NVIDIA cards: The capability to tweak every sync parameter (Advanced sync in control panel - Warning!). I remember having tweaked 60Hz down to 50Hz for some resolution that was capable of 60Hz only. In fact you can set any refresh rate you want.... I have never found such a feature with ATI drivers. Any comment anybody?
Indeed i remember with my previous 8800GTX this feature was in the Nvidia control panel. there is no such a thing with ATI.
However i remember that whenever I tried to tweak anything in this menu, the nvidia control panel required me to perform a test before applying the change and the test systematically failed, so this menu was pretty much useless to me.
<pictures of curved screens>
:oops: I knew about curved screens but I can't afford one at the moment (not enough room).
I'll get one once I move to a bigger apartment.

How hard is it to tension a curved screen ? do you need to do anything special ?

------------------------------------
There is indeed something wrong with this Barco document.
This one from Harkness lists Dolby 3D at 12% light efficiency, which is just a few percent below single projector polarised systems.
http://www.harkness-screens.com/pdfs/pu ... ection.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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jackbauer
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by jackbauer »

...entry level ATi cards only have one DVI, one VGA and one DP.
The 5450 has one DVI, one VGA and one HDMI (not DP). So that could do with adapters. The sync problem when having two kinds of outputs has to be proven.

With my 3400, the HDMI and the DVI ports do not give the same black/white levels so dont forget to tweak them in the driver menu.
When I use horizontal span, there is no sync issue, only tearing, which remains my only problem at this time.

But, if I move to a new card, I will most likely take one with 2xDVIs to be "on the safe side". 120 euros range is still reasonable.

EDIT: I am going to make somme searching on the Matrox side. They claimed in the past to have dual-overlays (parhelia technology).

@blackshark: Please can you check what refresh rates are available on your card for (using Eyefinity):
- 2560x720
- 3840x1080

I am looking for 50Hz in both cases (hopefully with overlay). Thanks

Jack
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Likay »

jackbauer wrote:Pictures are better than speaking... When I took a photo of my screen hotspot, he only words that came to my mind were: "Oh, my God.... I wasn't aware of that disaster...":
Same here! I noticed the hotspotting first when taking a photo of it. Now i see it all the time. :roll:
I use my rig with those stereopol filters which lets through almost all (75%) the light from the projectors. The big screen is actually a tad brighter than my 19" samsung syncmaster comopared with lumens/sqm.
I'm going to try getting hold of infitec filters once again since i'm really curious of the tech. I think those filters works with different results depending on how narrow wavelengths different projectors have for their basecolors. Very narrow wavelength of the colors of course means worse result with infitec. The ideal situation is to modify the basecolors in the beamers into infitec specs (infitec sells their own projectors where thay have done so i think).
I get back myself if i'm successful getting filters.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by jackbauer »

Take Dolby glasses, not Infitec. Wavelenths are not the same.

Infitec is much much worse as far as color correction is concerned (at least the Infitec glasses I have - flat lenses). Plus the lenses are narrow and cut le beam edges, even if you put the filters touching the projector lens.

See my setup: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... st18859059" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For the cost of two pairs, it is really worth a try. Still the technology cannot compete with stereopol if you have LCD proj. Expect 40% transmission with Dolby's.

In my case (LCos), I use the eco lamp mode for 2D. For 3D, I use full power. I also included S-curve contrast and a little gamma in the LUT tables. My guess is that I am getting around 70-75% lumens compared to 2D.

Jack
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Likay »

Thank you for the tip about dolby! And as said: I'm really curious on the tech and it's easy to try once getting a hold of the filters since i have everything else. Are you able to do a somewhat proper colorcorrection by just using the displaydriver (avisynth-scripts isn't really my stuff :oops: and it would be nice playing games with it). Somewhat close would be enough i think (my pj's are quite old by now and one of them is starting to have a slight "yellowish" warmer image which i believe indicates that one of the lamps is aging...). Would be impossible for me to tune the colors equally and i haven't even bothered yet as is now.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

jackbauer wrote: @blackshark: Please can you check what refresh rates are available on your card for (using Eyefinity):
- 2560x720
- 3840x1080

I am looking for 50Hz in both cases (hopefully with overlay). Thanks
I have :
1600x600 50Hz 60Hz
3200x900 50Hz 60Hz
3840x1080 25Hz 30Hz 50Hz 60Hz

i do not have 2560x720 in the list, i think i should be able to force it but have not tried yet.
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by jackbauer »

@likay
I cannot do color correction through my card driver because I am using ATI and the color parameters tweak both outputs equally. There is also a very basic setting for each output (hue/saturation/brightness/contrast) but it doesn't allow you to set the primaries separately.
The settings in my projector menus are of no use. What I would need is way off range.

I think Nvidia can do that. To simplify, one output should be set at RED=50% and the other at GREEN=50%. But this would be a very very rough correction.

For your yellowish lamp, have you tried to change the color temperature in the proj menu? This could balance your projectors better.
...avisynth-scripts isn't really my stuff
You do not have to be an expert in AVIsynth. Once you have the LUT tables, only a couple of lines in ffdshow is required. Period. The most difficult part is to create the LUT tables that suit your projectors (2x48Mb files). If you lamps are UHP, my tables would do I guess. I would be glad to make them available to everybody.
But this is only for movies...

Jack
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

I'm not an Avisynth script master either, whenever i do anything in avisynth i have to constantly reference to the Avisynth help/wiki to find the commands I need.
It's just that Avisynth is so powerful and flexible that it will save you from a lot of time and trouble. It's such a magic video input "Swiss-army-knife".
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by jackbauer »

Just a word about Dolby-3D calibration...

I use the two filters in front of one single projector, side-by-side, 5mm gap in beetween:
Image

Then I use a calibrating pattern, Right-eye on the left, Left-eye on the right (I am accustomed tu use cross-vision for my tests in general).
Because of the gap beetween the filters, the center patterns are not filtered and are used for color reference (115=45% brightness, simulating filter attenuation).
Image

(The above is after calibration and shows the modified colors that will look the same when filtered. That gives you an idea of how badly you need color correction...)

Then I tweak each color for both eyes to match as closely as possible the center pattern, using, for each:
newcolor = k1*R + k2*G + k3*B

When completed, closing the program creates a profile file which in turn is used to build the LUT tables required by AVIsynth.

So 16 millions colors are interpolated from 8 basic colors (the seven lines of patterns plus black). These 8 colors are the corners of a 3Dlut cube in 3D space geometry:
primaries, secondaries, black and white.
Image

This is the basics. Now I am using 27 basic colors with the same method. Mid-range vertexes have been added to the cube.

So, if you use the card driver, you have only access to two points: black and white (tweaking the curves may help though). If you look at the calibration patterns, you can see that white (last line) defines the primaries. That may be a good start. But you also see that the primaries themselves, when calibrated, use other values.

Jack
Last edited by jackbauer on Sun Sep 26, 2010 12:10 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Likay »

Using crossvision to calibrate is brilliant! Some testing to get the values right but only needed to do once.
I hope for driver calibration though since gaming is most important for me. Funny thing: I'm really looking into an ati-card next time (eyefinity and fixed iz3d-driver) but it would be nice to still my curiosity about narrowband filtering. And maybe, just maybe adjusting colors will be possible in the future using ati.
Thanks!
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by supraturbo »

I'm just wondering where you got the DDD alignment test pictures. Does it come with the tri def drivers or could someone maybe send me a link to them.

Thanks :shutter
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

The DDD image is part of the Tridef package but I don't use it.
I found the picture on the web and just use it in a picture viewer.

I couldn't find exactly where I found it so I uploaded a copy for you here :
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?g6202hla505p65r" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It's a side by side squashed picture for 3DTVs, so in order to use it with dual projectors, just stretch it horizontally.
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by supraturbo »

thanks, i appreciate it.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Fredz »

BlackShark : did you try the DDD ghosting test with other 3D displays or CRT monitors ? If that's the case, how do you find the ghosting compared to your dual-projection setup ?

jackbauer : I don't really understand how the Infitec technology really works, but do you think they could be used like classic anaglyph glasses using color correction on standard displays ?
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

I only tried it on the other display I have : the Zalman Trimon 22" monitor.

There is definitely more ghosting on the Zalman screen, by a significant amount.

Some 3DTV reviews include a screenshot of the TVs displaying the DDD alignment test picture. For example the 3DTV reviews at http://www.digitalversus.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; do have them.
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Fredz »

BlackShark wrote:I only tried it on the other display I have : the Zalman Trimon 22" monitor.
There is definitely more ghosting on the Zalman screen, by a significant amount.
I'm not really surprised but it's nice to know. Did you publish the DDD test images for the Zalman somewhere on the Web yet ?
BlackShark wrote:Some 3DTV reviews include a screenshot of the TVs displaying the DDD alignment test picture. For example the 3DTV reviews at http://www.digitalversus.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; do have them.
Mais c'est le site Les Numériques ! ;)

I already knew about this one, in fact I've collected DDD ghosting tests for more than a dozen 3D displays for now. I'm trying to extend my collection in order to evaluate the different technologies with respect to ghosting.

For now it gives me DLP > Plasma, Dual LCD > CRT > LCD, but I've yet to implement an application to objectively measure the differences in ghosting.

By the way, what settings did you use to shoot the screen with your camera, I've tried some manual settings but I wasn't able to obtain good pictures yet (ISO 800, 1/125 and F2.6 last I tried).
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

I didn't use an actual camera, it was done with my camcorder (which has a very crappy photo mode).
I set it on a tripod, set the exposure time to the longest allowed by the camcorder : 1/3 second, and then I set the exposure at the first notch that showed over-exposure (zebra tool appearing on the over-exposed areas). I then took the shot using the delay timer feature in order to make sure my pressure on the trigger would not make the picture blurry.

Then on the computer I modified the gamma curve a bit in order to make the grey scale look more even on the monitor and the ghosting appear more like my eyes were seeing it. (the blacks were so crushed on the original picture that you couldn't distinguish the ghosting areas from the black).
Passive 3D forever !
DIY polarised dual-projector setup :
2x Epson EH-TW3500 (2D 1080p)
Xtrem Screen Daylight 2.0, for polarized 3D
3D Vision gaming with signal converter : VNS Geobox 501
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Fredz »

Thanks for the informations, I didn't think about using the delay timer, I'll try that.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

Hi

Today i "upgraded my ati 4350 to nvidia 210 card, and have a big problem!
I connect 2 infocus 720p projector to it: one to hdmi and other to dvi.
In this case the horizontal span mode is not selectable anymore :(
I need this mode becuase Stereoscopic player like it much more, than
dualview, which is selectable, but i get big sync problem and many black lines
on the picture when playing in dualscreen mode.
When i change one projector to a monitor (with dvi->vga converter), span
mode is selectable and works like a charm for 3D.

So my 2 question:
- why disappear this mode when i am in dvi+hdmi connection?
- in dualview why i get black lines? seems like the card isnt fast enough
or the ddr2 ram is too slow, but i dont think so, because the ati 4350 was
with exactly the same memory, and worked well.

Oh, i'm in xp sp3, latest nvidia driver and directx.

Help!
thx!!
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Likay »

Only nvidia knows...
The horisontal span is removed from nvidiadrivers in vista/win7, perhaps because they've introduced the new feature surround... Surround wouldn't had been a new feature otherwise. :roll: Just joking but they've already done it with 3d.
I don't really know the answer but it's a driver issue for sure. Below win7 the drivers for dual outputs and nvidiacards have been well synced in last revisions of their drivers (at least using a 8800gtx) but i'm not sure if it's only a coincidence. It doesn't seem to follow winxp according to your experience though. :( Remember that the 210-card surely isn't the fastest around though.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

I don't know if that low-end card can really cut it. I bet you would have no problem if you had a better video card with dual DVI outputs. The GTS 450 is probably the cheapest card I would consider if I were you.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

Some weeks ago, i have a chance to test exactly the gts450, and with it
i also have playback problem! It was just not smooth.

So "I don't know if that low-end card can really cut it. "
Yes, it can. Ati 4350 was the same cheap, 64bit, ddr2 model, and it worked!
It's just not good for modern games i know, but i only want to play 2 hdv videos
without any problem to dvi and hdmi output. This can handle those cheap cards with
fast dualcore cpu.

"The horisontal span is removed from nvidiadrivers in vista/win7"
Yes, i read that, but i'm in xp sp3.
And how i read THIS IS THE PROBLEM!

Directx renderer has a bug in xp, that was fixed in vista/win7
So maybe i can use dualview without a problem in win7!
Too bad i buyed xp, and win7 is not cheap :(

But i cannot understand why span mode isnt available in xp with 2 digital connection,
only when the one is analog (vga)?

I try with older drivers :(
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Fredz »

I'm not sure, but since there are only two CRTCs in a graphics card I guess the two digital ports could be connected to the first CRTC and the analog port to the second CRTC.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

What is a CRTC?
And why work dvi and hdmi at the same time on ati, without any problem?
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

I have certainly used all manners of dual-display options with an Nvidia card (horizontal span, dual-view, etc.). This worked perfectly fine using 2 CRT monitors and a dual-DVI video card (with 2 DVi>VGA adapters and VGA cables). I was also able to run two LCD panels, in horizontal span mode in XP. This was using the same 2 DVI ports, one DVI cable and one VGA cable (with DVI>VGA adapter). No reason this shouldn't work with 2 DVI cables, or 2 VGA cables. Again, if you buy a real video card you probably wouldn't have this problem. When I said "a low-end card can't cut it" I wasn't referring to gaming performance. I was talking about that they don't usually have the hardware support that mid/high end cards do. In this case, the GeForce 210 can only support dual-monitor if one of the cables comes from the VGA port ( http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=429253&mpage=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ). I have no idea why a GTS 450 had choppy playback, it certainly has the specs to support what you are doing. Not that I thought that was a particularly good card, but it seems like it was the cheapest card with dual DVI output (which is what you need). I cannot attest to the performance.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Fredz »

relaxman wrote:What is a CRTC?
A CRTC is a Cathode Ray Tube Controller, it is a part of a graphics card that connects a video ram segment to a display output. It was first used with CRT monitors/TVs but it's still used for other types of displays (LCD, PDP, DLP, etc.).

It's a legacy of the MC6845 chip introduced by Motorola in 1977/1978, it has been used for several generation of computers (Apple II, Amstrad CPC, BBC, MDA/CGA graphic cards for PC) and its logic is still used in the graphic cards we use today.
relaxman wrote:And why work dvi and hdmi at the same time on ati, without any problem?
I guess not all the graphic cards models allow a CRTC to be connected to any display port, but it may only be a limitation of the driver. On Linux you can specify which CRTC you want to connect to a display port with the xrandr command but I don't know if it's possible under MS Windows.

But even on Linux you can't always connect a CRTC to the port you want as explained here :
http://wiki.debian.org/XStrikeForce/HowToRandR12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Some outputs may also be restricted to some CRTC. xrandr --verbose gives information on which CRTC are available/used for each output. For instance, below, LVDS (ie. internal panel) uses CRTC #0 and may not use any other one. VGA-0 uses none currently and may use #0 or #1."
cybereality wrote:This was using the same 2 DVI ports, one DVI cable and one VGA cable (with DVI>VGA adapter). No reason this shouldn't work with 2 DVI cables, or 2 VGA cables.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this case I suppose you still had the first CRTC connected to the analog port (VGA) and the second CRTC connected to a digital port (DVI). As I said I don't know if all the graphic cards/drivers allow two digital ports (DVI and HDMI) to be connected to two different CRTCs.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

"if you buy a real video card you probably wouldn't have this problem."
No!
This mode also disappear as i read, even on high end cards: gtx285 for example here
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=91479

Not just he have this issue...
"I just ran into the problem yesterday...the problem is that you are not able to use horizontal span with an HDMI cable. I swapped out to dvi and vga and those both worked, so the problem resides in the dvi->hdmi."

So this is NOT because its a cheap card.

"the GeForce 210 can only support dual-monitor if one of the cables comes from the VGA port "
As i sayed i can run it in dualview mode, so technically horizontal span can't be harder. It's just a driver bug or ugly limit.

"it was the cheapest card with dual DVI output (which is what you need).
Yes, and ati 4350 was also the cheapest from ati, and this one works!

Nvidia+xp+dvi+hdmi at the same time = really bad idea for 3D!

And for why the performance decrease so much in dualview mode and i cannot use it for 3D,
i found this:

"Basically Windows XP doesn't render DirectX very well across two screens.
its fixed in Vista though, so you can Dual-view and still get a good Frame-rate.
The problem is with how DirectX renders over multiple displays.
The bug is fixed in Vista."

So it seems i need win7, but i buyed xp for 3D and dont want to replace to a
more expensive win7.

thanks
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

Ok, maybe its an HDMI issue then. I don't know. But my advice of needing a dual-DVI card is still valid. Also, I am not sure going to Win 7 is going to solve all your problems. I think they redid a lot of how the display driver works in Windows, so there are not all the same multi-monitor options you get on XP. Performance might be better though. Also, if the ATI 4350 works so good, why did you get another card?
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

Because we also have a 120Hz projector, and this card doesnt support dual link dvi.
Gef. 210 support it, and i thinked it also can do dual output without any problem.
But it's not the case.. Now i have 2 choices:
- try win7 with this card
- or go to ati 5450 which is duallink capable, and hope that doesn't have this span mode limitation.

"so there are not all the same multi-monitor options you get on XP"
I don't need so many option, just one, that works smoothly with our dual projectors..
It doesnt matter if its span, dualview, extend desktop, eyefinity or whatever.

cheers
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

I found the official explanation for the slow rendering in dualview mode:
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1106/xpshit.jpg

So this is solved.
The last open quesion is why nvidia disabled span modes when using dvi+hdmi,
when in dualview mode i can use this two output at the same time?

If i cannot solve it tomorrow, i go back to Ati 5450 (without cuda, but with working extend display mode, which was great for 3D in XP)

HNY 2011!
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

So people, i buyed an Ati 5450 1GB ddr3 Card for the problemfree 3D playback
of my 2 HDV videos to 2 Infocus X9 projector polarized setup.

I read here these:
"Eyefinity does not require two cards, just one is enough
but you need an ATi HD5xxx series card"
OK, it's an Ati 5450.

"Having a CPU usage close to the limit is not recommended,
overclocking little the CPU will definitely help "

I even upgrade my 2.5GHz (800fsb) CPU to a 3.2GHz (1066fsb) one.
And guess what happened on xp sp3?

THE PLAYBACK IS WORSE THAN BEFORE!!! :o

- I often see some tearing problems at the lower part of the video in extend mode.
I don't know why, because videos are 50i, projectors and ati drivers both set at 50Hz,
and never had this problem with 4350 card.

- i cannot see Eyefinity in the display mode list, only clone, extend and stretch.
Eyefinity need a special driver? i downloaded only the latest driver+ccc pack.

- the CPU upgrade seems it was useless, video playback still need about 75-80% cpu usage,
with gabest mpeg2 decoders but i thinked it will remain always below 70%,
because of 3.2 vs 2.5 ghz. I don't see any improvement.

Now what can i do? Go back to 4350 and live without 120Hz support?
Or forget XP, because win7 solve all my problem with ati and even with nvidia card?

thx!
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

That card is supposed to support Eyefinity. You're doing something wrong.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

OK, today i try this driverpack:
Package Includes:
Display Driver
OpenCL Driver
ATI Integrated Driver
Catalyst Control Center
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

I googled and found this on amd website:
"At least 3 simultaneous, active display outputs, including one DisplayPort™ connector are required to support AMD Eyefinity technology"

So, are you sure it will work with 2 display?
A card with displayport is required? :o

I continue to read: There is no support for Windows® XP. :o :o
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by BlackShark »

The AMD website does not talk about such a Windows XP incompatibility with Eyefinity. (edit : I just found where it says no Windows XP support)
The site says this card does have Eyefinity support though.
The DisplayPort output is only required to plug the 3rd display. On my System the dual projectors are plugged on the DVI outputs, the DP output is plugged on the Zalman monitor via a VGA adapter.

Eyefinity is not labelled as "Eyefinity" in the driver, that's just a brand name for 3-displays gaming.
The feature you are looking for is called Display group, you access it in the Catalyst control centre, on the desktop configuration page where you get the squares representing the desktop with the display icons at the bottom.
Display grouping is enabled by right-clicking on the square representing the desktop (not the display icons like when you extend or clone the display).

At least that's how it works for me on windows 7.
Passive 3D forever !
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

Ah, yes. Eyefinity is not supported on XP. Seems that AMD is not exactly up-front about this, they could be more forthcoming. So dude, XP is like a decade old, gotta get with the times.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by relaxman »

cybereality wrote:XP is like a decade old, gotta get with the times.
Yes, thanks.
I don't want to spend $150 again for an operating system, when i have the legal XP (in EU we cannot buy upgrade versions). Instead i go back to 4350 :(
But now it seems 5450 also worked for 10 minutes without tearing. I changed some settings in CCC at video section (disable edge enhancement, denoise, dynamic contrast, etc.) Maybe this occured the problem? Because for 2 stream in extended desktop mode, the card is too slow?
I don't know, will test it for longer time, to be sure.
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by cybereality »

XPDead.jpg
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Re: My Passive polarised Dual-projector setup

Post by Likay »

Lol^^
However i still miss some features in displaydrivers of xp that's still missing in win7.... I wouldn't say win7 is overall an enhancement.. :(
But it's true. If an old op-system looses support we're forced to eat next one whether or not it tastes good...
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