Update from TDVision on scaling and August release...

[stee1hed]

I asked TDVision some questions and I wanted to share what they had to say with you guys that have some of these same questions.


-Is it possible to program the unit (my 800x600 version) to auto-scale from 1024x768 to 800x600?
- There's no scaler into the unit on this version


-Do you have a specific date for the release of the mass produced TDVisors in August yet?
- Some delays with the plastic mechanical design provider will probably delay the release date for the new TDVisor for a couple of weeks.

[TeraBit]

Thanks for the heads up. Still looking forward to the launch. Aug/Sep is not so bad

As for the scaling, I noticed that the Nvidia driver has scaling options in the driver, i.e. can use scaling on the card to downscale instead of in the display, does this help?

[Damian]

Hm, I just bought VR920!

I wasn't sure about TDVisor if there was no option to downsample... Most games these days (and operating systems for that matter) seem designed for a minimum resolution of 1024x768.

The thought of doing downsampling with a driver didn't occur to me, that's a possibility if it isn't supported by the hardware. In fact, actually, I remember reading something about this for the Eee PC which has a small resolution display, but you can have a virtual resolution which is higher than the hardware resolution but downsampled. So I guess it can be done in software, perhaps without even a Nvidia driver.

But as we are on the topic of drivers; I guess to play content that is stereoscopic you would just need the right type of stereoscopic file with an application to output it in the correct manner, and it not need to be designed specifically for TDVisor? What input does it take?
What about content such as games which aren't programmed to output to 3D, I guess this can be made stereoscopic with AlterSpace? How does this compare to other drivers, in terms of quality or support in games, does anyone know?

I'd heard that the Vuzix drivers for the VR920 are much better than Nvidia drivers in terms of output quality, but not game support. (And besides Nvidia now are only supporting anaglyph or Zalman so the newer drivers don't work anyway...)
I guess no one knows how Vuzix vs AlterSpace is? (or maybe we never will because each can only output to their own HMD and can't be cross-tested?)

I'd love to buy both and do a side-by-side review so we'd know but I'm going to send myself broke doing this
Unless TDVision want to be awesome and loan me a unit to review/test for the community

[LukePC1]

I think there is at least 1 review from a person reviewing either VR920 or TDVisor, who owned the other one as well. However it is only one review and there was at least some time between the tested units...

[Tril]

AlterSpace is not a driver that converts 2D games to stereo 3D. I think that for now, it's just a room rendered in stereo 3D. In the future, I think that TDVision is trying to make a virtual environment in which you navigate in S-3D. You could have a room in which you can start games, another with a web browser, another one with videos playing on the walls, etc.

I have experience with both the TDVisor and the VR920. I started a thread about them in the past. It's like LukePC1 said, I did not have both of them at the same time.

I first tried the TDVisor SD prototype model and sent it back for a refund (it was good but I had too big expectations about it since I had been waiting to purchase it for months). This was a bit more than 6 months ago and since it was a prototype unit, TDVision probably improved it since then.

I then bought a VR920 in April this year. I used it for a few days and decided to keep it. It was not perfect but it had less small quirks annoying me than the TDVisor and if I did not like it for games, I thought that I could at least use it to look at stereo pictures/screenshots. I only used it for about a week and then I shelved it. I got quickly tired of the low resolution and not so good visual quality.

After these two experiences, I decided that I don't like HMDs much and that my money would be better spent on a big screen. I'm looking into a monitor for PC that would be about 26" to 32". I currently have two projectors and a polarized screen. It beats the two HMD but it's too expensive (too late, I already have all the parts in place ), less convenient because I have to use a wireless keyboard and mouse while sitting on the couch in front of the screen and it's less private. The good thing is that others can see what I see and I could play multiplayer games. I'm still looking into getting a monitor because it's not convenient to fire up the two projectors just to watch a jps screenshot, etc.

I never thought about trying to use the scaling that is included in the NVIDIA driver. I don't know if it would work.

I thought in the past that maybe we could ask iZ3D to make a game render at a big resolution and scale down to the HMD resolution using DirectX. I think this is possible to do but I also think that the scaling is an expensive operation that might lead to low fps. It can't really be much worse than the NVIDIA driver doing the scaling as it's probably basically the same operation.

While we're on the subject, does anybody know if the scaling from 800x600/1024x768 to 640x840 with the VR920 is done in hardware or software?

The TDVisor uses two DVI (or VGA) connectors. One for each eye. That means that it can work with any stereo driver that supports multi-monitor stereo. I only know of the old NVIDIA stereo driver and of the iZ3D stereo driver supporting that. The good thing about this choice of input for the HMD is that it's easy to make sure that the two eyes are never swapped and it's easier to program the S-3D driver because you don't need perfect timing between the frames like with shutter glasses drivers. The bad thing is that it takes up two connectors from the video card so you can't connect the HMD and a monitor at the same time (except if you add a splitter). Windows seees each eye as a separate monitor. This means that when you don't display in stereo, you will see icons, windows, etc in only one eye. You will have to close one eye at a time when navigating Windows in 2D before entering your games if you don't have the two eyes also sent to two monitors with two splitters.

[LukePC1]

I like interlaced a lot, too. What if TDVisor used interlaced instead of 2 inputs? It shouldn't be much more difficult and would save one input. Maybe the eyes wouldnt even notice the difference when displaying a 2D image, since it would be the same image basically.
Maybe one of the screens should be about an quarter of a pixel lower than the other one, but that's it.
That way it might even be possible to INCREASE the virtual 2D resolution...
They could sell it as 1600x600 or *3 if they take every color
1600x1800

And it's not harder to program interlaced instead of dualoutput, is it?

[TDVCEO]

To all the TDVisor enthusiasts:

We highly appreciate your support and interest to our TDVisor product, both, the HD and the SD version.

The release of the TDVisor HD has been postponed due to priority re-arrangement in our company. We have been re-grouping ourselves. TDVision opened a new branch in Irvine a fewe months ago and we are expanding our Software development team. We have all the schematics, the electronics design, the optical design and hardware ready for mass production of the HD TDVisor. The only thing missing is the ergonomic and mechanical design. This step requires a considerable amount of resources, and given the financial situation we had to be very cautious regarding the budget and expenses as per directed by our Members of the Board. The amount of units required has not reached the break-even point, so we've decided to redirect and apply all the available financial resources to the development of some of our other products like the TDVCodec and DejaView. I personally feel bad about the fact that we have not entered the mass production of the TDVisor HD as originally intended because I know this has been expected for many users around the world based on the emails we've received.

I would like to formally apologize to all the TDVisor fans for the delay, but we will keep you posted about the development and future release dates. The TDVisor effort has not been abandoned, it has been postponed until further notice. We firmly believe that having a 3D HD 720p portable immersive 108" @ 10ft stereoscopic screen is the best way to take you inside the action and we will achieve that in the near future.

We want the best for our customers, and TDVision is actually paving the way for massive adoption of stereoscopic 3D on the content side for movies and videogames and that will be even more appealing from the consumer point of view. We have enabled our software and applications like AlterSpace and DejaView to drive 3D DLP TVs like Samsung and Mitsubishi 3D-Ready displays, we have a videogame running in stereo with our TDVirtualCam for XBOX and we can store movies encoded with our TDVCodec for Blu-ray discs since January 2008, and we are active part of the standardization process on world wide associations and organizations, we can even drive a cinema with our gamut of products in full 3D HD 1080p per eye. At the right moment, the TDVisor will come with lots of content to enjoy with an un-paralleled experience.

Thank you for your support and understanding,

Manuel R. Gutierrez Novelo
TDVision Systems, Inc.
CEO & President

[sharky]

Hi manuel!

personally i didnt understand what dejaview and alterspace are.. or better, i understood it but cant immagine it.

is there a demo or some screenshots to look at?

thanks

Igor

[wuhlei]

This sucks I wanted to buy one when will you be selling the hmd's again?

[TeraBit]

I agree. I was pumped, but now a bit deflated

[wuhlei]

can you let us know if any thing changes?