Linux Stereoscopic drivers

[wuhlei]

Hey I read that both ati and nvidia have stereoscopic linux drivers but it only works for quad buffer video cards like quadro. I was wondering if there are any software or hardware mods to make this work on other video cards?

[Neil]

If I'm not mistaken, all modern graphics cards are quad buffered. Rivatuner had a hack at one time to make a 6800 series card look and behave like a Quadro card, and most recently, they did something for the 8 series cards.

HOWEVER, this hack may not be necessary.

Where did you read this information about Linux drivers?

Regards,
Neil

[wuhlei]

This is info on xorg config options you can set for the nvidia card
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux ... dix-d.html

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/readme0370.txt

Option "Stereo" "integer"

Enable offering of quad-buffered stereo visuals on Quadro. Integer indicates the type of stereo equipment being used:
Value Equipment
1 DDC glasses. The sync signal is sent to the glasses via the DDC signal to the monitor. These usually involve a passthrough cable between the monitor and video card.
2 "Blueline" glasses. These usually involve a passthrough cable between the monitor and video card. The glasses know which eye to display based on the length of a blue line visible at the bottom of the screen. When in this mode, the root window dimensions are one pixel shorter in the Y dimension than requested. This mode does not work with virtual root window sizes larger than the visible root window size (desktop panning).
3 Onboard stereo support. This is usually only found on professional cards. The glasses connect via a DIN connector on the back of the video card.
4 TwinView clone mode stereo (aka "passive" stereo). On video cards that support TwinView, the left eye is displayed on the first display, and the right eye is displayed on the second display. This is normally used in conjunction with special projectors to produce 2 polarized images which are then viewed with polarized glasses. To use this stereo mode, you must also configure TwinView in clone mode with the same resolution, panning offset, and panning domains on each display.
5 Vertical interlaced stereo mode, for use with SeeReal Stereo Digital Flat Panels.
6 Color interleaved stereo mode, for use with Sharp3D Stereo Digital Flat Panels.

Stereo is only available on Quadro cards. Stereo options 1, 2, and 3 (aka "active" stereo) may be used with TwinView if all modes within each metamode have identical timing values. Please see Appendix J, Programming Modes for suggestions on making sure the modes within your metamodes are identical. The identical modeline requirement is not necessary for Stereo option 4 ("passive" stereo). Currently, stereo operation may be "quirky" on the original Quadro (NV10) chip and left-right flipping may be erratic. We are trying to resolve this issue for a future release. Default: 0 (Stereo is not enabled).

UBB must be enabled when stereo is enabled (this is the default behavior).

Stereo options 1, 2, and 3 (aka "active" stereo) are not supported on digital flat panels.
Option "AllowDFPStereo" "boolean"

By default, the NVIDIA X driver performs a check which disables active stereo (stereo options 1, 2, and 3) if the X screen is driving a DFP. The "AllowDFPStereo" option bypasses this check.
Option "ForceStereoFlipping" "boolean"

Stereo flipping is the process by which left and right eyes are displayed on alternating vertical refreshes. Normally, stereo flipping is only performed when a stereo drawable is visible. This option forces stereo flipping even when no stereo drawables are visible.

This is to be used in conjunction with the "Stereo" option. If "Stereo" is 0, the "ForceStereoFlipping" option has no effect. If otherwise, the "ForceStereoFlipping" option will force the behavior indicated by the "Stereo" option, even if no stereo drawables are visible. This option is useful in a multiple-screen environment in which a stereo application is run on a different screen than the stereo master.

Possible values:
Value Behavior
0 Stereo flipping is not forced. The default behavior as indicated by the "Stereo" option is used.
1 Stereo flipping is forced. Stereo is running even if no stereo drawables are visible. The stereo mode depends on the value of the "Stereo" option.

Default: 0 (Stereo flipping is not forced). Note that active stereo is not supported on digital flat panels.
Option "XineramaStereoFlipping" "boolean"

By default, when using Stereo with Xinerama, all physical X screens having a visible stereo drawable will stereo flip. Use this option to allow only one physical X screen to stereo flip at a time.

This is to be used in conjunction with the "Stereo" and "Xinerama" options. If "Stereo" is 0 or "Xinerama" is 0, the "XineramaStereoFlipping" option has no effect.

If you wish to have all X screens stereo flip all the time, please see the "ForceStereoFlipping" option.

Possible values:
Value Behavior
0 Stereo flipping is enabled on one X screen at a time. Stereo is enabled on the first X screen having the stereo drawable.
1 Stereo flipping in enabled on all X screens.

Default: 1 (Stereo flipping is enabled on all X screens).