Meant to be Seen

I am thinking about getting a 3d monitor (SAMSUNG S27A750D Black 27" 3D Monitor) and (NVIDIA 3D Vision Wireless Glasses Kit). I used to have a pair of 3d glasses from eDimensional about 7 or 8 years ago that actually worked great on an old Dell monitor that was able to get 120hz refresh rate. Back then I had an issue with aiming though. When aiming at a target in 3d mode I would see 2 crosshairs instead of one and in order to hit what I was aiming at I had to place the target midway between the 2 crosshairs. That made it extremely difficult to consistently hit my target, especially small targets at a distance. For that reason, I quit using them. Now that 3d technology has improved, I've got the 3d bug again.
I do actually have a question. Does anyone know if the issue that I described is still an issue or has that been resolved in the newer 3d technology? This will help me to decide one way or the other whether to invest in a good 3d monitor and glasses. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I think it's been resolved in the same way it was several years ago (already present in version 30.82 in 2001), ie. by using the Laser Sight option in the stereo driver. Using this the crosshair is displayed at the correct depth in supported games, so you don't see two crosshairs.

Yes, it has mostly been fixed, but some games are still problematic. Not enough of an issue that it should hold you back, though.

Also, that Samsung monitor is NOT compatible with Nvidia 3D Vision. They use their own (Samsung) glasses for that and it uses the DDD driver.

@cybereality n Fredz, Thanks for the quick response.

Samsung monitor is NOT compatible with Nvidia 3D Vision.

Well that's a bummer because I just bought a "nVidia GTX 560 Ti" and I would have liked to keep both the graphics card and glasses nVidia, but that is good to know. I have a few more questions.

1.) Am I correct in assuming that in general, Samsung 3D glasses will perform just as well as nVidia 3D glasses? The reason I ask is that I can go with another brand monitor that is compatible with nVidia 3D Vision.
2.) Will the Samsung glasses work with other 3D monitors or are they compatible only with Samsung 3D monitors?
3.) Are there any other 3D monitors that you know of that are not compatible with nVidia 3D Vision?
4.) Are there any good websites that have comparison and compatibility info of 3D monitors and glasses?

I still have some more research to do before I commit myself so thanks again for your help.

Xeno

1) in general all modern active glasses are somewhat equivalent, I think the deciding factor is mainly the display itself and the driver compatibility. For now 3D Vision seems to be the more mature driver, so your best bet would probably be to choose a 3D Vision compatible display.

The new LightBoost technology (3D Vision 2) from NVIDIA should also offer a greater brightness with supported displays, which seems to be a clear advantage for 3D Vision again. For the Asus VG278H it has been measured at 52cd/m² through the glasses, when the Samsung 2233rz offers only 16cd/m². That's a x3 enhancement...

The measurements are in this test (in French) :
http://www.01net.com/fiche-produit/pris ... us-vg278h/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2) most of the time glasses for display manufacturers are only compatible with their own displays. Previously Samsung glasses for their TVs were also compatible with Mitsubishi TVs but I don't think it's longer the case. Some efforts are currently beeing done to create compatible standards, but that's a quite recent approach with not much results for now. And I think it essentialy concerns TVs, not monitors. As with 1) your best bet would be to stick with 3D Vision glasses.

3) most 3D monitors are 3D Vision compatible, there is only a handful which is only compatible with HD3D. You can find the list of 3D Vision supported monitors here :
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision- ... ments.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The same list for HD3D :
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technolo ... dware.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4) You can have a look at DigitalVersus or the 3D Vision Blog which often give detailled reviews about 3D monitors. You can also find reviews on this site sometimes. When I want to buy something I generally try to read ALL the reviews I can find on the 2-3 best products in the category. Google is your friend in this case...

I would recommend going with the ASUS VG278H, which I have not seen but according to the specs should be the best thing money can buy in a desktop 3d monitor. Its not out yet, but will be shortly. It is a 3D Vision monitor, but uses the Nvidia 3D Vision 2 glasses. The big feature here is that they should be *much* brighter than the old 3D Vision glasses/monitors.

Here is a list of (mostly) all the 3D monitors available now:
http://www.3dmovielist.com/3dmonitors.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can see the ones that says "Nvidia 3D Vision" glasses. The ones that just say "shutter glasses" means they use the monitor brand ones (for example Samsung glasses for a Samsung monitor). Aside from Nvidia, usually 3D glasses will only work with the brand of monitor they come with. So you cannot use Acer 3D glasses on a Samsung monitor or vice-versa. All 3D glasses are NOT made the same. Nvidia glasses (the old ones) are actually some of the darkest around. Sony and Acer glasses (for example) are a lot brighter. The glasses/monitor combination can also have differences with regards to ghosting/crosstalk. So make sure you read as many reviews as possible to be certain you know what you are buying.

In terms of reviews, we started doing some here. You can read my 2 part review of the Acer HN274H if you are interested:
http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=77" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=77" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As noted in the review, the darkness was the biggest issue and has been improved dramatically with Nvidia Light-Boost on the 3D Vision 2. So you may want to wait (ie for ASUS VG278H).

The 3D Vision Blog is also a good resource: http://3dvision-blog.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

@cybereality n Fredz,

Thanks for all of your advice and insight. That about covers it. You have saved me a lot of time sifting through what sometimes is too much information that my friend Google provides. Actually Google is the one who told me about this website. I really appreciate all the help you have provided.

Xeno

As everyone says, best to go for 3D Vision 2.
Re the lasersight, it DOES work with most games nowadays, but I still have issues with it at certain ranges and situations, splitting into two ;-(.

@WiredEarp,
I will definitely look into the 3D Vision 2 also. I mean if I go for 3D, I might as well go all the way. Just to clarify so that I understand correctly, when you say "laser sights" on the weapons, does that include the cross hair sights as well as the metal sights, because some weapons don't always come equipped with laser sights, for instance pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles...etc.?

Xeno

The Nvidia 3D Laser Sight has nothing to do with actual lasers or iron-sights or anything like that. It is just an alternative cross-hair that is rendered in stereo 3D. So this will work for all weapons, not just specific models. Again, it is not perfect, and sometime you must disable the laser sight due to performance issues. But it works for the most part.

@cybereality,
I appreciate your patience and support. Thank you again for all of your help.

Xeno

@ xenomorph1138: Cyber has already set you straight, but to confirm, the laser sight I am referring to is a Nvidia driver one that tries to autoadjust to sit in the 3D centre of your screen. I find it very handy in Skyrim (you can turn off the cursor in skyrim and use the 3D sight instead).