Ok – some big news today for Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision users. As everyone knows, it’s very recent that Nvidia added windowed support for their stereoscopic 3D drivers. Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision users are now able to watch 3D YouTube videos as embedded 3D videos!
At this time, the only limitation is a requirement to use the latest Mozilla Firefox browser (version 4 or higher) and the latest Nvidia drivers (version 275 or higher). While Nvidia has no objection to working with Windows Explorer or other browser options, Firefox is first out of the gate thanks to their HTML5 compliance.
For those wondering if 3DVision Live will continue operating now that YouTube 3D compatibility is fully functioning – the answer is yes. That too supports embedded 3D videos, though YouTube 3D is far more established and non-proprietary in the 3D world. If you are using a 3D solution other than Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision, YouTube 3D also supports interlaced mode, side by side, and more!
During our briefing with Nvidia, they shared some additional statistics which caught our eye. First, of the Dell XPS 17 notebook computers sold, 30% are being sold with Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision kits. It’s important to note that according to Phil Eisler, General Manager of 3D Vision, this isn’t just a purchase of a glasses add-on. Instead, consumers are actively choosing the 120Hz screen combined with glasses, instead of the 2D version that just has a 60Hz LCD panel.
Similar to the way DisplaySearch predicts that 3D will be a standard feature in over 50% of HDTVs by 2014, Nvidia is expecting to see over 40 million active 3D PCs in homes by 2015. This may seem like a staggering number at first, but when you consider that companies like Dynamic Digital Depth (DDD) have licensing agreements with chipmakers like Intel, iZ3D has relationships with Viewsonic and MSI, and Nvidia is already bundling their glasses with available displays and top manufacturers – it’s not so crazy.
Nvidia did some private research with gamers and learned that 61% of respondents are planning to buy a 3D display, and 93% are “aware” of Nvidia’s 3D Vision product. This is based on an estimated 4,000 respondents. It would be helpful to see some additional research about gamer experiences with 3D products. For example, at the S3DGA exhibit at Discovery 2011, most attendees were “aware” of 3D gaming, but few had actually tried it before and were amazed at how comfortable and exciting it was.
More announcements are coming up! Come back regularly, and share your thoughts!