3D vision

How does it work?

So, how does 3D recognition work? Well, with normal vision, our eyes view objects from different angles and then coalesce each image from our two eyes into a single 3D image. This is basically the phenomenon that is the perception of depth.

This is where the traditional red and green glasses came in, giving each eye a different view. The brain then puts those two images together and this forms a 3D image in the mind. The electronic 3D glasses obviously work in a similar way.

In a nutshell then, you'll have an LCD display (RGB) that produces right linear polarisation and left linear polarisation. What happens then is that a 3D phase-difference film creates right circular polarisation and left circular polarisation. The glasses then create a blockage of the left-circular polarisation and right circular polarisation, which, in turn, helps to create the 3D recognition in the brain. When it comes to Nvidia's glasses in particular with lenses that are capable of opening and shutting very quickly. The lenses flicker on and off, and you will need to have an LCD monitor or CRT monitor.

When it comes to 3D monitors that don't need glasses, it's a reasonably similar story. It ultimately works with what can be described as a ‘mind-trick'. In a typical monitor, the pixels are synchronised to send out a single image. With 3D monitors, however, half the pixels are used to create one image, while the other half are used to create what can be called another but similar image. On the other hand, a monitor can take up all the pixels for one image and toggle between left and right images rapidly. When the switching is fast enough, the brain forms a 3D image in the brain.

To create, the 3D effect without glasses. Phillips and Sanyo, for instance, have developed screens that have an elaborate array of lenses in the front of the pixel array. The lenses project the right and left images accurately toward the right and left eyes and thus eliminate the need for glasses that would block images for the other eye.

With Phillip's 42 inch televisions, the 3D effects begin to kick in at around 4 metres from the screen. Phillip's monitors can even project up to 7 or 8 images, which means that regardless of whether you move around the screen you can still see the 3D display.

The pros and cons

The thing with glasses such as these is that the compatibility with regard to certain games varies. Nvidia literally has a list of which games are compatible and which games aren't. It ranges from the categories of Excellent, Good, Poor and Not Recommended. Games in the Excellent category include Call of Duty 4, Far Cry 2 and Gears of War. Some of the games in the ‘Good' category include Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Need for Speed Underground 2. Finally, there's a ‘Fair' category, which includes Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X and FIFA 09. There are games in the ‘Not Recommended' category, which includes The Godfather II. Either way, the compatibility with regard to many games is quite good.

A common complaint with 3D technology in the past is that it has sometimes caused headaches and drowsiness, and this has been one its main sticking points. Moreover, it's questionable about whether this 3D technology has a captive market. But it seems as if there is some sort of future in 3D display companies such as Acer even getting in on the act. Acer is planning to launch a 15.6-inch notebook which will support full 3D at the end of October, according to Campell Kan, Acer's Vice President of the Mobile Computing Business Unit.

The notebook, which has been developed with Wistron, will come with built-in software that can convert 2D movies to 3D, and will fully support 3D movies. Users will be required to wear stereoscopic glasses for the 3D to work, but Acer is working on a model that will remove the need for these. Since the machine will come with Windows 7, Acer is holding off on their release and pricing information until Microsoft starts shipping the OS.

WINDOWS will carry a full review of the NVIDIA 3D Glasses Kit and it's accompanying 3D monitor in the next issue in our Hot Kit Reviews section.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM