3D Macs....

NickK

NickK

NickK

Caporegime
Joined
13 Jan 2003
Posts
25,152
A mate has had 3D on his PC for sometime with a Samsung 120Hz screen which worked but since getting his Alienware 3D 120Hz monitor is making me very um.. green.

Knowing a little about computers, I have done a bit of research on how feasible it would be to run 3D on the mac...

1. The majority of nVidia graphics chips out there can do 3D (given they can keep up with 120Hz).. including Macs.

2. OpenGL supports a stereo mode.

3. OSX supports stereo modes on the desktop (although gets a bit confused when attempting it on non-primary displays).

4. The down side is Mac panels are, as you'd expect, 60Hz only.. the Mac Pro can run 120Hz displays..

5. nVidia 3D Vision drivers are windows.. but there's little to prevent these from working on Mac as the module plugs in on USB.


Soo close.. however it would be great for the next version of MacBook Pros to have 3D inbuilt. More games are supporting 3D modes (WoW and many others).

So Mr Jobs.. when are we getting 3D? Or is that a bag of hurt too?

Bah.. emailed Mr Jobs to satisfy my curiosity..
 
Last edited:
Nexus said:
Considering there are no bluray drives in Macs yet, I'd say not anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Bluray is a competitive distribution method, 3D is new form of content that can be distributed over the current mechanism.

I'd have thought that you'd see it as an expensive option first if they did do this.
 
The GFX is not exclusively nVidia though is it? Also just how capable would they be for games, Macs don't have the most advanced graphics do they? ATI included.

3D is another fad imo! Keep it to Sky/PS3 type of platforms!
 
Well the stereoscopic 3D is already possible in OpenGL.

There are many stereoscopic LCD shutter glasses out there, nVidia is possible the most gamer friendly.
 
NickK said:
Bluray is a competitive distribution method, 3D is new form of content that can be distributed over the current mechanism.

I'd have thought that you'd see it as an expensive option first if they did do this.
Click to expand...


Yes and No.

Macs for one aren't really the best machines for playing games. To play properly, you would be most likely be running Windows on it, thus bypassing any Mac OSX 3D entirely.

Secondly, while you are right that Bluray is just a delivery medium, it is one that a lot of people have requested in their Macs. Infact, it's probably the number one thing I'd like to see on Macs given a choice.

This then leads to the issue that Apple make a great deal of money from their iTunes store and it's perhaps one of the reasons they haven't implemented Bluray drives yet. They would therefore probably have to change the iTunes store to sell films in 3D.

How well 3D succeeds in the home consumer market is one thing and as to whether it will be sustainable. If that turns out to be the case and people do adopt it, then I see no reason why Apple wouldn't. For now though, it's a long way off.
 
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