3d monitors

smithy1988

smithy1988

smithy1988

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Newcastle UK
Just a couple of questions about the 120hz 3d monitors.

Does the screen look normal when not playing games etc or would you have to wear 3d glasses all the time to use the screen comfortably, can you wear normal cinema 3d glasses or do they have to be the nvidia ones listed on the website?

Is there a great deal of difference between one of these and a normal LED backlit monitor, or is it more down to the games that have been developed for 3d and how they use the technology.
 
Screen looks normal unless you put it into 3D mode (which will happen automatically with games that support it if you have 3D enabled and drop back to normal 2D mode when you exit the game).

To work with nVidia's 3D Vision you need the nVidia drivers and the glasses that nVidia sell - there are a couple of other rendering modes that 3D Vision supports but the nVidia provided glasses give by far the best results out of anything supported (and the only real solution that gives acceptable results for gaming out of the supported ones).
 
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Aye, the screen looks normal when not in 3D mode. In essence it is just a really fast stanadard PC monitor, there is no special covering on the screen or anything. All the 3D effect is processed in the graphics card and controlled by the active shutter glasses. The screen simply displays alternates between two different 60Hz images for each eye.

Unfortunately, cinema glasses will not work. They use a light polarising technology that is generally more expensive to implement and not as good for fast-moving images like games. You need the Nvidia LCD shutter glasses - as they work with the software and Nvidia 3D vision IR signaller.

Most games do work with this technology (recent ones at least) and many work extremely well indeed, they don't need to be designed with 3D in mind to make full use of the tech.
 
Thanks for clearing that up.
Do the screens refresh at 120hz in both modes? Therefore for gaming regardless of 2d or 3d mode they are a lot smoother?

is this technology worth investing in now, or is it better to bide time untill they become more mainstream?

Thanks
 
The screen will refresh at 120Hz in both modes (so long as you set it up right).

However, in 3D mode each eye will only see a 60Hz image (as each eye is shown half of the frames outputted) so in 3D mode it will be as smooth as a standard 60Hz monitor (running the game at the same framerate).

As for whether it is worth investing in - it really depends if you enjoy the experience. Your best bet is to hunt down a shop or a friend that has it set up and see if you enjoy using it. If not, use the 120Hz monitor in super smooth 120Hz mode, or buy an IPS and enjoy lovely image quality and viewing angles.
 
Works at 120Hz in normal non-3D vision too, IMO 3D Vision is not worth investing in, sure the effect works really well but I pretty much guarantee you'll stop using it even before the novelty wears off as most games are just more fluid and responsive to play in normal "2D".

They do work brilliantly for twitch gaming in normal "2D" 3D tho due to the high refresh, low input latency and fast pixel response.

I have a 2233rz for normal gaming use and theres no way I'd go back to a standard 60Hz TFT.
 
You will need atleast a GTX260. Depending on the game and settings you use you may need something faster i.e. 3D Vision negates quite a bit of the need for anti-aliasing so some of the performance hit is reduced by being able to turn that down or off.
 
Here is the list. Basically any medium to high-end card since the 8800GTX.

However, please bear in mind that the 3D mode is very computationally intensive. Expect a 50% framerate drop when running in 3D mode (running the same resolution and settings). Therefore, if you want to run modern games in 3D mode you will want a beefy GPU - I would say a GTX 460 (or equivalent) at a minimum.
 
Thanks for that, i only have a ati 4870 at the moment and im not thinking about another upgrade for a while yet.
Im thinking about a new monitor though as my current one is actually a tv and the native res is 1333x768 or something.

Looking at a 24 inch one, will i notice any difference gaming with a new higher res monitor?
 
Aye, with a high res monitor (with much smaller pixels to boot) you will see much more detail in games.

Going from a 720p TV to a 1080p monitor, the number of pixels is almost doubled. However, as you can imagine - at the same settings and with the same GPU the framerate will be cut dramatically.
 
Ok your starting to sway me towards a new monitor then!

is there such a thing as a 120hz monitor but without the 3d.

Basically if im looking to purchase a new one, what are my options if im after something around the 24inch size. Preferably with a HDMi port as thats what im currently using with my TV. Unless theres a monitor that performs a lot better then id go for that and just get a DVI cable
 
smithy1988 said:
is there such a thing as a 120hz monitor but without the 3d.
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Any 120Hz monitor can be used just fine purely as a 120Hz monitor, it's entirely up to you if you want splash out on the necessary peripherals and Nvidia video card(s) to enable you to play in "3D".
 
You will need a DVI connection (dual link) as the HDMI v1.3 does not have enough bandwidth to transmit a 1920x1080 signal at 120Hz. A HDMI v1.4 connection should be enough, but AFAIK there are not any 120Hz monitors with this connection yet.

That said, many 120Hz monitors (like this one) do come with a HDMI port, but should be used for connecting consoles and blu-ray players - not the PC.
 
Rroff said:
You will need atleast a GTX260. Depending on the game and settings you use you may need something faster i.e. 3D Vision negates quite a bit of the need for anti-aliasing so some of the performance hit is reduced by being able to turn that down or off.
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Gt 240 works too :)
 
jamjar said:
Gt 240 works too :)
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Aye, but I think he was meaning that you need a card at least as powerful as a GTX 260 to get modern games to run at playable framerates in 3D mode.

The GT 240 is a great card for playing 3D movies, but for 3D gaming it will not provide a very good experience in new games.
 
Pc is used for browsing the net and FPS and driving games. So a monitor that is good for gaming really. Budget wise 150-200 probably. However if theres a difference worth paying for with £200-£250 monitors i would stretch to that.
 
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