[3dem] stereo LCD displays

Steven Ludtke sludtke at bcm.edu
Thu Sep 8 11:14:14 PDT 2011


So, the passive displays we have were all purchased ~3 years ago, when 3-4 different manufacturers all came out
with similar models. The one I've got is a Hyundai 22" with 1680 x 1050 resolution. It only cost something like $500-600
which at that time was about the same as you would pay for a non-stereo monitor.  The trick is that about a year later
all of the companies making them stopped. They all needed to rework their technology so it would be compatible with
the emerging consumer 3-D market. 

On to the current situation. Many of the consumer-grade active 3-D displays you get nowadays are compatible ONLY
with the signals generated by Blu-ray players and a few other commercial systems. The Nvidia glasses will not work
with these at all. To complicate the issue, the same company often makes 2 different products for the two uses. The
Acer I have is designed for Nvidia use, but Acer makes another Nvidia incompatible model with a very similar model number.

However, the higher-end (larger and more expensive) active and passive monitors are really good, and solve the compatibility
issue by supporting all conceivable stereo input styles (row interleaved, column interleaved, frame interleaved, etc.),
then they generate the glasses signals themselves (rather than using the NVidia glasses). We got a couple of these for
the conference room (Samsung UN46C7000's, 46"). You can get these to do nice stereo even with something like a
Mac Mini with Chimera, and they don't have the Jaggies like the passive systems. Still, they are a bit pricier, and
most people don't want a 46" display on their desktop  ;^)

I have not yet seen any good passive display for desktop use re-emerge, though I keep hearing vague rumors that they
will be around any day now.   Just be aware of the issues when you go out looking.  If anyone has found a good active solution
like the samsung I mentioned above, that would be suitable for desktop use, I'd be interested to hear about it as well.
Quadro cards are really pricey !

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven Ludtke, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Co-Director National Center For Macromolecular Imaging
Dept of Biochemistry and Mol. Biol.
Baylor College of Medicine
sludtke at bcm.edu
stevel at alumni.caltech.edu




On Sep 8, 2011, at 12:50 PM, Edward Egelman wrote:

> Thanks! This is extremely helpful. What is the actual vertical resolution of the passive displays? Can you provide models for both a passive display and LCP/RCP glasses?
> Regards,
> Ed
> 
> On 9/8/2011 1:46 PM, Steven Ludtke wrote:
>> 
>> I recently set it up (Acer 27" active stereo) and have it running with no problems under Ubuntu 11.04. It was not absolutely trivial to get going though.
>> The issues I'm aware of:
>> 
>> 1) You need a dual-link DVI port and cable to support the appropriate refresh rates
>> 2) Windowed stereo is only supported on Quadro series Nvidia cards, and you must use the mini-DIN plug to run the shutter glasses transmitter. USB-only does not work in Linux.
>> 3) If you are running a dual-monitor setup, things can get a little trickier, even if you are only running stereo
>>   on one display. For example, my second (non-stero) display also requires dual-link DVI. That means that you have to have a powered DisplayPort adaptor
>>   for the second output from the Quadro card.
>> 4) You must run both monitors (if present) from the same video card for stereo and the desktop to both work properly.
>> 5) A little custom tweaking of the X11 config file is required
>> 
>> We also have a number of the passive stereo displays. The ones that use the LCP/RCP passive glasses, and I must say that they are massively
>> better than the active systems in all respects except for one. They don't require a special video card, and work with Chimera out-of-the box. 
>> No special configuration. No nothing. Just plug it in and it works immediately. The only downside is the loss in vertical resolution producing a mild
>> 'jaggie' effect on slanted lines. Other than this, they are great !
>> 
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Steven Ludtke, Ph.D.
>> Associate Professor
>> Co-Director National Center For Macromolecular Imaging
>> Dept of Biochemistry and Mol. Biol.
>> Baylor College of Medicine
>> sludtke at bcm.edu
>> stevel at alumni.caltech.edu
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Sep 8, 2011, at 12:22 PM, Edward Egelman wrote:
>> 
>>> Does anyone have any recent experience with LCD displays/stereo glasses/Nvidia graphic board combinations? This would be primarily for running Chimera under linux. I have heard about potential problems, and therefore was hoping to have some real-world testing of such a combo.
>>> Thanks!
>>> Ed Egelman
>>> -- 
>>> <image001.jpg>
>>> Edward H. Egelman, Ph.D.
>>> Professor
>>> Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics 
>>> University of Virginia 
>>> 
>>> Editor-in-Chief
>>> Biophysical Journal
>>> 
>>> phone: 434-924-8210 
>>> fax: 434-924-5069 
>>> egelman at virginia.edu 
>>> http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ehe2n
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 3dem mailing list
>>> 3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu
>>> https://mail.ncmir.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/3dem
>> 
> 
> -- 
> <image001.jpg>
> Edward H. Egelman, Ph.D.
> Professor
> Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics 
> University of Virginia 
> 
> Editor-in-Chief
> Biophysical Journal
> 
> phone: 434-924-8210 
> fax: 434-924-5069 
> egelman at virginia.edu 
> http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ehe2n
> 

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