[3dem] stereo LCD displays

Thu Sep 8 11:48:12 PDT 2011

Thanks again! As I expected, this is complicated and everything is in 
flux. If anyone else has some recent experience, it would help to hear 
about it.
Ed Egelman

On 9/8/2011 2:14 PM, Steven Ludtke wrote:
> 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 <mailto:sludtke at bcm.edu>
> stevel at alumni.caltech.edu <mailto: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 <mailto:sludtke at bcm.edu>
>>> stevel at alumni.caltech.edu <mailto: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 <mailto:egelman at virginia.edu>
>>>> http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ehe2n 
>>>> <http://www.people.virginia.edu/%7Eehe2n>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> <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 <mailto:egelman at virginia.edu>
>> http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ehe2n 
>> <http://www.people.virginia.edu/%7Eehe2n>
>>
>>
>

-- 

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 <mailto:egelman at virginia.edu>
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ehe2n 
<http://www.people.virginia.edu/%7Eehe2n>

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