[photo-3d] 3D Revelator glasses for Direct3D PC games

[Philip Steinman <philipsteinman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've found a very good review of a premiere pc graphics
card that features the famous NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra
chipset.  (This is currently the fastest graphics card
chipset available for pc gaming.)  The interesting thing
for us in 3D-land is that this card is bundled with
3D Revelator glasses.  This is what we should all
want for x-mas.. (along with a great Direct 3D game).
So if anyone is lucky enough to get one, or has
seen one, please report the joys of your 3-D experience
here.  But I dare say that anyone of us 3D fans here
would probably be blown away by experiencing 3D gaming
like this.
I've included the 3D aspect of the review from the website..
Cheers,
Philip Steinman

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1333&p=3

Concluding the features of the GLADIAC ULTRA is the
bundled 3D Revelator glasses.  The 3D Revelator glasses
which should work on all TNT, TNT2, GeForce and GeForce2
based cards including the GLADIAC ULTRA enable the
simulation of a truly three dimensional environment while
playing any Direct3D games.  This is accomplished by
essentially fooling the human eye into seeing depth.  We
explained this process in our ASUS V6800 Deluxe Review:
[Fooling your eyes into seeing depth] is accomplished by
rendering alternating frames in a game during each refresh
cycle of the monitor. The glasses work in conjunction with this
technology in order to match each frame to a separate eye.
This is done using a polarizing effect. When electricity is passed
through a thin layer of a semitransparent polarized substance
that is sandwiched between two pieces of glass, the polarized
part becomes darker. This lightening and darkening of the
glass occurs in synchronization with the monitor refresh to
allow only one eye to see each frame. For example, frame 1
is rendered for the left eye a bit to the left side of the screen
and viewed through the transparent left lens. Then, the
second frame in the game placed on the right side of the
screen while the left lens of the glasses go dark. This works in
the same way that normal depth perception is formed, as
your eyes (which are set apart) do this naturally. To the
onlooker without glasses, the game in question looks like
two pictures overlapped on one another. To the person viewing
through the glasses, the effect is 3D: looking almost like
images and text are jumping out at you.  The 3D Revelator
glasses differ noticeably from the VR glasses bundled with
the ASUS V6800 and V7700 Deluxe cards.  For starters, the
glasses only support Direct3D games.  Secondly, instead
of connecting to the card via an 1/8" jack, the 3D Revelator
glasses packaged with the GLADIAC ULTRA rely on a wireless
  infrared interface in order to communicate with the card.
The way this works is simple, ELSA bundles a Y-splitter cable
with the GLADIAC ULTRA.  This splits the 15-pin female
VGA connector on the card into two connectors, another
15-pin female VGA connector for your monitor as well
  as a custom 3-pin connector for an IR transmitter.  This IR
transmitter has 6' of wire between the actual transmitter and
its 3-pin interface that connects to the Y-splitter so you can
mount the transmitter closer to your monitor, where your
head would normally be oriented towards while playing a game.

The 3D Revelator glasses have an IR receiver that communicates
  with this transmitter, and thus allows for the 3D effect to be
created without any cables tying you to your computer, allowing a bit
more freedom of movement and removing some wire clutter.
The cordless glasses also conveniently shut off when you fold
the right earpiece, something ASUS' bundled glasses don't do
at all.

Powering the glasses are two batteries that are stored in the
nosepiece and ELSA also provides a smooth cloth case for
the glasses than can also double as a cleaning tool.

On the software end, setting up the 3D Revelator glasses is
fairly simple.  For starters, you must use ELSA's drivers, meaning
you give up the benefit of always having the latest release drivers on
your system.  You have to wait until ELSA releases a driver update.
Then, you must also have a monitor capable of displaying a resolution
at somewhere between a 100Hz and a 140Hz refresh
rate, this is to allow for the 3D effect to be simulated.  After setting
up your monitor to display at a refresh rate within the aforementioned
range, you can enable the Stereo display option and you
should be on your way.

Unfortunately there are some limitations.  As we briefly mentioned
before, this only works with Direct3D games.  To take that limited
support even further, not all Direct3D games will work with the
setup either.  The glasses may also cause headaches for some
users because of the intense flickering caused by the alternate
frame display.

For the most part, the glasses don't, at least in our opinion,
add much value to the GLADIAC ULTRA package, however
some may get a little kick out of using them.
-------------  again, for the website with pictures see..
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1333&p=3


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