Wall-Sized 3D Gaming With Nvidia 3D Vision

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

A couple of months ago, we built a 3D dual-projector system, just like in movie theaters. Now, we're comparing it to Nvidia's 3D Vision projector-based setup to see which option offers the best consumer-level 3D experience for your living room.

Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty is an extremely popular shooter, so we're putting it through the paces with our 3D stereo drivers to see just how much fun it can be. This game is probably the most serious shooter we're playing in 3D, and the third dimension definitely adds an aspect of situational awareness that we appreciate.

We use the following settings for our tests: 1280x720 (native projector resolution), highest details, and 4x MSAA.

Game Experience using 3D Vision:

According to the 3D Vision overlay, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has the following 3D Vision characteristics: "Rating: Excellent, Some objects render at wrong depth. Go to: Options/Video/Advanced Video and set Depth of Field–off."

We can agree with the excellent rating. The game looks perfect to us, the backgrounds render properly, and even the gun sight view is ideal.

Comparing to the Polarized Dual-Projector Drivers:

Once again, the TriDef driver does a perfect job. The iZ3D driver doesn't perform nearly as well, with a really prominent background horizon/texture problem that is very distracting. On top of this, the iZ3D gun sight view is unusable.

TriDef Ignition Driver Screenshots:

iZ3D Driver Screenshots:

Note the obvious flaw between the left and right perspectives: where did the mountains go?

In the standard symmetrical view, the gun site view is too distracting to use

With the profile setting changed to left shift, the player can squint with their right eye to look down the barrel. Realistic, but a practical nuisance

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 3D Stereo Performance:

As you can see, 3D Vision performs very similarly compared to both the TriDef and iZ3D drivers on the GeForce GTX 260. All of the solutions deliver playable frame rates, but the iZ3D drivers are unusable from a visual standpoint.

Don Woligroski
84 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hemburger
    I'd rather wall sized 1080p playback than wall sized 3D playback. = )
    Reply
  • Lmeow
    I would love to have a 3D system like this, unfortunately it's nCredibly expensive...
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    I don't care about 3D.
    Reply
  • infodan
    What about DLP 3D? the projector supports it, DLP-link glasses are cheaper and dont require a transmitter like the nvidia glasses.
    Reply
  • TheStealthyOne
    "The whole experiment consisted of about $2500 worth of hardware and software, NOT including the PC driving the displays."

    I cringed.
    Reply
  • kolsky
    I own a acer h5360 and I agree, it is awesome watching 3d movies on it. 1080p? Dont even notice pixellation at 115 inch screen. 720p is fine and at a great price. 1080p 3d projectors will be extremely expensive for average consumers.
    Reply
  • proxy711
    kolsky 3d is extremely expensive for average consumers.
    Fixed.
    Reply
  • Rickyw972
    Is this projector better than the Mitshibshi 73" 1080p dlp for $1100?
    Reply
  • kolsky
    Im sorry, but 3d is NOT expensive. The acer 5360 can be bought for as low as 580 and the nvidia vision glasses kit can be bought for as low as 150. That is under 1,000... less than the cost of a 3D TV.
    Reply
  • DaFees
    Interesting read, but ultimately all this 3D talk leaves me with a big question. I have a PS3 and if I upgrade my PC to a 3D vision enabled PC is there a projector (perhaps the one discussed in this article) that would allow me to enjoy the 3D from my PS3 and my PC? I understand if I would need a switch between devices or manually switch cables. I know NVIDIA is working on a 3DTV play tech that let's you use the glasses of 3D enabled HDTV to enjoy NVIDIA 3D Vision, but is there a similar option for projectors?
    Reply