Nvidia 3D Vision

Nvidia 3D Vision

3D Vision  is a stereoscopic gaming kit from Nvidia which consists of LC shutter glasses and driver software which enables stereoscopic vision for any Direct3D game, with various degrees of compatibility. There have been many examples of shutter glasses over the past decade, but the NVIDIA 3D Vision gaming kit introduced in 2008 introduced this technology to mainstream consumers and PC gamers.

The kit is compatible with high-end CRT monitors, which typically support display modes up to 1024x768 with 100 Hz refresh rate, and specially designed 120 Hz LCD monitors from ViewSonic, Samsung, and recently Asus, Acer, Alienware, and LG. It requires a graphics card from Nvidia.

Shutter glasses

The glasses use wireless IR protocol and can be charged from a USB cable, allowing around 20 hours of continuous use.

The wireless emitter connects to the USB port and interfaces with the underlying driver software. It also contains a VESA Stereo port for connecting supported DLP TV sets, although standalone operation without a PC with installed Nvidia 3D Vision driver is not allowed.

NVIDIA includes one pair of shutter glasses in their 3D Vision kit, SKU 942-10701-0003. Each lens operates at 60Hz, and alternate to create a 120Hz 3-dimensional experience.

This version of 3D Vision supports select 120 Hz monitors, 720p DLP projectors, and passive-polarized displays from Zalman

Stereo driver

The roots of the Nvidia stereo driver can be traced to the software supplied with the wired ELSA Revelator shutter glasses from 1990s. Nvidia has acquired the technology and has provided support for various stereoscopic display technologies, including stereoscopic shutter glasses, with their own version driver which only worked with Nvidia graphics cards.

In 2008 Nvidia undertook major rewrite of the driver which was converted to use Windows Display Driver Model, making it only compatible withWindows Vista and high end graphics cards such as GeForce GTX 295 or better 580. The stereo driver was renamed as 3D Vision driver.