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Setting up your desktop PC as a stereoscopic 3D system is a relatively easy process.
Here's the minimum system requirements you'll need to meet:
- A desktop PC with Windows 7 or Vista
- Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlong X2
- 2GB of available system memory
- 100MB of free hard disk space
- Blu Ray drive
- 3D Ready monitor (120Hz)
- 3D video card
- IR Transmitter
- Active Glasses
There's something interesting you should know about PC Blu Ray drives. They will play Blu Ray 3D disks. Pretty cool. So chances are that if your Blu Ray drive is fairly new, meaning it's not a first generation drive, it'll play stereoscopic Blu Ray 3D movie DVDs.
Your monitor needs to be 3D Capable or Ready. A regular LCD monitor won't work. The difference between "Capable" and "Ready" is that a 3D Ready monitor will have the IR Transmitter already built in and you won't need to buy an external unit. There are a number of monitor options available. At the time of writing this article, the monitor we're using is an Acer VG236 1920x1080.
You will also need a video card that is stereoscopic 3D compatible. Both ATI and Nvidia make S3D compatible cards. The card we're using is the Nvidia GeForce 450 GTS. It's fairly robust and provides a stereoscopic 3D experience in gaming, movies, and 3D applications. It's also a relatively inexpensive card and can be found at most electronics stores.
The IR Transmitter provides synchronization between the active glasses and the display. Your left eye needs to see the image designed for the left eye, and your right eye needs to see the image designed for the right eye.
Active glasses alternately shutter out the left and right eye over a hundred times each second in synchronization with the image being projected. If the rate of shuttering is not in sync with your television, the 3D effect will be lost and the picture will be unwatchable. The IR transmitter is the device that ensures synchronicity between the glasses and the television.
You're going to need "Active" glasses. And no, the "passive" glasses you get at the local movie theater won't work. The active glasses are expensive and you're going to need a set of glasses for everyone who wants to watch the movie with you. Here's a tip...If your TV is 3D Capable (meaning you need to buy an IR Transmitter), Nvidia offers a kit that includes the IR transmitter and one set of glasses. This will shave off a few dollars from your overall purchase.
A note about 3D Video Games:
Not all video games provide an immersive stereoscopic 3D experience. The unfortunate thing is that video game publishers do not always list their games as 3D compatible and finding out which games will work on your system can be tough.
Nvidia publishes a list of compatible stereoscopic 3D video games on their website. You can find the list on this link:
www.nvidia.com/docs/IO/801/GeForce_3D_Stereo_Games_List.pdf
Wikipedia also has a list of games, although the list doesn't appear to be extensive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stereoscopic_video_games |
