I tried stereoscopic 3D in LFS with eDimensional glasses some years ago (on CRT monitor).

Pros:
Fun to try
Added 3D/depth

Cons:
Darkens the image to an unsatisfactory level - like wearing sunglasses
Ghosting
Was hard on the eyes (since "realistic" settings didn't add much depth, so I overdid them).
Didn't fit well on top of normal glasses.
The cable was very annoying.
Overall build quality was bad.

I've never used it but my guess is raptor's comments are probably spot on. It's one of those devices that sound really cool in theory but when you finally use it it's not exactly what you expected it to be, it's too annoying to setup, and instead it winds up collecting dust in your basement.

Triple monitors is probably a safe bet if you want more immersion (and you have a decent PC already). If you invest money into it and you stop playing LFS completely atleast the monitors won't go to waste.

If you're seeking something more immersive, you might be interested in this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ3yzzIDeYk

shouldn't be much if any ghosting, from all the reviews i've read at least. also the monitor it ships with is pretty bright. the glasses themselves are wireless, so no cable to get in the way, and have 3 different sized nose pads to accustom 4-eyed gamers ( me included ).

i'll give it an extended test and post results here.

I watched a science program about 3D/Stereoscopic cinemas in Denmark. Two of the things they mentioned:

1. View gets darker (they use projector screens that reflect much more light than an ordinary cinema screen because of this - of cause that's not the same as a monitor, but...)
2. They mentioned ghosting is still there.

I expect the technology used in cinemas, especially in our Planetarium, which have now aired IMAX 3D shows for some years, to be high-end, especially when compared to consumer products. They didn't have anything being top notch among the different types of "glasses" they used, but I'll be interested to have a closer read bout it from some of you guys in here (I don't trust formal reviewers any more when it comes to such devices).

Quote from Bladerunner :

You _CAN_ use the red/cyan glasses that come with 3D movies and stuff, but TBH, I tried LFS in 3D..and it sux.

No, this isn't the reb/blue system of 3d. The glass shut of the view through each lens in turn and the screen renders a separate image for each eye. The glass and the screen are in sync. That's also why the glasses use a battery.

This method is far superior to the old red/blue system. I have tried it with the flight sim IL2 and it was fantastic.

Quote from RatzMilk :

No, this isn't the reb/blue system of 3d. The glass shut of the view through each lens in turn and the screen renders a separate image for each eye. The glass and the screen are in sync. That's also why the glasses use a battery.

This method is far superior to the old red/blue system. I have tried it with the flight sim IL2 and it was fantastic.

I remember reading about this at last years CES. The problem is you need a high refresh screen like 120Hz just to see it at a normal speed. A normal LCD that has a 60 or 70hz refresh would look barely like 30fps.

Still a good step. They also had two player games using this technology; the glasses would only let light through every other frame, allowing both people to look at one screen and yet see two different pictures. The only problems they had were people getting headaches from using it longer than a few minutes.

Quote from PKS Machina :

I remember reading about this at last years CES. The problem is you need a high refresh screen like 120Hz just to see it at a normal speed. A normal LCD that has a 60 or 70hz refresh would look barely like 30fps.

Still a good step. They also had two player games using this technology; the glasses would only let light through every other frame, allowing both people to look at one screen and yet see two different pictures. The only problems they had were people getting headaches from using it longer than a few minutes.

The "effective" refresh rate, as well the frame rate, is half of the actual refresh rate/frame rate, because your brain is summing both images and converting to just one. So, a 120Hz screen will look like a 60Hz screen.

Even if you count on that the LCD backlight don't turns off on LCD screens (what makes 60Hz "flicker free", while you need at least 85Hz on a CRT), since the stereo google is "cutting" the image, it will flicker if you have anything less than 120Hz of refresh rate (a refresh rate over 160Hz would be recomendable).


But I'm quite curious about how the input lag / response time of the panels will affect the 3d viewing with stereo googles.

Well, hot off a recent run in a few games i had already installed, here is my first initial review of a completely stock-settings Nvidia 3d display set.

I got my bundle with the samsung monitor, which by the way, is freaking awesome. Anyways, to answer one question quickly, does it work with LFS? the answer, yes!

While not as jaw dropping and pant-soiling as left 4 dead, you really do get a sense of depth with LFS. pylons "feel" closer than things behind them. the grass that stands up you can accurately gauge the distance by glancing at it. the car stands out against the track on isometric angled views. I'd say the biggest gripe i'd have is just LFS itself. as it's been said many times before its a racing sim, not a graphic realism generator. since you mostly get the depth sensation from contrast of depth between objects, the lack of objects kind of takes away from the total effect.

In L4D, the piles of corpses, and strewn about items, and general closeness off all the bits really stands out. it really pulls you in visually, things seem to be more solid, and have not only depth but thickness.

As for the glasses themselves, i wear glasses, and they do fit over them nicely. they are VERY light... it's hard to beleive they are anything but plastic sunglasses. but in there is a battery and them lovely shutters. Witht the 3d effect off, they are slightly tinted, but once you fire up an app or game that uses them, they darken considerably. it's not distracting while staring at the monitor, just takes a second or two to adjust to the now darkened screen, and then it's easily forgotten.

One thing that poses a problem for me now, wearing two sets of glasses, getting my big-ass gaming headphones over all that.

I'm sure you've heard about ghosting with the 3d setups, and i gotta say, it really is minimalistic depending on the game and the settings used. i'd say most 90% of the ghosting comes from objects that are either extremely close to the camera (dashboard in LFS) or HUD related things (crosshairs in UT3). simply turning down the depth with the scrollwheel on the iR emitter takes away most of it.

Gratz with your purchase - I bet you'll have loads of fun for several hours

I was thrilled at first - very tbh. As written earlier, the depth sensation is there, and it's just lovely to see any LFS car (or any other game) feel as if you could grab them.

Another "problem" with LFS vs. L4D is also distance - even though there are surroundings, most attention is on the road and other cars. The road can't be that special regarding depth, while other cars can often be far enough away for the depth perseption to be minimal.

The darkened view was a little meh at first for me, but became more and more annoying over time. Same with many of the other issues I had.

Ps. It's "funny" how you suddenly can see much more clearer how the content was made - whats "real" and whats fake, like fences or smoke that may look 3D because of texture, but the glasses show no mercy

I think I wrote off this technology too soon. Last weekend I saw an Imax movie in 3D and it was simply amazing. The glasses only made the view slightly darker but you really only notice it when you first put them on.

So, is it possible to use glasses with dual or triple monitor setup do you think (As long as the monitors match refresh rate or whatever the requirement is)

Quote from breadfan :

Do you realize that there are currently only 2 screens working with this nVidia 3D thingy? And they are both pretty damn expensive.

All CRT's that can run at 100Hz or more are capable of running stereo 3D. Also I only needed my CRT to turn it on, then I just used my 60Hz 22" LCD, worked fine (minus the fps hit).

Here is a stereographic image.. Look at is as it was a magic eye. Similar effect of what the glasses and monitor do.
http://i167.photobucket.com/al ... jayaday/1234347421960.jpg

Quote from Technique :

I think I wrote off this technology too soon. Last weekend I saw an Imax movie in 3D and it was simply amazing. The glasses only made the view slightly darker but you really only notice it when you first put them on.

I saw an IMAX 3D film not so long ago, too.. was a safari. It's using a different method, using polarizing filters. You're sitting in a movie theatre and your glasses aren't shuttering, so the overall darkening probably isn't close to the same extent.. but the 3D experience is truly amazing.

I'd definitely like to go 3D with a decent head tracking system. Unfortunately it's going to be a while before I can put that little package together. Ultimate aim, though.

Quote from RobbyMac :

So, is it possible to use glasses with dual or triple monitor setup do you think (As long as the monitors match refresh rate or whatever the requirement is) ?

I'd like too an answer to this question... just imagine what a triple screen 3D setup would be like

Unfortunately, I don't think many people know the answer.