The online racing simulator
Anyone else playing with the 3D shutter glasses?
I bought a pair and they arrived on last Wednesday. I spent the whole weekend playing LFS (and OpFlash, Virtual Pool, etc) with the glasses on. I must say, these things are pretty damn cool. It's truly amazing how "deep" everything looks. It gives you a real sense of space inside the car and you can actually tell how much distance you have between you and the car in front or next to you. When you drive past the braking distance markers it actually feels like you're driving under a real sign, not just a sign on a computer screen. Amazing.

I have noticed two small drawbacks, but they're not enough to keep me from using the glasses. 1) frame rate takes a small hit. Not a big deal since I'm still seeing 60-80fps most of the time. 2) colors look a bit washed out.

I'm running an AMD Sempron 2600+, GeForce 6600GT 128MB, the edimensional glasses, and a Gateway 21" Trinitron @ 1024x768x32bpp @120Hz.

I can't wait to let my driving buddies check these things out. They're gonna crap themselves. Anyone else using these glasses or am I the only one?
what are they exactly?

let us see some pictures and a link please?
I'd watch out using any type of glasses tbh. Using those can really screw up your eyes quickly (in comparison to using a normal monitor). The same goes for using a fresnel lense imho.
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(thisnameistaken) DELETED by thisnameistaken
Quote from the_angry_angel :I'd watch out using any type of glasses tbh. Using those can really screw up your eyes quickly (in comparison to using a normal monitor). The same goes for using a fresnel lense imho.

Care to quote your source for this information?

Stereoscopic glasses have been used for years by many, many people with no long term side effects. I looked into this very carefully before purchasing.

Quote from mrbogeyman :let us see some pictures and a link please?

I don't have any pics at the moment but there are plenty of pictures on www.edimensional.com (that's where I bought them from). I bought the wired version for $70. In hindsight I should have tried to find these in eBay before buying directly from the mfr. I could have probably saved a bundle. <sigh>
I thought about buying one those 3D glasses. I was thinking about the Gainward version, because you can get them for under 30€ here in Finland. Only I am not sure if they will work with my TFT monitor. I remember reading somewhere that they don't.
Thoese eDimensional glasses do promise to work with TFT:s too, but they are a bit more expensive.

Did some digging and I found out this:
Quote :4. The 3D Stereo Driver in page-flip mode is not designed for LCDs or flat panel displays, with the exception
of those that are auto-stereoscopic, such as the Sharp 3D display. For other notebooks, an external
monitor can be connected and used to view page flip mode stereo.
5. With the 3D Stereo Driver in anaglyph mode, stereo images can be viewed on a flat panel LCD.

The page-flip mode is presumably better. Does anyone have expirience just how much better? Are those glasses worth buying if I can only use the anaglyph mode?
BSR.Jarmin uses them, i can vouch for the whole 'messes with you're eyes' argument, they're ok for a short while but i just can't concentrate properly with them on, you get an annoying flicker and you cant read text properly, but they do look cool , there's certainly no advantage to using them. and you do need a seriously fast monitor (100Hz minimum) to get anything like a smooth effect. not really my cup of tea but fun for a while
I use it (Elsa Revelator) since many years. It´s phantastic to have "real" 3D.
Sure, you need a CTR at a minimum refreshrate of 120 Hz.
Since then i don´t play without it - it´s too flat.
Quote from Cue-Ball :I'm running an AMD Sempron 2600+, GeForce 6600GT 128MB, the edimensional glasses, and a Gateway 21" Trinitron @ 1024x768x32bpp @120Hz.

i would use that crt tube at 1600x900 or 1280x768 at 120hz
thats how i normally play lfs on my sony21"F520r
just make the custom res.
u also get higher brightness since u gonna get the scanlines closer when memorizing the squashed res/sync in the monitor to maintain the proper aspect ratio.
activate that color bright thingy in nv drivers to counter that washed out effect also (maybe that helps you)
have fun.
Quote from geeman1 :I thought about buying one those 3D glasses. I was thinking about the Gainward version, because you can get them for under 30€ here in Finland. Only I am not sure if they will work with my TFT monitor. I remember reading somewhere that they don't.
Thoese eDimensional glasses do promise to work with TFT:s too, but they are a bit more expensive.

Did some digging and I found out this:
The page-flip mode is presumably better. Does anyone have expirience just how much better? Are those glasses worth buying if I can only use the anaglyph mode?

Page flip mode is definitely best. Anaglyph mode is what's used with 3d comic books and such where there's a blue image and a red image and you use blue/red glasses. This means that when viewed everything looks black and white. I wouldn't recommend this for playing games, but it works decent for viewing still photos. The other mode is interleaved. This works like television where every other line is updated. Odd lines are for one eye, even lines for the other. This has the drawback that you can see the interlacing lines on a computer monitor (TVs mask the effect because of phosphor delay and "blurriness" of the picture).

I haven't tried interleaved mode so I can only speak of experience about page flip mode (works fantastic). I would think interleaved mode would work with LCDs though.

Edit: Analglyph mode could be useful to see what it would look like if you had a set of shutter glasses. If you've got an nvidia card and a set of those cheap red/blue glasses you could try it and see how it looks (minus color, of course). This wouldn't cost a dime, so long as you can round up a pair of 3D red/blue glasses.
Quote from KiDCoDEa :i would use that crt tube at 1600x900 or 1280x768 at 120hz
thats how i normally play lfs on my sony21"F520r
just make the custom res.
u also get higher brightness since u gonna get the scanlines closer when memorizing the squashed res/sync in the monitor to maintain the proper aspect ratio.
activate that color bright thingy in nv drivers to counter that washed out effect also (maybe that helps you)
have fun.

I'm going to try some other resolutions tonight after work. I think I should be able to run 100Hz as long as I don't go over 900 pixels high or so. Most games won't properly support those weird resolutions, but I think they'll work good for LFS.

I don't think brightness has anything to do with scanlines or monitor frequency. No matter what resolution/refresh you run the shutters still have to close half of the time. And time is a constant.
Quote from Cue-Ball :I don't think brightness has anything to do with scanlines or monitor frequency. No matter what resolution/refresh you run the shutters still have to close half of the time. And time is a constant.

yeah but while they are open if u send more light into them, then u counter that effect. dats why i said what i said.
and yes, if u stretch vertically ya monitor you will get higher brightness.
i do this technique for 3 years now, else i wouldnt tip ya.
you do as you please.
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(Cue-Ball) DELETED by Cue-Ball : not running widescreen. can't submit a pic. :(
#14 - Woz
Quote from the_angry_angel :I'd watch out using any type of glasses tbh. Using those can really screw up your eyes quickly (in comparison to using a normal monitor). The same goes for using a fresnel lense imho.

If anything a fresnel lens is actually BETTER for your eyes because you focus length is nearer to infinity and so your eyes are under far less strain than being sat in front of a CRT with your eyes locked at 20-30".
Quote from Woz :If anything a fresnel lens is actually BETTER for your eyes because you focus length is nearer to infinity and so your eyes are under far less strain than being sat in front of a CRT with your eyes locked at 20-30".

Quite... and I use one. much less eye strain
Quote from ScHiZ :Quite... and I use one. much less eye strain

Good... Mine got sent yesterday morning, so I'm expecting them end of this week, beginning of next.

I have 2 21" monitors, so it should make for one helluva big screen with wide FOV
About a year ago I was really looking for that glasses, but since i read that refresh rate is devided by 2 when using them I don't think about it. I have 17' CRT and i hate having refresh rate lower then 85hz... I just can't look at 60hz screens...
In that case I apologise as I was clearly wrong about fresnel lens', but I'm fairly confident that any kind of glasses with screens that close to your eyes for lengthy periods are bad, as they cause you to focus up close. I've used a pair of i-glasses (it was a SVGA 3D, iirc - granted they are an older model circa 2001, so perhaps things have changed significantly) at a show and they gave me a serious headache after 5-10 minutes..

Edit:
I've just realised that we're on about completely different things. Sorry, I've completely screwed up the conversation in this thread (left the contents of my posts for anyone who maybe confused).
Quote from Kuba_m :About a year ago I was really looking for that glasses, but since i read that refresh rate is devided by 2 when using them I don't think about it. I have 17' CRT and i hate having refresh rate lower then 85hz... I just can't look at 60hz screens...

The refresh rate isn't divided in half. But the frames are split between the left and right eye so that each eye gets half. You're still seeing all the frames, but each eye only sees half of them. Watching 100Hz (with 50Hz per eye) is completely different than watching 50Hz with both eyes. Because of "persistence of vision" your eyes/brain blend the fields.

I wouldn't recommend playing at low refresh rates, but 85Hz is a realistic minimum. At that refresh rate you really shouldn't see any flicker at all. I'm playing at 100Hz right now and it's smooth as a baby's butt. Most people can see the flicker of a screen at 60Hz (no glasses), but playing at 120Hz (with glasses) is far beyond what's needed for flicker-free viewing. So it's quite obvious that the "refresh rate cut in half" thing is incorrect. Anyone who's actually used the glasses could tell you as much. But it seems that most people like to comment on them negatively without ever even trying them. illepall
I don't comment them negatively, I just wrote what i read before (when using glasses with 100hz refresh rate, both eyes get only half of it). So in your opinion on my 17' CRT I would be able to use glasses on 1024 x 768 x 85hz? And say me one thing, are you sure that you see flickering when the monitor's refresh rate is set to 60hz? Becouse most of people I know can't see difrence between 60hz and 85hz... I also see difrence beetwen 40 and 60 frames per seconds in games, so maybe I'm just unnormal Sorry for my bad english
#21 - Woz
Quote from Kuba_m :I don't comment them negatively, I just wrote what i read before (when using glasses with 100hz refresh rate, both eyes get only half of it). So in your opinion on my 17' CRT I would be able to use glasses on 1024 x 768 x 85hz? And say me one thing, are you sure that you see flickering when the monitor's refresh rate is set to 60hz? Becouse most of people I know can't see difrence between 60hz and 85hz... I also see difrence beetwen 40 and 60 frames per seconds in games, so maybe I'm just unnormal Sorry for my bad english

I think you have refresh rate comfused with frame rate.

Refresh rate is the number of times the monitor draws the image/second from the GFX frame buffer.

Frame rate is the number of times LFS draws the view to the frame buffer/second.

When the two rates are too far out of sync you get the situation where the display image is actually made of two distinct frames with one part being the previous frame and the other the current frame. Hence GFX card options that lock frame rate to vsync. You only normally see this tearing effect if FPS style games where the viewpoint is changing quickly.

It is VERY easy to see the flicker of a minitor at 60Hz (Not talking LCDs here) and 85Hz does stop this.
I know the diffrence between FPS and refresh rate, sorry it was unnecessary to write about FPS in that thread...
But I have next question, I've read on an official site of glasses that they can be used with LCD screen. So if I have LCD do I see ANY flickering with glasses, or everything is perfectle clear?
Quote from Kuba_m :I know the diffrence between FPS and refresh rate, sorry it was unnecessary to write about FPS in that thread...
But I have next question, I've read on an official site of glasses that they can be used with LCD screen. So if I have LCD do I see ANY flickering with glasses, or everything is perfectle clear?

LCD works totally different from how a CRT works. If you want to use the glasses with an LCD you have to use edimensional's driver wrapper and run in interleaved mode (instead of page flip mode like I'm using). Because LCDs don't "refresh", this is the only way to use the glasses with an LCD. This also means that you'll probably end up seeing the interlacing lines. I haven't tried the driver wrapper so I can't comment on how it works. I do have a second machine with an ATI card at home though, so if i get some free time I might try it just to see how it works.
#24 - ysu
Yes, I'm using the eDimensional glasses for more than a year now. I find it a great help in immersion :-)

There's no problem with concentration. As you eyes don't have to focus 30cm from your face, it's actually better. Also because of this, you can move the monitor very close to your eyes, thus enlarging the FOV.

Don't use it with a low quality and/or small monitor. You need one which can handle 120-150Hz refresh rates (Philips 22" here, using it @ 1280x1024 120Hz).

With lower refresh rates it can be bothersome as you can see the flickering, especially the first few minutes using it. After a while your brain gets used to it anyway, but may be tiring, just as it was with old monitors back a few years ago.

And yes, because the nature of the glasses the image looks a bit darker, and duller. I positively hate that part, but it can't be helped. Because of this, small text can be hard to read in certain colors on certain backgrounds. But in races, especially enduro races it hardly matters. :-)

All in all, I think they're great
It's great to see I'm not the only one! Frankly, after using these things I don't think I could go back to racing without. I had a couple friends over last night to check them out. Both of them were flat out amazed. When I let my buddy try LFS with the glasses he sounded like Keanu Reeves..."Whoa!".
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