Nvidia GeForce 3DVision & How 3D Works

Final Thoughts

To be honest, we started off quietly sceptical about Nvidia’s GeForce 3DVision. Well, all of us except for Harry anyway. He was still sceptical, he just wasn’t quiet about it because…well, because he’s Harry, godlove’im.

The very notion of being able to take a game which has been designed to look three dimensional despite being on a two dimensional surface and then turn that game into a three dimensional optical illusion by doubling the scene…well, it hurts the brain.

That said, 3DVision does work. That’s as simply as we can put it. Not only does it work, but it actually works very well for the most recent and relevant games, proving perfectly compatible with all the common engines (and their mods, by extension). As we said before, the Source engine works brilliantly with 3DVision, as does the Oblivion engine.

There are definitely a few holes though, mainly when we take a look at some older games that don’t really benefit all that much from the addition.


Considering they have batteries for 40 hours of gameplay, the IR receiver, the LC controllers and shutter-displays themselves - that’s a lot of tech in a tiny space. However, frankly the specs are quite ma-hoosive and notably chunky which is a bit of a problem, especially for anyone who wears glasses. You can wear the shutterglasses over your regular lenses and you can play like that for extended periods, but it isn’t especially comfy.

When you really get down to it though these aren’t really insurmountable obstacles for Nvidia. The design can be lightened and made a bit friendlier for us four-eyed fraggers quite easily and since the 3DVision isn’t even on sale yet it seems a bit unfair to say that the support isn’t entirely there yet for older games. We know for a fact that Nvidia is still slaving away to perfect the 3DVision before release and we’re positive the final release will offer more compatibility than we’ve seen. You've also got to bear in mind the support for other applications outside of games, which is potentially staggering.

Price-wise we don’t have an official figure from Nvidia yet, but rumours and educated speculation tells us that the 3DVision spec-up will cost more than £100, probably closer to £150. For what you’re actually getting in terms of willy-waving goodness (also, now in 3D), technical hardware and visual benefit is an entirely reasonable package when you think about it. If you care for it at all, this is, it’s the sort of thing that needs to be used to be liked/believed.


When you figure in the cost of a decent 120Hz monitor though, things start to change from the point of view of an average consumer. As we said before, this is the really crippling blow for the 3DVision. Virtually everyone won’t have a compatible monitor because 99 percent of TFTs currently on the market are 60Hz (or 75Hz if you’re using VGA), not 120Hz. That means that if you want to actually use the 3DVision then you’re going to have to go out and buy a new screen too – and those things definitely cost more than £100.

As a proof of concept the 3DVision is an excellent piece of tech and we confess that if it worked well with existing screens then as hardcore gamers we’d probably be tempted to go out and get one ourselves. If you’re looking to spend some cash on a tech toy outside the necessary keyboard and mouse and instead of other worthy upgrades, compared to the questionably working OCZ NIA or the excellent but ultimately restricted Novint Falcon, it’s worth the cash on 3DVision.

The requirement for a totally new monitor though is what knocks the legs out from underneath the 3DVision, taking it off the market for those who were after a big boys toy. As an unproven technology it needs to be cheap enough for interested parties to buy it on a whim so they can check it out and tell their friends – and the one thing that 3D gaming still isn’t; is cheap enough for the average consumer.

That said it is worth bearing in mind that this is still cutting edge technology and that such stuff is always expensive. As time goes by those who are just behind the curve will start to catch up and the 3DVision will become a technology which is more viable beyond just the corporate or early-adopter market - and we can't wait!

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