Dave's Stereo (3D) Photography
Wrightwood, CA
dave
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Welcome to Dave's Stereo (3D) Photography
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Current Article: Acer GD235HZ/GD245HQ and 3D Vision Review
February 8, 2010; updated February 9, 2010
Introduction
The year 2010 is an exciting year for stereo 3D photographers and 3D enthusiasts, for a whole stack of reasons. Folks seem to be more aware of 3D and are excited about its potential on account of movies like Avatar and Up! hitting nearly every local cinema, drawing huge crowds and record grosses. The stereoscopic 3D Blu Ray format has been standardized, and the first 3D Blu Ray titles are due in just a few months. Almost every major TV manufacturer (Pansaonic, Sony, Samung, Toshiba, Sharp, JVC, and LG) will be releasing 3D HDTVs this year.
Stereo photographers finally have strong, viable options when it comes to purchasing a digital stereo camera: either the point-and-shoot Fujifilm Real 3D W1, or a dual-DSLR stereo rig like mine.
The question remains, for those who have invested the expense and effort in taking good stereo 3D photographs - how can I view my stereo photos and experience the full impact of the moment of time and space I captured on a quality 3D camera? In the past, I have relied on side-by-side prints (Holmes-style viewers) and various computer monitor-based solutions such as the headache-inducing red/blue anaglyph glasses from days of yore, the Pokescope, and Screenscope. All of these solutions were hopelessly compromised for various reasons; they gave wholly unsatisfying stereoscopic reproductions of the photographs I had put so much effort into creating. They could not deliver to the viewer even a fraction of the resolution, image quality, and stereoscopic depth effect that modern 3D cameras are capturing. It was enough to give me a tantalizing preview of what my stereo photography was capable of delivering, and at the same time it was also enough to make me give up my niche hobby in despair of doing any justice to the high-quality stereo images I was taking. Enter NVidia's 3D Vision and Acer GD235HZ monitor.
NVidia 3D Vision Description and Evaluation
Nvidia, known primarily for their graphics cards, has developed a stereoscopic 3D system for home computers called 3D Vision. It utilizes their proprietary LCD shutter glasses (glasses that alternately block the left and right eye as the corresponding left or right image is displayed on the computer monitor), and has been marketed primarily to PC gamers since its inception. I quickly realized that this could be the solution I was looking for as a stereo photographer. My hope was that I could see my stereo photos on a full 24" monitor at the monitor's full resolution with minimal ghosting (cross-talk between the left and right images). The only requirements for the 3D Vision system are 1. to have a relatively recent NVidia video card and 2. to have a 3D Vision-compatible monitor. Currently, there are only 4 compatible monitors. I elected to purchase the Acer GD235HZ (known as the ACER GD245HQ in some regions outside the U.S.). It supports full HD resolution (1080p). I was fortunate enough to purchase this monitor and have it shipped within 48 of its availability from Newegg.
My first tests with the 3D Vision and Acer monitor involved viewing my stereo photos using both the Nvidia's 3D Vision Photo Viewer (comes free with purchase of the 3D Vision kit) and a program that has long been the gold standard for stereo photographers - Stereo Photo Maker. SPM is an excellent piece of freeware, and it has been my software of choice over the past year as I have used the Screen Scope to view my stereo photos.
The Nvidia 3D Vision Photo Viewer would not read the .mpo files I had created (it just crashed and shut the program down). It would read the .jps files I created, but even then it got confused and swapped the left image for the right, and had to be manually toggled to swap the left and right images for each pair. A royal pain. I was frustrated and gave up on this program in a hurry. Shame on Nvidia for haphazardly writing such a frustrating program that only requires simple functionality.
The current version of Stereo Photo Maker (4.13, Nov. 12, 2010) does not support the 3D Vision system, but you can email the author of SPM and request a Beta version of SPM. This beta version of SPM has given me access to the stereo 3D Valhalla I have been seeking. It has had no problem reading and displaying any of the stereo format files or stereo pairs I have thrown at it.
Over the past week I have been putting the 3D Vision system and the Acer monitor to the test. I have viewed hundreds of stereo photographs I have taken, along with a small handful of stereo videos. It should be noted, especially by gamers, that my experience with 3D Vision and the Acer monitor does not reflect any of the variables introduced by various game drivers or renderings. As a matter of fact, I have not yet viewed any games using 3D Vision. I have been testing the system purely by viewing stereo photos and videos that were shot in the real world, which are not subject to the complications of rendering 3D or pseudo-3D objects in a gaming environment.
The computer I have been using is far from being a bleeding-edge gaming system. The Nvidia 8800GT video card I am using is a somewhat-dated but still competent, middle-of-the-road video card. It is more than capable for executing the relatively light task of viewing stereoscopic stills or video. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (3D Vision requires Vista or Windows 7 operating systems), and the processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with 2 GB of RAM.
The best method of viewing stereoscopic images that I have used over the past few years is the ScreenScope , as seen in the above picture. This product is simply a mirrored stereoscope that is designed for viewing side-by-side (parallel) stereo photographs on computer monitors. It uses first-surface mirrors (no lensing elements) to direct the side-by-side images to the respective eyes. As such, it delivers a clean, 100% ghost-free stereoscopic image. The image quality is the same as any 2D photograph displayed on a computer monitor. However, the effective resolution of a standard 3:2 aspect ratio photo is a measly 960X540 pixels (0.52 megapixels) on a typical 24" (1920 x 1200) monitor. There is also great difficulty in scrutinizing the edges of the image (since it is difficult to bring these areas out of the peripheral areas of the eye's vision), compounded with the awkwardness of viewing the images through a fixed scope.
By contrast, the 3D Vision system allows images to be viewed at the full resolution of the monitor. And one can view images with far more comfort, naturally reclining in a chair without having to hunch over to peer into a Screen Scope. Personally, I require the use of prescription glasses, and the 3D Vision shutter glasses fit over them without any problem. It is not even noticeable during normal viewing unless I pay specific attention to it. I have experienced no discomfort either in the short or long term with Nvidia's glasses. Bravo to Nvidia. The glasses are contoured and reasonably stylish as opposed to the dorky, cheap polarized glasses I have used in years past. With respect to resolution and field of view, the 3D Vision system is far superior to the Screen Scope as used in conjunction with a normal monitor.
In the above photo, one should note that the Acer GD235HZ (on the left) is a 23.6" TN panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, whereas my older monitor, the HP LP2475w (right), is slightly larger at 24" and 1920 x 1200 resolution and is an IPS panel. IPS panels are known for color accuracy and are more expensive than PVA or TN panels. Accordingly, I use the HP monitor for editing color, contrast, white balance, etc. I use the Acer for checking the stereoscopic effect, vertical alignment, and final 3D image using 3D Vision.
When using the Acer monitor, I am able to view my photographs as 1620 x 1080 images (this is how a 3:2 aspect ratio photo fits onto a 1920 x 1080 monitor). This works out to 1.75 MP (megapixels), still far less than the 12 MP my Canon Rebels capture, but a vast improvement on the 0.52 MP the Screen Scope could view. This uptick in resolution is crucial - it is the difference between having a mediocre stereoscopic depth effect and a jaw-dropping 3D effect; between having dull, lifeless stereo images filled with the dreaded cardboard-cutout objects and images that feel solid and full with objects that feel tangible and weighty. Many do not make note of this fact, but it is true - resolution is crucial to stereoscopic depth effect. Using the 3D Vision system and Acer monitor, my photographs finally "pop" out at the viewer, and I find myself compelled to reach out to swipe at the images protruding from the screen with my hands. This was never true of any mirror or prism-based stereoscope I have used. To boot, there are no problems viewing the "peripheral" areas of my photographs with the 3D Vision system.
I felt as though I was seeing my photographs again for the first time as I paged through my previous stereo slideshows. Even my wife, who is no 3D connosuier, was blown away by how vivid and immersive the photographs were through the 3D Vision system compared to other stereoscopic methods.
Disadvantages
So what are the down sides to this system? Only one big one. You guessed it: ghosting. The Acer monitor still exhibits cross-talk between the right and left images. Nvidia's 3D Vision system cycles between the left and right images (corresponding to the left and right eye) at 120 times per second (netting 60 cycles per eye). The monitors are supposed to switch cleanly back and forth between the left and right images, in synch with the LCD shutter glasses that block the opposite eye, 120 times per second to synch with the appropriate eye and create the stereoscopic effect. In practice this process is not perfect, since the pixels cannot quite switch over fast enough, especially when transitioning from bright colors to dark and vice versa. This creates an artifact that is perceived as a "ghost" image when viewed stereoscopically, and can be confirmed by viewing with one eye closed at a time. From my understanding, this is a limitation of TN panels, so I do not blame the Acer monitor in particular. This was a common complaint regarding the first-generation 3D Vision-compatible monitors (1680 x 1050 monitors made by Samsung and Viewsonic). From all reports, no 3D Vision-compatible monitor has an unequivocal leg-up in this department, although the 2nd-generation monitors (the Acer and Alienware AW2310) supposedly show significant but not overwhelming improvement. I have not personally tried any of the other 3D Vision monitors, but I can say that the Acer's ghosting is usually non-existent, negligible, or non-intrusive for the vast majority of my own stereo photographic portfolio. In only about 10% of my photos do I find myself cringing at this artifact, and I'm not sure that the more casual observer would even notice. Ghosting only shows up in transition areas between very dark and very light colors (for instance, a black tire surrounded by a pale tarmac or dark stone cathedral against a bright, sunshiny sky). At worst it is mildly annoying when viewing a particular photograph, but it never is severe enough to diminish the stereoscopic effect and, in my opinion, never spoils the overall image. While that can be sub-professional, the image is still effective.
I cannot stress enough that one must have the monitor on, actively displaying an image for at least 5-10 minutes before one can view stereo images optimally. This allows the panel to warm up and increase pixel response performance, greatly decreasing the ghosting phenomenon. Photos that exhibited completely distracting ghosting at first became far less problematic after I had been using the monitor for a while, often eliminating ghosting altogether or reducing the ghosting to very minimal, reasonable levels depending on the image.
Some folks on various forums have fretted over the backlight bleed of the Acer GD235HZ. As far as I know, this is an issue to one extent or another for all CCFL light LCD panels (and perhaps TN panels in particular?). A survey of my own portfolio has shown this to be a non-issue, although for others this may not be true (especially for gamers). I have to admit that this sort of anomaly is, frankly, in the "noise" for me. I have to pay attention to notice it at all. Maybe I'll worry about it once they fix the ghosting problems. I respect that others may disagree, depending on their application and needs.
Video
While I did not have the opportunity to try any games with the 3D Vision glasses or Acer monitor, I did download a handful of sample videos available on the NVidia website to see how stereoscopic videos looked. I can only offer brief remarks on this topic as a non-videographer.
Nvidia's Stereo Video Player played clips successfully...for 15-20 seconds, and then abruptly quit. I will never understand how a program can work perfectly well for a fair chunk of time and then arbitrarily decide to crash without any informative error message. Nvidia, I've done my due diligence and have installed all the latest graphics card drivers and 3D Vision drivers (196.21), why doesn't this work?
Stereo Movie Maker (produced by the same guys who wrote Stereo Photo Maker) likewise has a beta version, available through the author, that plays videos through page-flip mode with 3D Vision. It doesn't support all of the formats that Nvidia's Player does (it will not, for instance, run the Nurburgring 24 Hour Race sample video from the Nvidia website), but it will work without crashing. The videos I have seen look excellent, and I could not detect any ghosting artifacts due to motion that would not have otherwise been present in a still stereo photo. Summer in Heidelberg, especially, is a real treat for the eyes. Watch the whole thing -it is very well produced.
Conclusion
After the above remarks, it will surprise no one that I find NVidia's 3D Vision
system to be a breath of fresh air to serious stereo photographers who care
about their craft and pour their own sweat into capturing quality stereo
images, as well as stereo enthusiasts who simply want to view digital stereo
images in true color and high resolution. We finally have a means of
reproducing digital stereoscopic images that do justice to what our cameras
are actually capturing. Is it a 3D panacea? A silver bullet? No, but it does
mark the fact that digital stereo 3D has arrived - in our homes, and on our
desktop PCs, definitively. It is frequently stunning, dependably immersive,
often useful, certainly viable, unquestionably usable and handy; as opposed to
all other methods which have proven hoakey, compromised, underwhelming,
clunky, disspiriting, and devaluing of our work as photographers.
Are the ghosting problems, likely the product of monitor limitations or deficiencies, somewhat a fly in the ointment for this show? You bet. But it is not a show-stopper. If you asked me whether I'd like to see my stereo photos on the ghost-free Screen Scope or using the 3D Vision glasses and Acer monitor, my answer would be 3D Vision 10 times out of 10. While not without its flaws, it consistently delivers the "wow" factor that the Scope never does.
My hope is that in the coming year or two we will see evolved generations of 3D Vision-compatible LCD monitors. Color-accurate IPS monitors, perhaps, or LED-backlight monitors, OLED monitors, or whatever the next best thing is. I'd love to see faster response times (to eliminate ghosting), and above all higher resolutions. Many manufacturers currently have 30" monitor offerings at 2560 x 1600 pixels. If these monitors could be made to run at 120 Hz one could view a 3:2 stereo photo with 3D Vision at 2400 x 1600 resolution - 3.84 megapixels! What a treat that would be!
Here's hoping.
The Stereoscopic Traveler
(Allow Me to Ascend My Soap Box)
At the risk of sounding like an evangelist, I have to mention this: as I view stereo photographs of the places I've been and things I've seen, the memories come flooding back in a way that never happened when viewing normal 2D photographs of my life, experiences, and travels. There is something in the brain that a stereoscopic image taps into that unlocks the memory and sends it vividly back into one's realtime consciousness. It is most difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced it. It is one thing to experience the fictional worlds of Avatar or places and events that one has never seen or been in stereoscopic 3D (indeed it can be unspeakably wonderful), but it is a whole different ballgame from reconnecting your whole visual sense and perception to a moment embedded in your own memory. It has a way of cuing your brain to remember, and you can recall the sounds and smells of that time, feel the space, the emotion of the time, as if the present had just melted away.
I feel as if I am cheating myself and doing a disservice to the moment whenever I take a "normal" 2D photo these days. That is not to say that every stereo 3D photo I take is great, or even good. The issue is this: how do we actually experience life visually? How do we visually perceive space, color, shapes, and objects? We perceive in stereoscopic 3D! God gave us two eyes. He did not design us to see the material world in 2D. 2D/monoscopic images are artificial reproductions that are the result of technical limitations and compromises. The same thing as a black & white photograph vs. a color photograph. We live in space that contains 3 dimensions, and monoscopic/2D visualization can only provide a pseudo-representation of 3D space, it cannot allow the real depth perception that stereoscopic 3D allows, the way that our own two natural eyes allow.
If you heed my advice and begin your own journey in stereoscopic photography, I'm sure you will come to the same conclusions I have, and share the same appreciation for this wonderful form of art. Give it a go, friend! Just do it - you'll thank me.
If you are a stereo photographer, or simply someone interested in viewing high-quality 3D photographs, you've come to the right place. As a stereographer, I have often been frustrated at the lack of good stereo photographic content on the web, as well as a lack of good "how to" information on being a stereo photographer. This is, after all, a very niche hobby to be involved in. My hope is that stereo photography will rise out of its current obscurity to become a commonly-appreciated medium of visual image reproduction as people come to be astounded at the power and beauty of high-quality stereo 3D.
My dual Canon Rebel XSi stereo camera rig.
If you are out and about using your 3D camera, be prepared to be approached 3-6 times a day (no exaggeration!) by folks wondering about your strange contraption. This is me at the Borough Market in London explaining my camera to a passer-by. No matter how many times you have to give your spiel, be patient and gracious! You want people to learn and become informed about 3D stereography.
Wrightwood, CA
dave
