stereoscope

Play (and convert to) 3D videos with 3D Video Player

Media players have reached the point where free ones all offer pretty much the same performance and features, and, in many cases, the same source code and codecs. To stand out from the crowd, you've got to break out of the box, and in video that means 3D. Ramka's 3D Video Player is a shareware video player than not only plays regular and 3D videos but also converts videos to 3D anaglyph stereoscopic playback. You'll need your 3D glasses to view video in 3D, of course. The trial version of 3D Video Player is free, but the … Read more

Is the glasses-free 3D laptop ready for prime time?

Stereoscopic 3D in televisions, PCs, and game consoles has alternatively hailed as an industry savior and blasted as overhyped and undercooked. But no matter which side of the 3D debate you fall on, everyone agrees that bulky active shutter 3D glasses are a major impediment to widespread adoption.

That's why we were so interested in the idea of an autostereoscopic laptop (which basically means glasses-free 3D). Using the laptop's built-in Webcam and eye-tracking software, a laptop can, in theory, keep the 3D image in sync by tracking the viewer's eye movements. We first saw this demonstrated at … Read more

Best and worst stereoscopic 3D console games

It sometimes seems that the only time people talk about 3D TV lately is to knock it.

The much-hyped 3D revolution hasn't exactly set the world on fire after it kicked off at CES 2010, and even though plenty of new television sets are 3D compatible, the actual amount of 3D content available remains slim (and with 3D losing its luster at the box office, it may become slimmer still).

One possible exception is stereoscopic 3D video games, currently supported by both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Stereoscopic 3D feels like a perfect fit for this technology, which hypothetically only needs to render the 3D information already present in nearly every game (with the exception of, for example, 2D side-scrolling games).

On the PC side, stereoscopic 3D has been around for several years, thanks to Nvidia's 3D Vision platform, which uses compatible hardware and active shutter 3D glasses to enable you to at least try and play almost any PC game. Some games work better than others, and chances are you don't have the right PC hardware, but it's definitely fun to play around with different games (Dragon Age, Portal, etc.) and try your luck. … Read more

Stereoscopic shootout: Rounding up the latest 3D laptops

There has been much talk over the past two years about 3D televisions, 3D movies, and even handheld 3D game consoles. Less widely discussed is one of the easiest and most versatile ways to get into stereoscopic 3D: the 3D laptop. After seeing a handful of 3D systems in each of the previous few years, 2011 has become the year of the 3D laptop, with half a dozen crossing our desks so far this year.

Most of them follow a similar hardware path, pairing a set of active-shutter 3D glasses with a compatible 120Hz display and a supported video card … Read more

Toshiba Qosmio F755 review: Can glasses-free 3D work on a laptop?

Many of the unique demo units and prototypes seen at the annual CES show don't make it onto store shelves in the near term, if at all. Then there's the Toshiba Qosmio F755, which we saw as a 15-inch glasses-free 3D prototype at CES in January, and which is now officially for sale in a single fixed-configuration model. Like the CES prototype, the final version of the $1,699 Qosmio F755 has a 15.6-inch display that uses special eye-tracking software to track the viewer's head movements via the built-in Webcam and adjusts the stereoscopic image accordingly.

The Toshiba Qosmio F755 is a bit of a one-trick pony, but when it works right, it's a pretty good trick. The 3D display doesn't work for video games or streaming-video content yet, only 3D Blu-ray and 3D video files you're able to download and play in Toshiba's custom media player application, which is a shame, as 3D gaming would be a killer app. … Read more

Hands-on with Toshiba's Qosmio F755 glasses-free 3D laptop, hitting US stores this month

Back at CES 2011, Toshiba's glasses-free 3D laptop wowed us, going on to win our Best of CES award for the Prototype category. We didn't expect the proof-of-concept hardware to work its way into a final product anytime soon, but apparently Toshiba had other ideas. The Qosmio F750 was previously announced in the U.K. for an August release, and now Toshiba's American arm has put a firm price and date on the U.S. version. Here, it'll be called the Qosmio F755, and will be available starting August 16, for $1,699.

Like the CES … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1476: The Oprah Browser (Podcast)

On today's show, Apple responds to the Mac Defender concerns with a support forum and a promised OS X update, Google may announce mobile payments via NFC as early as tomorrow (Thursday), and Facebook might launch a music service with Spotify (but no, not in the U.S. -- yet). Also, TiVo makes tons of money from suing people and Brian Tong bids a teary farewell to Oprah. --Molly

The 404 802: Where we're breaking bread with the Gut Man (podcast)

The Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg makes an unusual midweek appearance on today's 404 episode and as usual, the discussion topics cover Steve's audiocentric stream of consciousness with a touch of disillusionment, like a Web site that takes the creativity out of naming your band, a mask that enhances audio, the unnatural origins of 3D, and the degrading quality of CD-Rs over time.

The 404 Digest for Episode 802

Korn and Hoobastank should've used Band Name Maker. Tape Op magazine offers free subscriptions to print edition. Add Steve Guttenberg on Twitter. Check out Steve's blog on all things audio, The Audiophiliac.

Episode 802 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

3D TV FAQ

(Latest update: February 17, 2011)

It's been almost a year since the first of the "new" 3D TVs hit the market, enabling their owners to watch 3D Blu-ray movies and 3D television programming as well as play 3D games. The technology behind these televisions is still relatively new, however, and still inspires plenty of questions.

In this newly updated FAQ I'll attempt to answer those questions as well as possible, incorporating my first-hand knowledge in reviewing numerous 2010 3D TVs, conversations I've had with industry experts, and reactions from readers.

This article is targeted toward people looking for an introduction to modern 3D TV technology. If you're an advanced reader just looking for the latest news your best bet is going straight to CNET's 3D TV resource guide.

Samsung's 3D monitor goes to 120

After finally seeing 3D stereoscopic games in action, I now know what all the excitement is about. Playing a game with the "3D" feature turned on delivers on the promise set up by movies like The Creature From the Black Lagoon 3D. Movies that still to this day disappoint me when I think back to how they were not 3D at all.

Enough about childhood disappointments. This week Samsung announced the SyncMaster 2233RZ, the company's first stereoscopic 3D-compatible monitor. Basically, with the right 3D graphics hardware (Nvidia 8, 9, or 10 series); glasses (the display will be … Read more