NVIDIA’s 3D Vision: 9 months later

Everybody loves pretty graphics. They bring realism and immersion to our video games, and have been evolving rapidly throughout the past few decades. Every year we see developers making games that look more and more real, while hardware manufacturers keep churning out more and more powerful chips in order to bring these visuals to life. You can’t get any prettier than real life, though, so what happens when we reach that zenith?

We can use large arrays of surround sound speakers to fool our ears into thinking we are somewhere else, but what about our eyes? Giant displays that can wrap around 180 degrees are already available, but no matter how good a game looks, it is still just a picture on a screen. In order to make it truly realistic and immersive, you must make it deeper than a 3D image painted on a 2D surface. You must make it appear to be truly three-dimensional.

NVIDIA intends to bring a 3D gaming experience to the mainstream gaming audience, something that has never been done before. Utilizing LCD shutter lens technology, these glasses look just like regular shades you might wear on a sunny day, and when paired with a modern GeForce video card connected to select high-resolution displays, the 3D Vision glasses will deliver the ultimate visual experience! Or something like that…

Earlier this year, Brandon introduced you to the 3D Vision system. Now, more than 9 months later, I’ve taken a look at some of the latest games to support this fancy-schmancy stereoscopy stuff. Yes, the effect is incredible, but does it really make a difference? What about the performance? Turn the page to find out!

Test Setup

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 275 896MB
4 GB DDR2-800 RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate RTM 64-bit (ForceWare 195.62)