We can't show you exactly what NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision stereoscopic glasses do to a game, because you obviously must be wearing the glasses the experience the 3D effect. But we did shoot some quick video to show you what's being displayed on-screen when gaming in 3D.
This video shows Unreal Tournament 3 and Half Life 2: Episode 2 being played in 3D mode, with a FRAPS framerate counter being displayed at the upper-left. We switch from 3D mode, to normal mode, and back to 3D mode on-the-fly to illustrate what's being shown on screen and how it affects framerates in a couple of games. Please keep in mind, that there are a myriad of factors that will determine the ultimate performance of a game running in 3D stereo mode, including the speed of the graphics card, refresh rates, the CPU, image quality settings, etc. However, a good rule of thumb is that a game that runs with acceptable framerates, should play well in 3D stereo mode. If a game chugs along on your PC in normal mode, it's only going to get worst in 3D stereo mode.
Having played games like UT3, Call of Duty, GRiD, Left 4 Dead, HL2:EP2, and Spore in 3D stereo mode with the GeForce 3D Vision glasses, we can say that the effect produced by the glasses is quite realistic. In our opinion, the effect is most impressive when there are some static elements on screen, like when looking through a sniper scope for example. And while shooters looked great in real-3D, RTS games truly change for the better in 3D stereo mode. Spore is a different animal altogether when playing with GeForce 3D Vision. It's literally a game-changer, in a very good way.
We should note that NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision glasses are not only for playing games. They also fully supports 3D video players such as 3dtv Stereoscopic Player, which gives users the ability to view fullscreen 3D movies. The GeForce 3D Vision glasses also allow users to take in-game screenshots and view them in stereoscopic 3D with a free photo viewer. In addition, users can import and view stereoscopic pictures from a variety of different capture sources and online stereoscopic enthusiast websites as well.
At $199, in addition to the cost of a suitable monitor if necessary, NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision glasses are not for everyone. But should you be in the market for such a product, NVIDIA's solution is about as good as they come. Getting 40 hours of use between charges is great, and the on-the-fly 3D depth adjustment makes getting acclimated to the effect relatively easy on the eyes. The fact that 3D just works with hundreds of games right out of the box is the icing on the cake.
