Subjective reviews are always the toughest to write, so when I got my hands on the NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision kit for wireless stereoscopic 3D gaming just days before launch I didn't want to rush it. After I came back from the Consumer Electronics Show I started to game daily with the glasses to see what they were all about. It also gave me time to see where the industry was going in terms of 3D Technology. Hollywood has already begun to make major efforts towards bringing 3D movies to consumers and if you watched Super Bowl XLIII you more than likely saw the 3D commercials. It looks like 2009 will be the year for 3D and it should be no big shock that companies like Intel and NVIDIA have started to run with the idea. In 2008 the big marketing push from NVIDIA was CUDA and PhysX and now that nearly every enthusaist knows about those two technologies it is time to roll out something new.

What exactly I will be looking at today is called the NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle. The NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle consists of a Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ 22" 3D Gaming LCD Monitor and NVIDIA 3D Vision Stereoscopic glasses. This $599 bundle will give you an out-of-the-box immersive 3D PC Gaming experience as long as your system has a GeForce 8800 or higher gaming graphics card. The Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ, in conjunction with NVIDIA’s advanced software, automatically converts over 350 games to stereoscopic 3D without the need for special game patches. That means you don't need to buy any more expensive game titles to play in 3D, but as you can tell 3D gaming is not inexpensive due to the bundle cost. GeForce 3D Vision uses game profiles similar to SLI profiles and since NVIDA has close relationships with developers they can ensure nearly all games will work and are as immersive as possible at launch. This means that you will not have to wait for weeks after a new game launches to be able to play it in 3D! Price aside, stereoscopic 3D will add a whole new level of realism to your gaming.

The heart and soul of the this bundle would be the high-tech active shutter glasses, designed with top-of-the-line optics, deliver double the resolution per eye and ultra-wide viewing angles than passive glasses. In addition, the new 120Hz LCD monitors unlock crystal-clear, flicker-free stereoscopic 3D gaming that provides 60Hz per eye.

Let's take a peak inside the box and see what GeForce 3D Vision is all about!
The 3D Vision Glasses

Opening the 3D Vision retail box you quickly find out that no expense was spared as it is very nicely put together. Included inside are the glasses, IR transmitter, cables and software. If NVIDIA wanted you to feel like you invested in something great they did a good job here as it is one of the nicest packages that I have opened for a while.

NVIDIA included a very nice green lens cleaning cloth that is actually needed to keep the glasses clean while gaming and a nice black carrying case to keep the glasses safe from scratches when not in use. The lenses on the GeForce 3D Vision glasses do contain real glass, so be sure to handle them carefully and store them properly.

I was shocked to find that not one, but four cables were included to hook up the glasses to the PC and then the TV to the PC. The cables included are a DVI-to-HDMI cable to connect your PC to a DLP 3D-Ready TV, two USB cables (one for charging the glasses, the other for the IR transmitter) and a VESA 3-pin stereo cable that is used to connect a DLP TV to the IR emitter. The good news here is if you are just playing on the Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ 22" 3D gaming LCD monitor you just need the two USB cables as you won't be connecting it to a DLP 3D-Ready TV.

The bundle also included very nicely put together quick-start guide and tips & tricks book that were both super easy to follow. NVIDIA also included a disc full of drivers and a demonstration disc that show cases just what the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision experience is all about.

Since there are more than one nose type NVIDIA included three nose bridge pieces that you can pick from to use with the glasses. These nose bridges are attached to the 'pegs' seen in the photo above and can be changed out quickly if more than one person will be gaming on the same computer. The nose pieces also lift the glasses away from your face, which means that if you wear glasses that you can indeed wear them under the NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses.

The IR Emitter (transmitter) is how the wireless glasses get the signal from the PC and is the key to making stereoscopic 3D work. This little emitter should be located with direct line-of-sight between the 3D Vision glasses at a minium of 1.5 feet in order to ensure that the glasses know when to 'shutter' in order to give you 3D images. The button with the NVIDIA logo on it is the power button. The button always glows NVIDIA green, but when the on/off button is pressed it glows bright green.

The back of the IR emitter had has two I/O connectors; one mini-USB connection for communications with your computer and the other is a VESA stereo cable port for use with a 3D-Ready DLP HDTVs. As previously mentioned both connections are only required if you are using a 3D-Ready DLP HDTV. Since we are using the Samsung 120 Hz LCD panel only the USB connector is needed.
The thumbwheel seen in the middle of the emitter above is used to adjust the stereoscopic depth (depth of the 3D image) while gaming. By turning this wheel you can adjust how extreme the 3D image is as everyone likes a different setting. Using the deepest setting gives me a light headache, so I personally had to tone it back to be able to enjoy hours of gaming. After using the glasses for a month, I also found that I liked different depths on differnt games, so I got to know this thumbwheel very well. The green LED located directly below the thumbweel is the power indicator light and is only green when the power is connected (the USB cable). I'm not sure why NVIDIA included power indicator lights on both sides of the emitter, but i'm sure they have some logic to this.

Taking a closer look at the NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses we can see just how far we have come when it comes to looking good. These 3D glasses are hands down one of the better looking models that I have ever seen and while you'll never see them on the runway during Fashion Week in New York they will not leaving you feeling like a super geek. If they still do then keep in mind that you are using these for gaming and you can always close the door to make sure your 1337 glasses don't make your friends laugh. The bulge next to the left lens is the IR receiver and is what needs to make direct line-of-sight with the IR emitter.

To turn the NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses on you need to press the power button located on the left frame rail. Once the glasses are turned on an indicator light will start to glow and it is of course another green light. The GeForce 3D Vision glasses hold approximately 40-hours of gaming per full charge and once the glasses have less than two hours of battery life left the light will start to flash red. When the light goes out you need to hook it up to the USB cable to charge the glasses.

Speaking of charging the glasses the picture above shows where the mini-USB cable needs to connect in order to charge the battery that is located inside the frame rail. It takes roughly four hours to charge the glasses for 40 hours of gameplay, so be sure to top them off between gaming sessions and you'll never need to do a full charge.
3D Vision Driver Installation and Setup
Installation of the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision software and drivers is a breeze and the process is nearly identical as installing a graphics card driver. The driver disc that came with the GeForce 3D Vision kit included a 3D-enabled version of the Detonator GPU driver and a 3D Vision software installer. During my 30-day test drive of GeForce 3D Vision three drivers were released, so be sure to check with NVIDIA to download the latest drivers for the kit. The most recent driver at the time this was written was called GeForce 3D Vision CD v1.04 (GeForce GPU driver v181.22, GeForce 3D Vision driver v181.25).

Once you start the install be sure to install GeForce Graphics driver first and restart the computer when prompted. When your system reboots, the GeForce 3D Vision Software Installation automatically restarts to continue the install.

Once system restarts you will install the GeForce 3D Vision driver and as soon as that completes the GeForce 3D Vision Setup Wizard begins. The Setup Wizard takes you through installing the IR emitter, setting up your display, and configuring the wireless glasses.

The first step tells you to use the USB cable that was shipped with your equipment to connect your IR Emitter to your computer. Once it connects the GeForce 3D Vision Ready light on the emitter glows green when the emitter is connected. When updating my drivers over the past month I found out that you need to unplug the emitter when updating drivers as on the last update it glowed red and I had to uninstall the 3D drivers and re-install them before it would glow green again.

The next menu allows you to select your gaming environment. Read through the three gaming environments listed on the screen and select the one that best fits your current hardware configuration. Our test system was a single gaming computer in a room with no other consumer IR devices, so we selected the first setting and moved on.

On this setp the GeForce 3D Vision Setup evaluates the display connected to your computer and identifies if it is a 3D Ready display. Your screen reflects the display you have connected. Our Samsung 3D 120Hz LCD was detected with no issues.

Now that the monitor is ready to go, we can synchronize the glasses to the IR emitter that you have already plugged in during the first step. Once you power on the glasses the dull green light on the IR emitter should turn bright green and that verifies that your glasses are working and communicating with the IR emitter.

This screen is used to verify that your hardware is properly configured to view Stereoscopic 3D effects and that your glasses and emitter are functioning properly. This test makes you close your right eye and look at the large image on the screen, then you have to select what image you see with your left eye. You repeat this for the other eye and them move on to the next step.

The flicker test is up next and while the glasses are still on, see if you notice any flicker in your peripheral vision. If you do, this is due to room lighting issues, and I had serious issues with flicker during the day-time with the blinds open. The first time I used GeForce 3D Vision it was on a sunny day and my blinds were unable to get the room dark enough to make the flickering go away. NVIDIA allows you change the refresh rate to reduce the flickering, but it didn't help for day-time use. You can then select from the following refresh rates:
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120 Hz refresh rate: For use in North America when lights are on.
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110 Hz refresh rate: For daytime and when lights are off.
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100 Hz refresh rate: For countries with 50 Hz lighting and when lights are on.

You are now asked to look at a medical test image to verify that you can see stereoscopic 3D. If things are working correctly you should see a 3D box jump out of the blocky image.

If you successfully passed the medical test, the Setup complete screen displays and you are ready to start gaming!
NVIDIA Control Panel for Stereoscopic 3D
NVIDIA has provided tools for you to customize your GeForce 3D Vision experience and these tools can be accessed through the NVIDIA Control Panel.

In the control panel you can enable and disable stereoscopic 3D by checking or unchecking a checkbox. The next setting, and undoubtedly the most important, is the depth amount in a game. This is the is the depth that the farthest object is placed in a scene. When GeForce 3D Vision is first installed on your system, the Depth is set at the default of 15%. If you are new to 3D gaming, 15% is a good point to start with. Viewing depth at a higher setting can be uncomfortable to some users. As you use GeForce 3D Vision, your eyes will become more accustomed to viewing stereoscopic 3D and you can incrementally increase the depth amount without eye strain. After using the glasses for a couple of weeks I found myself set to ~80% for the depth scale, so don't worry about starting out at just 15%. It should be noted that you can also change the depth amount by adjusting the thumbwheel on the back of the IR emitter or using the keyboard shortcuts. This means you have three methods of changing the depth of field, which is nice.

To configure a game in real-time you must be familiar with the keyboard shortcut keys. You can use the default setting or you can change the shortcut keys to suit your particular liking. To see the default keyboard shortcut key settings, go to the NVIDIA Control Panel and select the Set up stereoscopic 3D task in the left window pane. Click on the click on the 'Set Keyboard Shortcuts' button and you will see the menu that is shown in the picture above. To change a shortcut key combination, select an action and click in the adjacent box displaying the shortcut. Press your desired key combination. The keystrokes are displayed in the box. Click OK to save your settings and exit the menu. The driver saves the settings in the registry.

The cross-hair sight in a first-person shooter (FPS) game is usually positioned at screen depth when viewed in stereoscopic 3D, making it difficult to aim. In some games, NVIDIA has created a configuration that puts the in-game laser sight at the correct depth. For those games, no user configuration is required. For all other FPS games, NVIDIA provides a selection of 3D laser sights that appear on the targeted object. The laser sights work in properly configured first-person shooter games with screen-centered sights. To change the laser sight from the Set Up Stereoscopic 3D screen, click on the Change 3D Laser Sight button to display a list of possible laser sights.

During any fullscreen 3D application, you can capture stereoscopic 3D screenshots by pressing ALT-F1. The images are saved in the folder current Windows active user folder [Windows Vista Hard Drive] / [Active User ] / Documents and Settings > Documents > NVStereoscopic.IMG. In order to view a 3D photo, simply double-click the .jps file and you’ll be able to see the stereoscopic image using the picture viewer. When you first launch the image in the picture viewer, you’ll see the original 3D image, but if you click it again you'll see the left eye and right eye frames represented in the manner illustrated above. The stereoscopic 3D capture function seemed to work on all of the games that we ran in 3D, so you have a quick and easy way to save game images in 3D!
The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ
The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ 120Hz LCD display is the monitor that came bundled with the GeForce 3D Vision kit.

The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ is the very first 3D monitor that Samsung has brought to market. The Samsung 2233RZ, which is obviously 100% compatible with GeForce 3D Vision and will be available for purchase in April 2009. This 22" monitor alone carries an MSRP of $399, so you can see the largest expense of GeForce 3D Vision is the monitor and not the gaming glasses or the software needed to make it work.
Samsung 2233RZ Monitor Product Specifications:
- 1680 by 1050 Native Resolution
- 300 cd/m2 Brightness
- 20,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
- 170o/160o (CR>10) Viewing Angle
- GTG 3ms (3D) / 5ms(2D) of Response Time
- 120Hz Dual Engine
- HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection)
- DVI-D (Digital Interface)

The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ is a 120Hz LCD monitor that is required for crystal-clear, flicker-free stereoscopic 3D gaming as it provides 60Hz per eye. You must have a 120Hz monitor that supports 3D for it to work with GeForce 3D Vision. The very first feature listed on the retail box is "3D Gaming Monitor", so if you want to go with a different monitor be sure that it supports 3D gaming! This monitor is also ENERGY STAR compliant, so if you do your part for the environment you have nothing to worry about here.

The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ bundle comes with the stand, DVI cable, power cable, driver disc, installation guide and a cable holder/sorter to keep the cables looking good behind your desk.

I use a pair of Samsung SyncMaster 204B monitors in the office and I switched one of them out in order to test the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ and I'm super impressed. The Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ makes my old Samsung 204B look weak and a few years back the 204B was one of the top of the line swivel monitors. In the picutre above you can see a difference over six feet away! Both monitors are on auto settings with nothing defined, so this is what you get when you turn them on for the very first time. After using the Samsung 2233RZ I want to get rid of both of my 204B, but for a $399 monitor it does lack a couple things I would like to see for a monitor coming in in 2009.

For starters is only has a single DVI input! For a $399 monitor I expected on seeing maybe something like an HDMI input, but who uses that right? The second thing is that it is a 22" LCD monitor, which means that it only supports up to 1680 x 1050 native resolution. I would have much rather seen a 24" monitor with a 1920 x 1080 native resolution as at this price tag I'd like to have a monitor that can do more than just 3D games! With internal Blu-Ray drives now reaching below $80 on sale it only makes sense to invest in a monitor that can support true HD. My final gripe is that the stand is not four-way adjustable (height, pivot, tilt and swivel) like my old Samsung monitors could. I have some more pictures and comments on this monitor in the forums, so check it out if you want more information on it.
All gripes aside the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ is an amazing lCD monitor that blows away the image quality and brightness on anything I have ever seen before. You really have to see one of these monitors in person to believe it. If you are interested in looking at other monitors you might want to consider the Viewsonic FuHzion VX2265wm as it supports GeForce 3D Vision as well.
Game Performance - Left 4 Dead

Set in the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead offers four expansive "movie campaigns" that challenge you and your fellow survivors to battle thousands of swarming zombies as you travel across the rooftops of an abandoned metropolis, through rural ghost towns and pitch-black forests. In addition to the movie campaigns, Left 4 Dead features a Versus mode that allows you to play as the Boss Zombies. Left 4 Dead is also one of the first games to be developed with 3D features in mind, so this is one of the best titles to test out the GeForce 3D Vision glasses on.

Since our test system has an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX960 processor, 4GB of DDR2 1066MHz memory and an XFX GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 graphics card inside running Windows Vista 64-bit SP1, I figured that we could crank up the graphics to make the game look excellent. With the Anti-Aliasing set to 16xQ CSAA and the filtering mode at Anisotripic 16X I was ready to see how running a game in 3D impacts performance.

The frame rate of the game took a significant performance hit when stereoscopic 3D was enabled in the control panel. I found ~60% performance decrease when steroscopic 3D was enabled, so if you like to play games with the image qualities cranked up you will need a high-end gaming graphics card as you can tell from the chart above. I also tested various depths to see if that impacted performance, but it didn't seem to have an impact. Just for fun I enabled double buffered vertical sync in Left 4 Dead and performance again took a dive, so be sure to disable this function for better performance as it is enabled by default in the game.
The 3D Experience and Conclusion

When it comes to gaming in 3D the experience is truly beautiful and I'm not trying to sugar coat it. I've been playing PC games since the late 1990's and this is by far the most significant advancement that I have ever seen. When AGEIA originally announced PhysX technology back in 2006 it was only available on limited number of game titles and demos. When the dedicated PhysX cards hit the street they retailed for close to $300 and for how much you paid it really didn't make sense to run out and buy the product. Now three years later PhysX software is widely adopted by over 150 games, is used by more than 10,000 developers of all types and is supported on Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PC. It takes time for developers to adopt new technology and what makes GeForce 3D Vision so impressive is that it is supported on over 350 game titles right now. NVIDIA was able to support an insane number of game titles right off the bat as they were able to make a driver 'wrapper' for their own drivers. Since NVIDIA makes their own graphics drivers they can quickly and easily come out with 3D game support. This should mean that stereoscopic 3D should take less time to catch on compared to previous technologies like PhysX.
"Unlike some other stereoscopic 3D solutions which rely upon a driver “wrapper” which can dramatically decrease performance and adversely affect compatibility, GeForce 3D Vision makes use of NVIDIA’s own graphics driver. In doing so, NVIDIA is able to leverage the same resources and relationships from The Way It’s Meant to be Played program to ensure the best possible stereoscopic 3D gaming experience.
In the same manner that NVIDIA’s driver has SLI profiles which have the ideal settings for a specific game, GeForce 3D Vision relies upon a custom profile for each game. Because no two titles are identical, NVIDIA has researched the optimal stereo settings for each game and made it a default within the driver. When you install a game and want to see what it looks like in stereoscopic 3D, you do not have to waste time configuring settings and trying to figure out what looks best. When gaming with GeForce 3D Vision, you simply start the game and begin playing in fully immersive stereoscopic 3D.
The NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D control panel includes a compatibility list that specifies the level of stereoscopic 3D compatibility for hundreds of games. In addition, this information will be available online at www.nvidia.com/ged3d" - NVIDIA PR

One other thing that really improved the gaming experience is that when you start-up a game for the very first time there is an on-screen text message giving you tips on how to adjust game settings to those known to give the best 3D gaming experience. In Left 4 Dead for example it tells you that setting the film grain to off provides a better stereoscopic 3D effect, which it does. By providing tips when the game launches, NVIDIA has improved the game play experience by just letting gamers know what works best. NVIDIA has done a really great job at making stereoscopic 3D a complete package and it worked great on the dozens of game titles that I have tried it on over the past month. Some games are better than others, but it works on them all.
"The issue of having varying experiences with different games is easy to explain. Few (if any) games on the market today were designed with stereo in mind. As a result, when we identified an issue with stereo within a game we would have to lobby the developer to go back and fix the problem. In some cases, we're able to get the developer to make the fix and release it (along with other fixes) in a patch. However, in other cases the developer is already working on another title and doesn't have time to make the fix. In those cases, we have to work around the problem. These situations are why you sometimes need to disable a feature or lower a quality setting in order for stereo to work properly with a specific game. Moving forward, we have enabled all major developers with GeForce 3D Vision and are involved with a game's development at the earliest stages. In doing so, the game is ensured to work in stereo and the developer can also add stereo enhancements like out-of-screen effects. In the future, you'll be able to play these games without any degradation of image quality or features. Stereo will simply "work"...Developers are excited about stereo and there is some major gaming news surrounding GeForce 3D Vision coming in the near future. Note: Blizzard just released the World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.0.8 that has all the new stereo goodness! http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html" - NVIDIA PR
As you can tell NVIDIA is really working with game developers to make GeForce 3D Vision get better as time goes on, so with every game patch and graphics card driver release it only means that 3D gaming will get better!
When it comes to pricing, NVIDIA is currently listing the GeForce 3D Vision kit for $199 direct from their site, or you can find it for $178 on Google Shopping. This GeForce 3D Vision stereoscopic gaming kit (NVIDIA item 942-10701-0003) includes everything inside the box, but does not include a monitor or HDTV. The GeForce 3D Vision kit that I reviewed here today includes the monitor and is sold under part number 942-10223-0000-000 which includes the kit with a Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ 22" widescreen 120Hz LCD monitor for $598. Once again you can find this same package at retailers like CompUSA for roughly the same price.
It is a shame that the economy is doing badly, but economies like that of America thrive off consumer spending and launching a product like this might be perfect to get people out and spend some money. You have to see it to fully understand how great gaming in 3D is, but I can honestly say that it is the best thing to happen in gaming in years. Hard to believe that PhysX technology came out three years ago and that not much has really happened since then. If you want a game changer this could be what you have been waiting for.

Legit Bottom Line: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D has come out with guns blazing and it looks good, real good! If you are getting bored of PC gaming in general 3D gaming will invigorate your gaming appetite and make you wonder why it took this many years to come to market.
Legit Reviews - NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Review - Our Thoughts After A 30-Day Test Drive