标题: Nvidia 3D Vision 2 [打印本页] 作者: 铁锹 时间: 2011-12-1 08:16 标题: Nvidia 3D Vision 2
In the time since its release in early 2009, Nvidia's
3D Vision
has not changed much. There's been a professional version here and better battery life there, but the primary way in which it has evolved has been in the support that games have for this all-in-one consumer stereoscopic
3D technology.
For the release of
3D Vision 2
, Nvidia has rethought the design of the key component—the active-shutter glasses—with the goal of more convenience and comfort. Combining the specs with a lower price ($99 for the glasses alone, $149 for the glasses and a 3D emitter), Nvidia has removed most of the barriers to entry to a more in-your-face style of PC gaming. Though 3D is still an acquired taste, Nvidia is making the prospect as tasty as it's yet been.
The new glasses are unquestionably similar to the originals, though there are some differences. Foremost among these is lens real estate: With the
3D Vision
2 eyewear, they're both more than 20 percent larger than on the first 3D Vision
models
. This has two benefits for the user. First, by covering more of the eyes they better combat light leaking in and spoiling your viewing experience. Second, the trend toward larger monitors has only quickened in the last three years, and it's easier for bigger lenses to fully cover bigger screens.
Nvidia has complemented these changes with a modest rethink of the glasses' frames. Though their basic shape is the same, and they still let you swap out nosepieces so you can find the best fit your face (three are included in the package), they are now constructed of matte black plastic and quite a bit thicker all the way around. Though the former does reduce the reflectiveness you could sometimes detect at the edges of your field of vision, the latter aids with the aforementioned light issues but also gives the glasses a more prominent and less sleek "goggle-like" look that is not as immediately appealing as the earlier lighter and cooler design. (Not that you should ever wear active-shutter glasses as a fashion statement, mind you.) The arms of the glasses are both wider and thinner, to better accommodate gaming headsets worn simultaneously, and both the power button and the charging port (now micro USB rather than mini USB, with a cable included) have been relocated for enhanced ease of use.
The good news about the rethought glasses is that the underlying technology has not been touched, which means they can be used with emitters and monitors adhering to the original
3D Vision
standard. That everything works exactly as it always has also means the configuration procedure is identical. Assuming you have Nvidia video hardware on either your desktop or laptop (
3D Vision
doesn't work with AMD's graphics technologies) and the 120Hz display necessary for producing the
3D images
, setup is a snap: Connect your 3D emitter (if your monitor doesn't have one built in), activate the technology in the Nvidia Control Panel, and run through a simple setup procedure. Turn on the glasses and you're done.
For our testing we set up a 3D Vision kit on a desktop using the new 27-inch Asus VG278H display (with a built-in emitter) and played through a selection of recent games such as Batman: Arkham City, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Battlefield 3. The new glasses were perfectly comfortable, and wearing them for several hours at a stretch, both with and without a gaming headset, was no problem at all. Though we were testing in a moderate-light environment, the 3D images looked crisper and more engaging than ever (something else that's really improved since 2009), and the reduced light leakage was definitely noticeable.
Nvidia may not have done much to the hardware for
3D Vision
2, but pretty much everything it has done has been for the better. Not everyone is going to groove on stereoscopic 3D, just as
3D HDTVs
are still not must-haves across the board, and even those who do like it may want to practice moderation; we've been out of the habit for a while, and needed to rest our eyes after a few hours. If you have the opportunity to do so, this is an excellent "try before you buy" product. But with the changes Nvidia has implemented,
3D Vision
now is much more compelling now than it was three years ago. You'll still want to make sure the rest of your computer is up to snuff—stereoscopic 3D can be demanding on your video hardware—but if it is, 3D Vision 2 provides an easy, effective way to take your gaming to the next, well, dimension.
