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NVIDIA will stop supporting 3D glasses in April (updated)
Have you noticed that stereoscopic 3D is out of vogue, at least at home? So has NVIDIA. The graphics chip designer has unveiled plans to drop support for 3D Vision, its approach to gaming with 3D glasses. The last drivers to support 3D Vision will come with the final Release 418 in April, with future versions dropping it entirely. You'll still get support for "critical driver issues" in 418 through April 2020, but you'll otherwise need to move on.
Switched On: The old adventures of new 3D
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In the unmarked office of 3-D Vision, Inc., you can see a television or PC display a videogame or movie with a convincing stereoscopic effect. That might not seem very unique. However, the television is a CRT from the 1990s, the video game is Super Mario for the Nintendo 64 and the movie is The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939. Despite the growth in 3D television sales, the requirement to wear 3D glasses has loomed as one of the most significant barriers to adoption. 3-D Vision's technology still requires glasses, at least for now. However, with some caveats, it overcomes some of the other, oft-overlooked barriers to 3D adoption by creating 3D video from 2D content on 2D (or 3D) displays. On televisions, this is achieved via a small set-top box -- a prototype of which approaches the size and noise level of a mini-fridge -- that plugs into the video source and the TV and converts the video in real-time with virtually no latency. The box should be available early next year.
NVIDIA intros 3D Vision 2 glasses with brighter field of view, comfier design
NVIDIA's 3D Vision is impressive and all, but one trade-off you'll have to accept when you put on those active shutter glasses is a markedly dimmer field of view than what you'd get if you settled for plain-Jane 2D gaming. Well, the outfit just unveiled the second generation of the technology -- appropriately named 3D Vision 2 -- and this go 'round it promises not to strain your vision quite so much. These shutter glasses have a lens that's 20 percent larger, promising a brighter experience. As an added perk, the frames have been rejiggered to be lighter and more flexible so that you can comfortably wear headphones without pinching your lobes. As for the newest 3D Vision monitors and laptops, those panels promise reduced ghosting, as well as 120Hz 2D gaming. In tandem with today's announcement, NVIDIA announced that a trio of products -- the Toshiba Qosmio X770 / 775, Toshiba Satellite P770 / P775 and ASUS's 27-inch VG278H 1080p monitor -- will support now 3D Vision 2. If a new rig's not in the cards, the company also assures us that these glasses will be backward compatible with older 3D Vision panels. Look for them this month in the form of either standalone frames ($99) or as part of a $149 kit. All those details and more in the PR tucked after the break.
Garmin releases aera 795, 796 flight navigators, private jet not included
The GPS gurus over at Garmin have just launched the aera 796 and 795 -- a pair of new navigation devices designed specifically for pilots who don't enjoy getting lost. As the flagship member of the aera family, the 796 sports a seven-inch, 480 x 800 capacitive touchscreen (capable of displaying maps in either landscape or portrait mode) and features Garmin's 3D Vision technology, providing users with a behind-the-plane view of the terrain below, including rivers, landing strips or any other obstacles. This knee-mounted co-pilot can also serve as an electronic flight bag, allowing captains to digitally store flight routes and airport diagrams directly on their devices. Plus, if it's hooked up to a compatible GPS system, the 796 can provide real-time traffic updates, while streaming SiriusXM radio straight to the cockpit (the North America-specific 795 features identical specs, minus XM compatibility). Aviation enthusiasts can buy the 796 and 795 for the respective prices of $2,500 and $2,200, at the source link below. Full PR after the break.
ASRock Vision 3D 2nd Gen HTPC leaks with Sandy Bridge on board
The tiny box that AnandTech called, "the best SFF HTPC [they had] ever reviewed, hands down," is finally joining the Sandy Bridge brigade. A tipster was doing a little Google-fu when he came across a listing for the unannounced Vision 3D 2nd Gen Series. The specs are certainly a worthy upgrade to last year's Computex standout, including a switchable 1GB GeForce GT540M card, 1333MHz RAM and an HMDI 1.4a port. You still get a Blu-ray drive, NVIDIA's 3D Vision, a media remote, four USB 3.0 jacks and your choice of Core i3, i5 or i7 processors -- so this isn't exactly a complete overhaul. Check out the gallery below from a few images and some screenshots of the listing. [Thanks, TheRealBamse] %Gallery-132784%
Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 review
When NVIDIA played its signature GPU number-bump card back in May, it made a point to throw around some big names. Alienware, MSI and ASUS each announced notebooks with the outfit's new GeForce GTX 560M, but one lone machine played coy, listed only as the "new Toshiba gaming laptop." Known today as the Qosmio X775-3DV78, it pairs 1.5GB GDDR5 with the aforementioned GPU, an Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, 1.25TB of storage split between two drives and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. So, can this heavyweight desktop-replacement hold its own in Engadget's review ring? There's only one way to find out. %Gallery-130544%
ViewSonic reveals 24-inch V3D245 3D monitor, ships this month for $500
Still lookin' for that perfect 3D display, are you? ViewSonic would be absolutely thrilled to make your short list, with the 24-inch V3D245 making its debut this morning. Unsurprisingly, this one's arriving with a 1080p LED-backlit panel, and it'll be joined by an inbuilt NVIDIA 3D Vision wireless emitter and a pair of 3D Vision glasses. You'll also get a 120Hz refresh rate, two millisecond response time, HDMI 1.4 socket and 300 nits of brightness, and the three-year limited warranty should help quell any fears about longevity. Of course, NVIDIA would prefer that focused on the 550 (and growing) 3D titles available on its Vision Live website, but at least you've got until "mid-to-late August" to determine if the whole shebang is worth your $499.
NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 580M and 570M, availability in the Alienware M18x and MSI GT780R (updated: MSI says no)
We know you're going to be shocked -- shocked! -- to hear this, but NVIDIA's gone and refreshed its high-end line of GeForce GTX cards. The GTX 580M takes the place of the GTX 485M, and NVIDIA's bragging that it's the "fastest notebook GPU ever," capable, we're told, of besting the Radeon HD 6970M's tesselation performance by a factor of six. The new GTX 570M, meanwhile, promises a 20 percent speed boost over the last-generation 470M. Both 40-nanometer cards support DirectX11, OpenCL, PhysX, CUDA, 3D Vision, Verde drivers, Optimus, SLI, and 3DTV Play. As for battery life, NVIDIA's saying that when coupled with its Optimus graphics switching technology, the 580M can last through five hours of Facebook, but last we checked, that's not why y'all are shelling out thousands for beastly gaming rigs. You can find the 580M in the Alienware M17X and M18X (pictured) starting today, though you might have to wait a week or so for them to ship. Meanwhile, the 570M is shipping in the MSI GT780R as you read this, and you'll also find the 580M in a pair of 3D-capable Clevo laptops: the P170HM3 and the SLI-equipped P270WN. Handy chart full 'o technical details after the break. Update: An MSI rep has let us know that contrary to earlier reports, the GT780R is not currently available with the 570M graphics card. The company added that it will offer some unspecified laptop with the 570M sometime in the "near" future. It's unclear if that laptop will, in fact, be the GT780R.
NVIDIA's new wired 3D Vision glasses give up some freedom for a lower price
NVIDIA has been pushing its 3D Vision platform for a couple of years and at this year's Computex it is looking to pull in more PC users with new wired LCD active shutter glasses. The original wireless specs rely on the same IR sync tech and battery power seen in glasses for many HDTVs, but these get power and data over a 10-foot USB cable. While that might not work for living room viewing, a single user application like PC gaming or watching a Blu-ray 3D on a laptop doesn't suffer for the cable restriction. Besides foregoing the sometimes finicky IR sync these are also cheaper, with a $99 MSRP when they go on sale in "late June" compared to $149 for the wireless version. The company hopes the combination of a lower entry price and ability to be secured to the PC make it a viable option for gamers who may already have a compatible LCD and GPU, or gaming cafes that want to run a few Starcraft II tournaments in 3D -- check the rest of the details in the press release after the break.
NVIDIA driver page outs 3D Vision support for Dell XPS 15z, surprises no one
Michael Dell may aim to tease, but NVIDIA is just giving it away: a recent driver update lists Dell's upcoming XPS 15z laptop as one of several snagging 3D Vision 3DTV Play, scoring prospective buyers 3D gaming via NVIDIA-supported 3DTVs. Little surprise here, considering the 15z's predecessor rocked a GeForce GT 540M (also 3DTV Play supported), which we'll note, falls under this driver update. Although we're still short on official hardware specs, we won't be shocked if the 15z has the graphical chops to handle Duke Nukem Forever, Portal 2, or any of the other 3D Vision games whose profiles were added in the update. Now, the real question: would the Dell dude approve? [Thanks, Tigrux]
NVIDIA sends GeForce GTX 550 Ti into the $150 graphics card wars
It wasn't that long ago that we were commending ATI on the stellar regularity of its product launches while NVIDIA was floundering, yet now the roles are reversed and we're seeing NVIDIA flesh out its second generation of Fermi products with the midrange GeForce GTX 550 Ti presented today. Its biggest attraction is a $150 price tag, but it makes a major concession in order to reach that pricing plateau -- there are only 192 CUDA cores inside it, equal to the previous-gen GTS 450, but less than the celebrated GTX 460. NVIDIA tries to ameliorate that shortage of parallel processing units by running the ones it has at an aggressive 1800MHz allied to a 900MHz graphics clock speed, and it also throws in a gigabyte of RAM running at an effective rate of 4GHz. That too is constrained somewhat, however, by a 192-bit interface, rather than the wider 256-bit affair on its bigger brother GTX 560 Ti. What all these specs boil down is some decent performance, but few recommendations from reviewers -- mostly due to the abundance of compelling alternatives at nearby price points. Hit up the links below for more. Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - Guru3D Read - PC Perspective Read - techPowerUp! Read - Hexus
Dell refreshes Alienware M17x, Dell XPS 17 with 120Hz 3D HD screens, Sandy Bridge CPUs
Got a hankering for some NVIDIA 3D Vision in a new laptop PC? Dell's making it happen with some component upgrades on its high-end Alienware M17x and XPS 17 laptops. It seems Round Rock came across a few shipments of a 17-inch, 1080p panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, perfect for interfacing with NVIDIA's shutter glasses, and is including it (along with a new NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M for the XPS 17) as premium options. They'll also both sport Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors. Dell's press release doesn't specify if a set of 3D glasses will come with the new laptops, nor how much the upgrade will cost, but a 3D-capable M17x will start at $1,499 starting January 10th, and a stereoscopic XPS 17 will run $1,449 on February 1st. You do the math. Updated: We got to check out the XPS 17 3D after the presser. Those looking for 3D in the XPS chassis won't be dissapointed -- Alice in Wonderland looked pretty great in three dee. We also got to check out the M17x -- hands-on with that one here. %Gallery-113125%
Lenovo L2363d is a 3D monitor with 3D webcam and 3D glasses (update: eyes-on)
NVIDIA blew what's left of our minds with its Project Denver announcement yesterday, so today it's back to the more familiar world of 3D to soothe our souls. The company's 3D Vision technology has been installed on the above Lenovo L2363d, which touts both three-dimensional output and input, courtesy of a pair of webcam lenses embedded in its top bezel. This 1920 x 1080 display spans 23 inches diagonally and requires the usual active shutter glasses to enjoy its content. So, if you buy one for yourself and your nearest and dearest, you can get your 3D videoconferencing action on in proper Blues Brothers style. Update: We tracked the monitor down at CES 2011, and while the 3D webcam sadly wasn't functional, we appreciated the matte screen inside the awkward shiny bezel. Find pictures below! %Gallery-113911%
3D is dangerous / not dangerous: Nintendo 3DS warning label edition
Oh boy -- get ready for years of competing studies and hysterical news reports claiming that 3D is either life-threateningly dangerous or perfectly safe. (Cellphone radiation, take a backseat.) Today's delightful round of panic comes courtesy of Nintendo's Japanese warning guidelines for the 3DS: players are advised that 3D gameplay causes eye fatigue more quickly than 2D gaming and are told to take a break after 30 minutes of play -- and you should quit immediately if you get ill, which makes sense. Nintendo also says that children under six shouldn't use the 3D mode at all, since their eyes are still developing, and that parents can use controls built into the 3DS to lock it into 2D mode for children.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 detailed: 512 CUDA cores, 1.5GB of GDDR5 on 'world's fastest DX 11 GPU' (update: video!)
It might not be November 9 all around the world yet, but NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580 has already had its spec sheet dished out to the world, courtesy of CyberPower's seemingly early announcement. The new chip will offer a 772MHz clock speed, 512 processing cores, and a 192.4GBps memory bandwidth, courtesy of 1.5GB of GDDR5 clocked at an effective rate of 4GHz. CyberPower is strapping this beast into its finest rigs, and for additional overkill it'll let you SLI up to three of them within one hot and steamy case. Now let's just wait patiently for midnight to roll around and see what the reviewers thought of NVIDIA's next big thing. Update: CRN has a $499 price for us and a recital of NVIDIA's internal estimate that the GTX 580 bests the GTX 480 by between 20 and 35 percent. It seems, however, that the embargo for this hot new slice of silicon is set for early tomorrow morning, so check back then for the expert review roundup. Update 2: Lusting to see one on video? How about two side by side? Skip past the break for the eye candy [Thanks, Rolly Carlos!].
Planar preps 23-inch SA2311W 1080p 3D monitor, backlit ProGlow keyboard
Oh, you know the bandwagon's in full-on rampage mode now. How so? Because Planar -- a company that generally strays far, far away from mere mortals in the consumer market -- has just announced a new 23-inch 3D monitor. It represents a stark break from the company's typical high-end-only approach, and it likely speaks volumes to just how quickly 3D is gaining steam in the PC gaming universe. The SA2311W display will boast a 120Hz refresh rate, 1920 x 1080 resolution, two millisecond response time, a height adjustable stand, VGA / dual-link DVI / HDMI inputs and support for NVIDIA's 3D Vision system. Naturally, you'll need a set of active shutter glasses to enjoy the eye-popping mayhem, and for those who've never tried 'em, they're a step below a welder's mask in terms of exterior visibility. To that end, Planar is also introducing the first keyboard designed specifically for users rocking 3D active shutter glasses -- the ProGlow (shown after the break) boasts seven adjustable light levels (plus off), enabling immersed gamers to still recognize which keys are which. Both devices are expected to ship in the US of A next month for $449 and $185, respectively, though we get the feeling those vicious 3D dinosaurs aren't included. Which is a bummer of epic proportions, if we should say so ourselves.
Acer Aspire AS5745 and AS7745 pick up NVIDIA Optimus, Aspire AS5742G nabs some 3D Vision
You know who may have been a bit inspired by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang's GPU muscle? Acer! Okay, that's not exactly what happened, but Acer does have quite a few new laptops that tap the graphics-chip maker's latest. First up are the 15.6-inch AS5742G and 17.3-inch AS7745, which still have the same design and Intel Core 2010 CPU options as the previous models, but now have the brand spankin' new GeForce 400M GPUs along with Optimus technology for automatically switching between the integrated and discrete graphics options. Both will be available for less than $800, though there's no word on exact availability of the mainstream machines. Those a bit too 2D for ya? There's also the Core i5-powered, GeForce GT 420M-packing Aspire AS5745DG, which is one of the first machines to have NVIDIA's updated 3D Vision. The IR receiver is integrated into the 120Hz LCD's bezel and it supports 3DTV Play, which lets you reap the laptop's 3D benefits on a larger 3DTV. For $1,000 (active shutter glasses included!) that's not a bad deal, but don't get too excited about ordering one today -- it'll hit e-tailers in late October. Oh, and there's one more! The 18.4-inch Aspire AS8943G has been updated with a Core i7 quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM and ATI's newest Mobility Radeon 5850 graphics for $1,499.99. That's a lot to digest, but hit the break for the press release if you're up for even more details on all the new rigs. %Gallery-103380%
NEC expands Valuestar 3D lineup with two new desktop PCs; laptops say LaVie
We'll have to assume NEC managed to free Willy and that its first 3D venture was a success, as the company's just revealed a brand new set of stereoscopic screens, one of which is actually not part and parcel of an all-in-one PC. NVIDIA's 3D Vision kit (with active shutter glasses) and a 23-inch, 1920 x 1080 120Hz monitor accompany this Valuestar L, with a 2.93GHz Core i7-870 processor, GeForce GT 330 GPU, 8GB of memory, 1TB of storage and Blu-ray 3D drive in an attractive white case. There's also a similarly-sized Valuestar W 3D all-in-one with a 2.53GHz Core i5-460M and GeForce GT 330M graphics, a digital TV tuner, half the memory, a 1.5TB drive and a passive, polarized display. If you're not interested in wearing glasses while chained to a desk, of course, you could always consider the new LaVie Light netbook, newly refreshed with a dual-core Intel Atom N550. And yes, we know we made a horrible pun. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves.
NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video)
You might have hoped that NVIDIA's introduction of the 400M series of mobile GPUs would bring about a slew of hot new laptops to drop into our gaming boudoirs, but we are in fact left facing more of the same. Externally, anyhow. The chipmaker rolled out the green carpet for a set of upcoming machines in London today, but they were refreshes, rather than overhauls, of current hardware. The big news is to be found within, as the new GTX 460M has made a home inside the updated ASUS G53, Toshiba Qosmio X505, and MSI GT663. The common thread among these three is that they're all big and hefty, and all emit a subtle vroom sound every time you touch them. What we learned from NVIDIA today is that the GTX 480M will remain an exotic (you might even call it quixotic) GPU reserved for large-screen gaming stations, the GTX 470M will similarly be an enthusiast part, and the GTX 460M will be the company's big play for the mainstream performance market. It also became clear that even the third GPU in the company's mobile hierarchy will need quite a bulky cooling setup (and a proportionately huge charger) to do its job, but NVIDIA's promises of much-improved performance might just make it worthwhile. As to the more sane among us, there was a selection of pleasingly thinner machines, like the ASUS N53 and Acer Aspire 5745, which make do with the lower-specced GT 420M and GT 425M graphics chips. Those are expected to be NVIDIA's biggest sellers, and the video demo after the break of the 425M churning through StarCraft II is certainly appealing. We should note, however, that the latest (though definitely not greatest) Prince of Persia game was also on tap on one of these machines and its frame rate gave us a delightful old-timey feeling any time we entered combat with its emulation of stop-motion animation. So, as ever, it's looking like great graphics will require great rigs, but we can probably expect a decent -- not game-changing (get it?) -- leap in performance among the lighter options as well.%Gallery-101899%
ASUS upgrades G53 and G73 gaming laptops with 1.5GB NVIDIA GTX 460 grunt
Ready to splash the cash on NVIDIA's fresh new mobile Fermi graphics cards? ASUS is the first company to take the veils off its GTX 460M offering, which it has seasoned with a most welcome addition: 1.5GB of dedicated GDDR5 graphics memory. The ROG G53JW and G73JW machines are the beneficiaries of this upgrade, with both capable of 3D work should you ask them nicely, and offering such tasty options as quad-core Core i7 CPUs, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB of storage, 16:9 displays (1,366 x 768 on the 15.6-inch G53 and up to 1,920 x 1,080 on the 17.3-inch G73), Blu-ray-writing optical drives, and 8-cell 5,200mAh batteries. The lighter of the two laptops weighs in at 3.6kg, but if that doesn't put you off, both are available right now at online retailers. [Thanks, LifeBringer]
