[REQ] DIY clone an iZ3D, or is the nV driver higher quality?

[nubie]

I have a NeurOK Front/Back mode in my nVidia drivers, so I gave it a shot. I get a reversed (white is black, black is white) image on the second screen.

So my idea would be to get a pair of LCD's on ebay, remove the panels, strip the front of one panel, the back of the other, and slap them together to make my own.

The reason I did this was I was thinking of some questions on these forums of the proper algorithm for iZ3D screens, and wondering if the nVidia drivers do a good job of it, or if they are better/worse than the iZ3D ones (that is a bitch to type btw, I hate half caps, maybe it should just be the iMon).


There are guides to stripping your LCD panel on the LumenLab forums, and even one guy who attempted a dual serial LCD projector (he gave up and built a dual mirrored projector instead).

Or, would I have to remove both polarizers from one panel and leave 2 on the first? Possibly I could strip all but the polarizer near the backlight and then view the PC always with some polarized glasses (It would look white to everyone else , except people with sunglasses )

Pros:
You wouldn't need an overhanging setup for 3D like Planar, or a secondary backlight.

Cheap, you could use a monitor from ebay with a bad backlight.

Also you could use screens with 0° and 90° polarization, instead of requiring a diagonal 45°/135° for the mirror.

Security, no-one can see your screen but you.

Could build a huge iZ3D setup with any 2 commercial LCD's 30" or more maybe? (also would be 1080p instead of 1600p, for easier rendering on the graphics card)

Could build into a passively polarized projector with a silver screen (no the optics have no effect on the polarization, at least none that I could see).

Build it yourself and learn about polarization and LCDs, the good old fashioned way, by breaking stuff



Cons:
Drivers, would need an nVidia driver with support.

Must buy two screens (although you only need the panel and input board from the second)

Alignment would need to be very good, possibly with a microscope or magnifying glass (the original lcd frame may align it pretty well, requiring only very thin shims for final alignment)

Would need disassemble the monitor and strip the polarizers from the LCD.

[nubie]

Thanks to some questions by LukePC1 I did a little google and came back with this:

Notice the "modify any monitor" and "cannabalized BenQ Device" , why can't we do the same?

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/21503/135/

Neurok's 3D idea consists of a combination out of the monitor's polarized glass and polarized glasses worn by the viewer. The prototype monitor shown off at Blizzcon was a cannibalized BenQ device. David Chechelashvili, vice president of marketing at Neurok, told us that engineers swapped out the glass panel with a polarized panel. He claims that the company can modify "almost any monitor" on the market. The heavy calculations necessary for converting the image from 2D to 3D is done by a "game adapter", which is a small box with two DVI inputs and two outputs, that sits between the video card and the monitor.

The system requires an Nvidia card with two DVI connectors. Chechelashvili explained that this wasn't because of any dislike for other video card makers but rather because "Nvidia had the stereo drivers necessary to make our product work." The included setup CD will automatically install those drivers.

The drivers allow the user to change the 3D depth and the distance the monitor has to be from the user. Chechelashvili explained that most people can see the 3D effect with the default setting, but others may have to increase or decrease the amount of depth or apparent "separation" between the foreground and background. "Everyone has a different vision and eye structure. We did have some people at the booth that couldn't see the 3D on the first try," says Chechelashvili.

Picture not here, go to: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/21503/135/
iz3D MONITOR

Our brain can easily recognize that a character should be in the foreground, while trees should be in the back, but how does the iz3D monitor turn a two-dimensional game into 3d? Inside the game adapter is a hardware neural network that processes depth queues such as differences in color, brightness, shadows and size of objects. Chechelashvili says, "It's more complicated than just saying what is in front and what is in back. The neural network performs many calculations and to make sure there is no delay, we had to build it into hardware."

As technology increases and video cards get faster, all the calculations will be moved from the game adapter to software. "In a couple of months we will not need a game adapter at all - our technology will be incorporated into Nvidia's driver. It's better for us because then we don't have to support an extra piece of hardware," says Chechelashvili.

The iz3D can be used with most games on the market, not just for World of Warcraft. In addition, Chechelashvili told us the company will offer a slightly modified unit, one that doesn't use a game adapter, to hospitals. He pointed out that many surgical procedures such as an endoscopy, where doctors look inside the body, could be better with 3D viewing. A 3D video conference package could also be released. Two webcams are synchronized to provide the left and right images and the game adapter will process them into 3D. "The tricky part is that the two cameras should be the same model and the need to be spaced an exact distance apart," says Chechelashvili

The company will debut their monitors this December. A 17" monitor, game adapter and a set of polarized glasses will be available for $1499. In the future, Chechelashvili says that a 19" and 23" version will be offered.

Notice some interesting info in there? 17" for $1499!!! Now the 22" is $600 with free shipping on newegg.com (as luke pointed out, this is a news item from 2005, which I figured it was, because they were planning nvidia support)

Also they had integrated into the nVidia driver (or had it planned, my drivers do have support for it), and have since moved to their own software.

Edit, just a gripe: this is a terrible review full of misconceptions of how exactly 3D works "how does the iz3D monitor turn a two-dimensional game into 3d?" (it doesn't, mystery solved)

"Inside the game adapter is a hardware neural network that processes depth queues", ok maybe I can sell this guy a few shares in a uranium mine, that is silly (inside my head is a neural network that processes depth cues, I saw all about it on PBS once, very interesting).

[LukePC1]

You might have noticed, that the 'news' was from 2005! So it's no surprise, that the 19" and 23" version are now a 22"W... or the 23" will be a 26"...

And yes, prices for all monitors have fallen quite fast.

[Welder]

I don't beleive the iZ3D monitor is just as simple as two LCD's slapped together

The front one is modified.

[akaakmdm]

I've tried this at home......and it didn't work.

The issue is polarisation. LCD's are polarised and so are 3D glasses. If you look at an LCD with polarised glasses, you'd realise that one eye appears black and the other eye can see the screen. Ideally, if you took another lcd and stuck it on top (back to front. i.e. you would be looking at the back of the top lcd....confused yet ) it's polarisation would be the reverse of the the lcd at the back and so the eye that previously saw black would see this screen instead (you'd see things back to front though......you can correct this with the iz3D stereomirror drivers). Unfortunately, this doesn't work because when to attach the two lcds together, the screen turns black because the reversed polarisation blocks out all the light (i.e. the back lcd blocks out half the light with it's polarisation and the front one blocks out the other half because of it's other polarisation.....).
In a stereomirror setup, the silvering molecules are applied so thinly that there are gaps in between them, thus making the mirror translucent. (try looking at http://science.howstuffworks.com/question421.htm)Therefore, the light from the lcd behind the mirror still passes through the gaps (and isn't blocked out by polarisation problems)......so if we make an lcd that has half the pixels missing, then maybe we can make a DIY iz3d.

It looks like iz3d monitors use special lcd's....I don't know.
(On another note, you'd need a very powerfull backlight....the double layer lcd makes the screen quite dim)

This page is quite good at detailing the iz3D's workings.....it looks like there is another layer that changes the polarisation of the pixels or something.....http://www.tru3d.com/technology/3d_disp ... ay%20Works

[Welder]

Yes, it is not as simple as just stacking two panels over eachother We have a customized front panel plus the special middle film, and lots of other things.