5) TROUBLESHOOTING

 

The following probably addresses over 90% of installation questions I have received from buyers. I try to educate people about the concepts involved, so some of my answers are lengthy. Most people are able to get their games running in stereoscopic 3D without any problems, but even if you are not having any difficulties, reading questions 2 - 6 will help explain some of the concepts involved with stereoscopic gaming.

 

#1) I have no image at all after connecting the controller card.

Even if you have no power connected to the controller card or no 3D Stereo drivers installed, the controller card should always at least pass through the regular monitor image. If it is not, make sure your video connections are secure and that you are using the "input" and "output" on the controller card correctly. If your video card has "dual outputs" make sure you are using the active output.

In rare cases it is possible that the controller card is defective or damaged. The card can be damaged by ESD (static shock) or incorrect power connection, which will usually prevent it from passing any signal through to the monitor. If you believe that you have a dead controller card, contact me to arrange a replacement.

 

#2) I am not seeing 3D in my games. How do I know if the 3D Stereo driver is working properly?

There are two test demos included in the 3D Stereo driver. Try these test demos or try running some games with stereo mode enabled. If the driver is working correctly and you are NOT wearing the glasses, you should see a weird sort of "double image." If you don't see this double image, then the driver is not working correctly. Most of the time this will be due to a bad driver installation, mismatched Display Driver / 3D Stereo Driver, or remnants of previous drivers that are messing things up.

Try removing all nVidia or other video drivers from your Add / Remove Programs panel. You can also try removing any Display Adapters listed in your Device Manager panel. After this is done, reinstall the matching version nVidia Display Driver / 3D Stereo driver pair. Most of the time, this procedure will correct any driver issues. If you feel that your system may not be properly removing all previous video card drivers, there are utilities available such as from www.drivercleaner.net which may be of assistance.

Of course, make sure that you have stereo mode enabled and that stereo separation is not set to 0% (which would be the same as regular 2D). If you have a dual output video card, you might want to try the other output. I have only experimented with dual output briefly, but I have noticed that when both outputs are enabled, sometimes only one output will send a stereo image or the glasses' required sync signal.

(Technically the "double image" is two slightly different offset perspective images, not a single image that is doubled.)

 

#3) I know that my nVidia 3D Stereo driver is working correctly (I get the double image), but even wearing the 3D glasses I still see a double image instead of 3D. How do I know if my 3D glasses are working properly?

When you enable the nVidia 3D Stereo driver in a game, the 3D Stereo driver starts sending a stereoscopic image (the "double image") to the monitor, and a sync signal to trigger the 3D glasses. If for some reason this signal is not being sent or is not getting to the glasses, then the glasses will not activate and you will only see the double image instead of 3D.

When the glasses activate, the lenses will flicker on and off (black and clear) very rapidly to isolate left monitor frames to the left eye and right frames to the right. If the refresh rate is low enough, you can actually see the lenses flicker on and off. If the refresh rate is high enough (85 - 100 Hz) you will not be able to see the flicker (which is the idea), but you can still see the lenses darken slightly.

Sometimes driver problems or the output you are using on your video card (for dual output cards) can affect the sync signal. If your 3D glasses are not activating, make sure that they are plugged in securely and try the steps listed in the previous question. If you believe your 3D glasses are not working, contact me to arrange a replacement.

It is possible to see a double image even if the 3D glasses are working (see the next question). If you close one eye, and one of the double images is eliminated, then the glasses are working even if you get a double image with both eyes open.

 

#4) I have confirmed that my 3D glasses are working, however I still see a double image instead of 3D. What next?

Your stereo separation is probably set too high. Use the stereo separation hot keys (CTRL+F3 and CTRL+F4) to reduce the separation in your game, or lower the default stereo separation in your "Stereo Properties" panel.

If you remove the 3D glasses and try adjusting stereo separation using the hot keys, you can see that the distance between the two "double images" changes as you adjust separation. Each person's IPD (Interpupillary Distance - the distance between your eyes) is different, therefore the amount of stereo separation you are used to will vary. Different games may also require different settings. Setting a higher stereo separation gives you "more" of a 3D effect, but setting it too high may cause eye strain, or may make it impossible for your eyes to converge the two images into a single 3D image.

The nVidia 3D Stereo driver outputs a stereoscopic image (two separate images, one for each eye) using a frame sequential stereoscopic mode. This means that it alternates left and right frames on the monitor, left / right / left / right, and so on. The 3D glasses' lenses trigger on and off to isolate left frames to your left eye and right frames to right eye. The idea is that the monitor is effectively displaying two perspectives at once (hence the double image), but the glasses only allow each eye to see one of the images. Still, your brain is seeing two different images in total, one from each eye (just as in real life).

If the driver settings are correct, your brain will converge the two images into a single 3D image (again just as in real life). But if the settings are wrong and the separation is too great, your eyes and brain will not be able to interpret the two images as a single 3D perspective. You will still see a double image, even though the 3D glasses are working fine and are isolating the left / right frames to each eye correctly.

 

#5) I am seeing a double image for my game's HUD (head's up display) or reticle (targeting crosshair), even though the rest of the game looks fine.

First, be aware that certain elements in a game such as menus, HUDs, targeting reticles, etc. are simply 2D overlays, not true parts of the "3D" game. Usually they are set at zero depth, which is the same thing as saying that they are at the "screen surface" depth.

If your eyes are having trouble converging "near" items such as menus, HUDs or weapons that are close to "screen surface" depth, one option is to reduce stereo separation, which brings the overall double image closer together and makes it easier for your eyes to converge the double image into a single 3D image. However if mid- and far-range objects in the game already look fine, there's probably no need to reduce overall stereo separation. That's where the convergence adjustment comes in.

Explaining convergence is a little complicated. Technically it involves the depth at which there is zero parallax. Practically speaking, it mainly adjusts the separation of near objects in the game (which sometimes includes the menus or HUD in a game), without having much effect on more distant objects. If the game generally looks good already but you find it impossible to "look at" the HUDs or menus and see a single image, then you should probably try using the convergence hot keys (CTRL+F5 and CTRL+F6).

The Flatout demo I listed in the "fun demo games" section is a good game to demonstrate this concept. By default, the menus are usually way too far apart to see correctly, so all the menus appear diverged (doubled). By simply adjusting the convergence, you can bring the menus / HUD together to be a single image, and everything will look fine. Try loading the first track, setting the view outside the car, and hitting escape to bring up the transparent floating menu. This is a great place to experiment with your separation and convergence hotkeys. Notice that convergence primarily affects the floating menu and near objects (like the car's bumper) whereas separation affects the whole game environment. Also try removing your glasses and adjusting the both settings, to get a better idea of what is happening.

Sometimes it is easier to set convergence by removing the 3D glasses and adjusting convergence until the near objects (usually the menus or HUD) have relatively little separation. This will ensure that your eyes will be able to converge the menus / HUD into a single image without difficulty.

 

#6) Why does the crosshair in my shooter game diverge (double) when I look at distant targets, even though the 3D glasses work fine and my convergence is set correctly?

Quick Answer: Disable the in game crosshair and use the built in 3D Stereo driver's "laser sight."

Long Answer: If your settings are correct you should be able to "look at" menus or the crosshair and see a single image, but when you look at "distant" objects in the game such as targets, near objects including the crosshair will double. Conversely, when you are looking at  near objects such as transparent menus or the target crosshair, everything behind them at a distance will appear doubled. What you are seeing is a natural divergence which is part of normal 3D vision. You can try the Flatout game example I mentioned in the last question to see this for yourself.

Remember that in real life, we can not converge at more than one focal distance simultaneously. In other words, whenever you are "looking at" something, your eyes are converged at that distance and anything significantly in front of or behind what you’re looking at will be doubled. There are simple experiments you can do to prove this. Since we don’t usually pay attention to everything we’re not looking at, and distances significantly in front or behind our focal plane are blurred in real life anyways, we don’t usually notice it. But even with a real gun, the gun sights will be doubled with two eyes when focusing on the target. You have to learn to ignore it and sight the target with only one eye (usually our "dominant" eye), or center between the two perceived crosshairs (in the case of stereoscopic gaming).

Again, this is not a fault of the 3D stereo driver or the 3D glasses... this is simply how your vision works, and how a crosshair or HUD would appear in real life. To prove this to yourself, you can try drawing a crosshair on a window or windshield (while you are not driving!) You will find that while you are looking at distant objects past the windshield, the crosshair doubles, and if you look at the crosshair, distant objects double. It is impossible to converge at both distances simultaneously. The closer you are to the crosshair, or the further away the distant object, the more pronounced the effect.

This usually is not a problem for most of the HUD in many games, since you can easily look back and forth between the HUD and game environment. Still, some people find the crosshair in shooter games to be a trouble spot because they are trying to sight the distant object, and expect the crosshair to simultaneously remain single. Your best workaround in this situation is to disable the game's crosshair, and use the nVidia 3D Stereo driver's "laser sight" which is specifically designed to appear as a single icon when your eyes are converged on more distant objects.