What would perform better with games + Blu-rays + 3D?

[shaithis]

3D gaming on a 3D monitor works best with nVidia.....there is no contest really. So, as far as GPU goes, there isn't much reason to wait as nVidias next line-up will probably be a while yet.

[Pob255]

There are some good passive 3d monitors which have advantages & disadvantages over the nvidia active shutter system.

Active, the nvidia system really needs a 120hz monitor, the glasses are active shutter glasses, basically the lenses flicker and sync with the screen showing alternate images, left,right.left,etc so each eye sees one set at 60hz
Advantages; monitor in 2d mode is run at 120hz which gives less ghosting and smoother images (if the output can keep up/match it)
Disadvantages; if sync goes goes out of sync, kit has to be bought ontop of monitor cost, multiple expensive glasses needed for multiple people, glasses need power, nvidia gpu only, increase in gpu demand, adds flicker.

Passive 3d, this works by interlacing, alternate lines on the screen are polarised, the glasses are just two polarised lenses so each blocks out the image from the other line set, ie odd numbered line can only be seen by the left eye and even only by the right eye.
Advantages; light weight cheap glasses and clip on glasses that can be attached the normal glasses, no flicker, works with nvidia drivers and ati can be used via 3d party software, lower graphics demands.
Disadvantages; far smaller range of monitors, slightly smaller 3d viewing angle, 2d performance is no better than a normal 60hz monitor, lower resolution (not as bad as it might sound, while each image is only half the height the human brain fills in most of the details so it's not as bad as it might sound)

Personally speaking I prefer the passive system as the shutter glasses give a 60hz flicker so you're back to the same headache inducing effect from a CRT at 60hz, not everyone suffered from this I know I did when using a CRT at 60hz, for me 75hz or more was fine, my TFT runs at 60hz (as most do) but it's fine as it's non-flicker due to the nature of a TFT.
The biggest down side of passive is the limited range of monitors, zalman used to be the only one but now LG also do one http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-lg...-m2-50000001-5 which is much cheaper.
There are any others, Acer, HP and AOC do a passive 3d monitor to my knowledge but the total number of models is still far less than 120hz monitors and availability can be an issue too.

[Hicks12]

As Pob mentioned theres two main 3d techs, active has some decent advantages going for it IF and only if you can get on with it... Do you have a richersounds near you? Go in there and ask to demo the 3d as you want to compare the active to the passive, that will help you decide loads as its the same tech as monitors. I found after the multiple demos that active shutter glasses give me a headache within minutes and its incredibly distracting with the flickering everywhere around the screen (basically everything in my peripheral vision flickered loads).

As soon as i tried the passive LG sets it was excellent, i couldnt notice any quality difference between active and passive but i blame that mainly on the fact active everything was dark and flickering so i couldnt concentrate on the "brilliant high def" picture, theres no flickers and for me no headache... people say the cinema 3d is crap and im kinda in agreement there its not great in the cinema but when you try out an lg tv which apparently uses the same tech its atleast 10x better on the home tv than in cinema which im happy about! Theres also cheap as chips glasses and no batteries or tech to really go wrong, for example it took the chap at richersounds 15minutes to get the TV to register a pair of glasses (he tried rebooting and different glasses lol).

LG do some 3d monitors, the one Pob linked is a good choice id say but the main downside is you dont get the 120Hz improvement in 2D environments which is said to be a significant improvement, for me i cant buy into it as currently my system plays BF3 on high with 2xAA no filter etc at 60FPS most points, with Vsync off it will do maybe 80 - 90 but still drop a few times... need better GPU next year hehe.

However there is a very expensive alternative, LG have released a Glassless display (as in no glasses needed) and if i remember rightly its a 23" monitor @ $1000 .

Im personally waiting for 120Hz passive 3d tech based on IPS panels, dont want to go back to TN but thats pretty much unachievable and ill probably be able to buy a 23" OLED display by the time i give up waiting .

[Predator]

Wow thanks for that guys, I never knew there was so much to it!

Strangely enough Pob that monitor is the exact one I was looking at and the one I was planning on buying! So that seems like a good choice.

With regards to the 'flicker' effect, I will have to avoid that, as my eyes are very sensitive to light (Scotopic Sensitivity if you fancy a google!) and CRT killed my eyes and gave me constant headaches due to its consistant flickering. I have to lower the brightness of my screens anyway.

On top of all that, I know how much of a nightmare it is to just bluetooth devices together and that sounds like a right ball ache when you have chose to sit down and have a quick gaming session! You've lost 15 mins before you have got into the game!

And then to rule out the heavy glasses even more, I have a weak nose bridge and heavy glasses sitting on my nose also give me a headache instantly. But they should be fine with these 'lighter' ones you mentioned with the passive system.

So I think that rules out the route of 'Active' 3D as you guys mentioned and is aiming me more towards the passive route.

So in regards of going the passive route then is nVidia still the best direction to take (I would prefer ATi as it is cheaper!).

With the 120hz v 60hz, I do not mind too much, I had a 19" LCD at 60hz and it was fine, it didn't hurt my eyes and it looked as sharp as my HDTV

Anyway, thats enough of my life story! Thanks for your help guys. I think I am set on what I am going to buy in January (When hopefully the prices go down again!)

[Hicks12]

What games do you want to play in 3d? Ive had a look and im not really sure, its not as clear cut as what 3D TVs are like as they all work regardless of active/passive but it seems to be vague for monitors.

Looking at the AMD website http://www.amd.com/us/products/techn...-hardware.aspx they list the LG DS23 (Cinema 3d which is what LG calls their passive tech and its the same as the link pob gave) but i cant say whether games like battlefield 3 support it or not as they all seem to be talking about active shutter tech and ignore passive.

If i had a passive tv / monitor id try it out but unfortunately i cant >.<, best bet is to try and look on forums or reviews about whether games support the passive 3d tech.


edit: Also, there could be a potentially huge downside to passive 3d which is ghosting and i reckon that would be down purely to the fact its not 120HZ however i could be wrong as you dont render double you only render the same amount as non 3d but its something to read about. Totally forgot about this as looking at TVs is easy due to the fact its only video it handles but with monitors its fast flowing games!