VMD-L Mailing List

From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 18 2014 - 10:34:55 CST

Carlos,
  Ah, I had missed the startup message you included when I read
your first note. All of the VMD stereo modes other than "QuadBuffered"
are implemented by rendering code within VMD itself, and they do not
depend on the graphics driver or any special hardware capabilities.
So, the fact that you are able to use the "SideBySide" or other modes
just indicates that your TV can work with the VMD-supplied mode, but
that's separate from the issue of having the Quadro's stereo sync and
other features working.

The VMD "QuadBuffered" stereo mode relies entirely on the GPU and
its driver for stereoscopic display. This is the best mode to use
if you want the IR or RF stereo emitter to remain in proper sync with
the displayed images, but it requires that the GPU drivers and windowing
system be configured correctly, and that the GPU and driver will actually
support the target display. If you're running on Linux, then the thing
to do is to check the contents of /var/log/Xorg.0.log and look for
the word "Stereo". Here's an example of the kinds of output you're looking
for, as seen on a couple of our machines:
  (**) NVIDIA(1): Option "Stereo" "10"
  (**) NVIDIA(1): Option "ForceStereoFlipping" "true"

Here's a machine that has stereo enabled:
(II) Setting vga for screen 0.
(II) Setting vga for screen 1.
(**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
(==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "MetaModes" "2560x1600 +0+0"
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Enabling 2D acceleration
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Display (Samsung SyncMaster (DFP-0)) does not support NVIDIA
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): 3D Vision stereo.
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA GPU Quadro 7000 (GF110GL) at PCI:8:0:0 (GPU-0)
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Memory: 6291456 kBytes
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): VideoBIOS: 70.10.4a.00.01
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Detected PCI Express Link width: 16X
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Valid display device(s) on Quadro 7000 at PCI:8:0:0
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): CRT-0
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): CRT-1
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Samsung SyncMaster (DFP-0) (boot, connected)
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): DFP-1
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): CRT-0: 400.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): CRT-1: 400.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Samsung SyncMaster (DFP-0): Internal Dual Link TMDS
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Samsung SyncMaster (DFP-0): 330.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): DFP-1: Internal Single Link TMDS
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): DFP-1: 330.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Using HorizSync/VertRefresh ranges from the EDID for display
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): device Samsung SyncMaster (DFP-0) (Using EDID frequencies
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): has been enabled on all display devices.)
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Validated MetaModes:
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): "2560x1600+0+0"
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 2560 x 1600
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (101, 101); computed from "UseEdidDpi" X config
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): option
(**) NVIDIA(1): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NVIDIA(1): RGB weight 888
(==) NVIDIA(1): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(1): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(**) NVIDIA(1): Option "Stereo" "10"
(**) NVIDIA(1): Option "ForceStereoFlipping" "true"
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): USB IR emitter stereo requested
(WW) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): For stereo to work with Xinerama, stereo X configuration
(WW) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): option should be enabled on all X screens in the X server.
(WW) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): Stereo is disabled on one (or more) X screens, while
(WW) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): Xinerama is enabled. Stereo visuals will not be
(WW) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): available.
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): OpenGL stereo forced
(**) NVIDIA(1): Option "MetaModes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
(**) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): Enabling 2D acceleration
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): Display (Acer HN274H (DFP-0)) supports NVIDIA 3D Vision
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(0): stereo.
(II) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): NVIDIA GPU Quadro 7000 (GF110GL) at PCI:9:0:0 (GPU-1)
(--) Feb 17 16:21:29 NVIDIA(1): Memory: 6291456 kBytes

Here's a machine that has stereo disabled currently:
(II) Setting vga for screen 0.
(**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
(==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "Stereo" "0"
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-3"
(**) Feb 17 17:20:19 NVIDIA(0): Stereo disabled by request
(**) NVIDIA(0): Option "MetaModes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +2560+520, DFP-3: 2560x1600 +0+0; DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +2560+0, DFP-3: 2560x1600 +0+0; DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP-3: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0"
(**) Feb 17 17:20:19 NVIDIA(0): Enabling 2D acceleration
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Display (Acer HN274H (DFP-0)) supports NVIDIA 3D Vision
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): stereo.
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Display (HP ZR30w (DFP-3)) does not support NVIDIA 3D Vision
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): stereo.
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA GPU Quadro K6000 (GK110BGL) at PCI:131:0:0 (GPU-0)
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Memory: 12582912 kBytes
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): VideoBIOS: 80.80.16.00.01
(II) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Detected PCI Express Link width: 16X
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Valid display device(s) on Quadro K6000 at PCI:131:0:0
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): CRT-0
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Acer HN274H (DFP-0) (boot, connected)
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): DFP-1
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): DFP-2
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): HP ZR30w (DFP-3) (connected)
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): DFP-4
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): DFP-5
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): CRT-0: 400.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Acer HN274H (DFP-0): Internal Dual Link TMDS
(--) Feb 17 17:20:21 NVIDIA(0): Acer HN274H (DFP-0): 330.0 MHz maximum pixel clo

On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 08:06:04AM -0500, Carlos Simmerling wrote:
> Hi John,
> thanks for the quick reply.
> I included VMD's output in my original post- yes, it says stereo, and
> I can indeed get VMD to do stereo if I pick side by side mode in VMD.
> I'm using win 7 pro (though I'd upgrade to win 8 if I knew that would
> solve the problem). The TV is HDMI only, unfortunately. The quadro
> card has only DVI outputs, so I'm using a DVI to HDMI cable.
>
> I'm hoping to find a way to do quad buffered stereo at a reasonable
> refresh rate.
> Carlos
>
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 12:53 PM, John Stone <johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> > Hi Carlos,
> > I'm not familiar with the TV you're using, but I can say a few
> > things that are broadly true of a wide range of HDTVs that support
> > stereo that may also apply in your case.
> >
> > If a TV has a DVI input (unlikely), then one is sometimes able to use it
> > just like any other stereo display.
> >
> > If the TV uses HDMI, then the options for stereo will depend
> > somewhat on which operating system the computer is running what
> > video card, and what driver are being used.
> >
> > In regards to the NVIDIA GPUs, the "Quadro" GPUs have the best support
> > for stereoscopic display across all OS platforms. Last I knew however,
> > HDTVs are considered a special case, and at least on the Windows platform
> > there was/is a special driver that one had to use to allow stereoscopic
> > display to an HDTV over HDMI (3DTV Play) for games and the like:
> > http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-overview.html
> >
> > I just looked up the NVIDIA web site regarding stereoscopic display,
> > and they have clearly rewritten much of it since the last time I looked:
> > http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-professional-users.html
> >
> > I would expect that the Quadro would have a good chance of working with
> > a 3D HDTV, but you will likely have to set the NVIDIA driver's stereo
> > mode to one that your TV agrees with. If you tell me which OS
> > you're running, we can work through a few of the details there.
> > The most important thing is to see if VMD lists "STEREO" during the
> > OpenGL feature startup messages that it prints to the text console.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > John Stone
> > vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 02:25:25PM -0500, Carlos Simmerling wrote:
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I'm trying to optimize my stereo viewing.
> >> I have windows 7 pro, a quadro fx-4600 and a samsung UN60F8000BF LCD
> >> TV (http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN60F8000BFXZA) that came with
> >> active stereo glasses. I also have an old stereographics emitter with
> >> 3-pin DIN connector that plugs into my quadro card, along with some
> >> stereographics glasses. VMD tells me this at startup:
> >> Info) OpenGL renderer: Quadro FX 4600/PCIe/SSE2
> >> Info) Features: STENCIL STEREO MDE CVA MTX NPOT PP PS GLSL(OVF)
> >>
> >> So, what I need help with is optimizing my 3D viewing. So far I can
> >> only get this setup to work when I select side by side 3D in VMD, and
> >> on the TV I also select side by side and use the glasses that came
> >> with it. It's ok, but the glasses are cheap and there's some bleed
> >> through, and of course I lose resolution.
> >>
> >> I suspect I'd be better off using the emitter and the expensive SG
> >> glasses. When I plug in the emitter, the red light goes on so it seems
> >> to be working. If I select stereo/quadbuffered in VMD, it looks like
> >> it's doing the right thing, but using the SG glasses doesn't seem to
> >> sync properly.
> >>
> >> A few other questions:
> >> 1) do the settings in the Nvidia control panel under "manage 3D
> >> settings" impact VMD? In there you can choose the 3D mode,
> >> antialiasing, etc. I don't know if that controls the openGL part.
> >> 2) Is it possible to send a >60HZ signal to these screens? It claims
> >> it is 240Hz, but I don't know if that's internal interpolation or
> >> accepts inputs >60Hz.
> >>
> >> thanks!
> >
> > --
> > NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
> > Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
> > University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
> > http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/ Phone: 217-244-3349
> > http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/ 

-- 
NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/           Phone: 217-244-3349
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/