Displays
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[edit] Projectors
[edit] Dell 5100MP
We have 5 of these - 3 in the lab, 2 in the conference room. Decent resolution (1400x1050), but kind of lame on color and brightness. Lots of inputs - RGBHV component, DVI, VGA, YCbCr component, s-video, etc. One of the projectors (A, which is the left (?) one in the conference room) has a screwed up RF receiver so the remote doesn't work. Also, we still need to test administration over ethernet.
[edit] Other
[edit] Screens
Here's a description of the different fabrics offered by DaLite.
[edit] LCDs
[edit] Sharp LC46D62U
We have 2 of these 46" LCDs in 76-2270. Very nice, full 1080p, inputs include HDMI, YCbCr component, composite, etc. The higher end model (D92U) has DVI input but a best buy rep said it wasn't worth the jump in price. Supposedly that line also fixes the banding issues that this line might have (I guess we still need to test more for this - flat colors are good for testing this, but I didn't notice anything on the desktop). Remember to turn on dot-by-dot view mode (it's on the top left of the remote) when using PC input or else you get bad overscan. The built-in speakers are decent.
[edit] Dell 2405FPW
A full HD LCD monitor, currently being used facing the hallway on shams. Seems to be a pretty good monitor in terms of image quality, and full 1920x1080 is very nice, but at only 24" it might be a little on the small side for our other applications.
[edit] Sony KDL-46V2500
The LCDs we have in the Color Science lab. Similar to the Sharps, we're using HDMI + RCA for computer input, and it does have an option for removing overscan. Quality is pretty good, sharpness is not as bad as the Sharps.
[edit] Toshiba 42HL167
The LCDs we will be getting for the IT Collaboratory hallway. Again, we'll be using the same input configuration. One thing that is different is the fact that it'll be in a frame or something like it, so we need to check whether the screens need significant ventilation.
[edit] Dimension Tech 2018XLQ
A 3d LCD monitor that was laying around somewhere in CASCI and rediscovered by Gregor during the big clean before the President's visit.
[edit] Setup & Use
This is only for Windows machines with Nvidia video cards; it might be possible to use these in Linux but I haven't tried. Firstly, hook the VGA up and set the output to 1280x1024 - the serial cable doesn't seem necessary. Next you need the most recent Nvidia graphics drivers, as well as the 3d stereo drivers. The "official" stereo drivers are old and Nvidia seems to be really slow in updating them, so use some beta ones: [1] If you're skittish about using beta drivers, let this anecdote calm you: when I was experimenting with this, and had the old official drivers with similarly old graphics drivers running, I got 'insane' amounts of BSODs - when doing simple things like just changing resolution, and it even got to the point where it would constantly BSOD on startup. Upgrading to new drivers all around fixed that and I haven't seen a bluescreen since.
To actually use the 3d stuff, you need to enable it in the Nvidia graphics settings (display settings -> advanced -> (tab labeled with the name of your videocard)). Problem: Nvidia switched to a new interface in which these options are mysteriously absent. Solution: edit some registry settings to get access to the old menu again:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NvCplApi\Policies] "ContextUIPolicy"=dword:00000001 "TaskbarUIPolicy"=dword:00000002 "CplGroupUIPolicy"=dword:00000003
So now you can go to the stereo settings tab and enable it. For the type, I used Dual VGA Output (Dep3D) and that seemed to work pretty well - it doesn't look like there's an exact analog for this screen, and without documentation for it, I can't do much. Go to the test menu tab and try out the test app. It should look like it's shaking violently.
Now the computer side is mostly done and we have to take a look at the settings on the monitor. The button on the right switches between the 3d video modes. The mode you'll need to use for content that properly uses the Nvidia drivers (as in, any fullscreen 3d thing that uses OpenGL or DirectX) is FR/S. The inverse 3d button is for toggling the depth inversion; use this if things look backwards (ie, things that you know are in the foreground look far away). And lastly, the 2d button switches the monitor from 3d back to 2d mode.
A note about the video inputs - you can switch to them by pressing the 3d mode button a bunch of times (it has to cycle through everything, very annoying). It uses either the S-video or the BNC connections in the back, and the different modes combine the inputs in different ways. I couldn't get any of them to work properly - the best one was FR/S, but the second input kept on scrolling left the entire time. Again, without documentation, these functions essentially remain a mystery. For stereoscopic camera use, I suggest doing things the long way and running them through the computer. Which brings us to...
How do we use 3d mode with things that aren't 3d-rendered? Well, we need to use the T/B or S/S 3d modes - the former overlays the top and bottom halves of the computer input, and the latter does the sides. This is good for displaying stereoscopic images or apps that display each view side-by-side for cross-eyed viewing. For using live input cameras, you'll have to find a way to display both inputs at the same time in a program that lets you resize the view such that each video takes up half of the screen. I used ExtendedVideo/DVTS in AccessGrid.
And that's about it, that should be everything you need for most 3d applications.
[edit] Plasmas
[edit] Gateway P42M102
We have one of these facing the hallway in the lab. This isn't really ours, I think it's CASCI's so Guy can basically put it wherever he wants/needs (as evidenced by the fact that it moved to CIMS for a little while, and that we had a second one until the eye-tracking usability people started using it). It's a decent looking TV but it's only 720p so I don't think we'll be buying any of them. Update: it broke in late-July-ish, and a week or two later it was whisked away, probably to upstairs.
