3D TVs have been very successful. After the success of 3D-capable TV sets, monitor manufacturers got a piece of the action by giving customers the ability to implement 3D viewing capabilities on their computer systems. For some, it was easy, as they had already produced TVs and only had to rig the technology to work on monitors. If you’re interested in purchasing a 3D monitor, this guide will answer many of your questions.
Tip: need help buying a monitor? Check out the best desktop monitors buying guide to help you choose wisely.
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Types of 3D Monitors
There are three types of 3D displays: active, passive, and glasses-free. Active 3D monitors use special glasses with batteries to power two completely different images for the left and right eye alternately, thereby retaining the original resolution of the image and providing a superior 3D experience.
Passive 3D monitors project the image to both eyes simultaneously, thereby halving the original resolution. They rely on simple cinema-style glasses but show fewer detailed images than active 3D displays. Lastly, glasses-free 3D monitors work without the need for any glasses.
These different types of 3D monitors are powered by different 3D technologies, each working on distinct principles of light to create an illusion of depth to the image.
Shutter 3D Technology
Active 3D monitors make use of shutter technology, which alternates the image presented to each of the eyes, blocking the image to the right eye when projecting to the left eye and vice versa. This technology relies on specialized glasses to synchronize the two images. Gaming monitors and many of the first 3D TVs relied on this approach. Many of the virtual reality headsets, such as the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, also show separate images for each eye.
Circularly Polarized 3D
Passive 3D monitors rely on circularly polarized 3D technology. The accompanying glasses feature circular polarizers oriented differently for each eye. These lenses serve as filters, either blocking or converting incoming signals into viewable images. Rather than delivering separate images to each eye, the glasses process a single image, with the lenses selectively blocking or allowing it to create the 3D effect.
Autostereoscopic 3D Technology
Autostereoscopic 3D technology foregoes glasses by using a specialized filter that’s part of the monitor’s LCD. This causes the image from the monitor to emit in such a way that it shifts slightly between each eye, generating a sense of depth required for the 3D illusion. This glasses-free technology is suited for smaller displays, but some bigger 3D monitors, such as the Acer Nitro SpatialLabs View ASV15-1B, provide larger 15-inch screens with eye tracking.
What Do I Need to Use a 3D Monitor?
Most 3D monitors need extra hardware to display 3D movies or images. Let’s explore everything required to use a 3D monitor effectively.
3D-Capable Graphics Card
Watching 3D movies is relatively more simple. You can use any discrete or onboard GPU, but playing 3D games on your PC is far more tricky.
3D gaming used to be popular 10 years ago. Both Nvidia and AMD had their own 3D solutions: 3D Vision and HD3D, respectively. But in the mid-2010s, both GPU manufacturers stopped supporting these standards and effectively ended any support for newer games. Although you can still make 3D Vision or HD3D work using older drivers, you’ll also need older compatible GPUs. For instance, graphics cards from the Nvidia RTX 30 series and newer don’t support Nvidia 3D Vision.
Compatible Glasses
Whether you need glasses for your 3D monitor depends on the 3D tech your monitor uses. For some newer glasses-free 3D monitors, like the Acer model shown above, you don’t need any additional hardware.
For active or passive 3D monitors, you’ll need compatible glasses that typically ship with the monitor. If not, you can buy active shutter 3D glasses or passive 3D glasses, depending on your monitor.
Correct Drivers
Prior to 3D Vision and HD3D, you just needed the latest driver versions. Today, however, things are more complicated.
Until late 2018, TriDef was a third-party driver available for purchase as a more affordable alternative to expensive Vision monitors. This made it a popular choice for users with AMD graphics cards. After TriDef ceased operations about five years ago, the community stepped up to keep the gaming scene alive.
You can now use Geo-11, a community-run, hardware-agnostic replacement for Nvidia 3D Vision for DX11 games. You can run older, DX11 games using this open-source tool to render games in stereoscopic 3D.
A similar solution that still enjoys community support is SuperDepth3D, a post-process shader for the popular ReShade injector. It does pretty much the same thing as Geo-11.
Are 3D Monitors Worth It?
3D monitors are seeing a bit of resurgence, with brands like Acer and Samsung coming up with glasses-free 3D monitors for those after a higher level of immersion. But there are also some drawbacks holding the market back.
Firstly, the cost of 3D monitors is prohibitively expensive. For the price of the 15.6″ Acer 3D monitor shown above, you could buy the 34″ QD-OLED ultrawide Alienware AW3423DW, one of the best gaming monitors on the market.
Secondly, many 3D monitors can induce symptoms like headaches and motion sickness when used for multiple hours at a time.
Lastly, outside of watching movies on passive 3D monitors and playing older games using community-driven projects, there isn’t much industry support for 3.
3D monitors are still waiting for 3D to become cool again. Until then, it will remain a niche hobby for those willing to pay a premium over arguably better experiences powered by VR headsets in 2024.
Monitors with advanced immersion features are technically superior to regular ones, but they may not have found the ideal market conditions to thrive. Once glasses-free displays improve to a point that captures consumer interest, the entertainment industry produces enough immersive content, and prices become more affordable, these monitors could gain significant popularity and potentially compete with VR for the ultimate immersive experience.
Tip: running multiple displays? Check out these tips to optimize your multimonitor setup.