3D on HPTC?

[rockfella79]

Hi,

As the title states I now want to watch 3D movies on my HTPC. I am missing something and can't experience 3D for some reason. Rips are fine, some 3D samples/demos work fine but for some reason I can't get Avatar 3D (45gb blu ray) to play on 3D. Don't want to do much headbanging with softwares/expert tweaks so starting this thread.

Have these installed:
XBMC Gotham 3D?
PowerDVD 13 3D support.
Coral Windvd with 3D support.
Arcsoft Total Media Theatre with 3D.

Just throw in first hand experience/suggestions to play 3D from a PC.

PS: I am on onboard ATI 3000, will that bottleneck 3D?

Thanks.

 

[LoveMachine]

PS: I am on onboard ATI 3000, will that bottleneck 3D?

Thanks.

I don't do 3D myself, but it was my understanding that 3D support came with HDMI 1.4 spec, and the 6xxx series AMD cards were the first to support full 3D. I'm surprised you're getting any 3D at all with the motherboard graphics from, what, 5 years ago?

Throwing a $30 6450 in there would likely vastly improve everything.

 

[rockfella79]

Only 3D demos play with Klite and XBMC but 45GB Avatar doesn't play with 3D but plays flawlessly in 2D on my onboard ATI 3000!

I don't do 3D myself, but it was my understanding that 3D support came with HDMI 1.4 spec, and the 6xxx series AMD cards were the first to support full 3D. I'm surprised you're getting any 3D at all with the motherboard graphics from, what, 5 years ago?

Throwing a $30 6450 in there would likely vastly improve everything.

 

[DesiPower]

There are different 3D formats, the demos might be in one that's supported by your hardware, the the BRD might be in another which is not supported. I too feel a newer video card will help. I believe Nvidia supports 3D better than AMD, might wanna try their NVIDIA 630 or 640 with 2GB memory, I heard 3Ds can use more memory too...

 

[rockfella79]

Thanks. Please give more info about it or some review links.

There are different 3D formats, the demos might be in one that's supported by your hardware, the the BRD might be in another which is not supported. I too feel a newer video card will help. I believe Nvidia supports 3D better than AMD, might wanna try their NVIDIA 630 or 640 with 2GB memory, I heard 3Ds can use more memory too...

 

[Mushkins]

It's definitely that old school onboard video giving you grief. As was mentioned, any modern cheapo dedicated GPU will pick up the slack and get you going with 3D as long as the software and the video source support it.

And yes, 3D definitely uses more memory, but for simple video playback it should be negligible. When people talk about 3D and video card memory constraints, they're typically talking about gaming in 3D where you're essentially telling your card to render and hold onto a much more taxing load for a slightly longer period.

 

[Aikouka]

There are multiple transmission types (the way the image is sent to the display) for 3D, and unfortunately, your video card does not support the one in question. The majority of 3D transmission types don't really require anything special as long as you can tell your TV what type you're sending. The simplest and ugliest is Anaglyph. That's the old red/blue style (there are other color combinations too) that we've used for 3D for decades. Since it uses full-frame video, it doesn't require anything else other than the silly glasses. The other simple ones have one downside to Anaglyph, and that's that they are partial-frame 3D, which means you aren't getting 1080p per eye. Those are side-by-side, top-bottom and checkerboard. I believe top-bottom is what ESPN 3D used, and checkerboard was fairly common with DLPs. An interesting note is that the Avatar video game for the XBOX 360 actually has a built-in checkerboard 3D output option. These normally require you to tell your TV what 3D mode you're sending it (SBS, TB, etc.). If you don't, you'll just see what looks like two very similar videos next to each other!

The last option is the one that you appear to lack support for and that's Frame Packing. Frame Packing actually puts two 1080p frames (with a 10 pixel separator) along with the associated audio and sends it to the TV. This format requires HDMI 1.4a, because 1.3 and before do not contain the proper EDID to say "Hey, I support Frame Packing / 3D!" AMD's Radeon HD 5000 series and above all support 3D; however, the 6000 series includes a newer decoding engine (UVD 3) that can natively handle Frame Packing. It's possible to handle 3D movies without that feature, but it puts more stress on the CPU.

 

[rockfella79]

Thanks for the detailed insight. You saying any ATI 6XXX or above gpu should be fine right?

There are multiple transmission types (the way the image is sent to the display) for 3D, and unfortunately, your video card does not support the one in question. The majority of 3D transmission types don't really require anything special as long as you can tell your TV what type you're sending. The simplest and ugliest is Anaglyph. That's the old red/blue style (there are other color combinations too) that we've used for 3D for decades. Since it uses full-frame video, it doesn't require anything else other than the silly glasses. The other simple ones have one downside to Anaglyph, and that's that they are partial-frame 3D, which means you aren't getting 1080p per eye. Those are side-by-side, top-bottom and checkerboard. I believe top-bottom is what ESPN 3D used, and checkerboard was fairly common with DLPs. An interesting note is that the Avatar video game for the XBOX 360 actually has a built-in checkerboard 3D output option. These normally require you to tell your TV what 3D mode you're sending it (SBS, TB, etc.). If you don't, you'll just see what looks like two very similar videos next to each other!

The last option is the one that you appear to lack support for and that's Frame Packing. Frame Packing actually puts two 1080p frames (with a 10 pixel separator) along with the associated audio and sends it to the TV. This format requires HDMI 1.4a, because 1.3 and before do not contain the proper EDID to say "Hey, I support Frame Packing / 3D!" AMD's Radeon HD 5000 series and above all support 3D; however, the 6000 series includes a newer decoding engine (UVD 3) that can natively handle Frame Packing. It's possible to handle 3D movies without that feature, but it puts more stress on the CPU.

 

[poofyhairguy]

ATI 6XXX and above or Nvidia GT 430 or better.

 

[rockfella79]

Thanks man. Any advantage of picking either of these? I like ATI but don't mind Nvidia if I get an edge in 3D over ATI.

ATI 6XXX and above or Nvidia GT 430 or better.

 

[Aikouka]

ATI 6XXX and above or Nvidia GT 430 or better.

Yeah. I normally just recommend the AMD cards because they're usually cheaper and have good passive options, and since you're just using decoding, any performance delta doesn't really matter. The only thing that gets me is that the 5450 is almost always on sale but never the 6450! ...and if it is, it's always an air-cooled one!

 

[poofyhairguy]

I think technically AMD has better looking decoding, but personally the GT 430 is my favorite HTPC card ever (I own three of them compared to two 6450s) because of how it can do EVERYTHING (including deinterlacing content at max settings) short of 4k.

 

[rockfella79]

I am more inclined towards the R7 240 but can't find a fanless version.

 

[rockfella79]

I think technically AMD has better looking decoding, but personally the GT 430 is my favorite HTPC card ever (I own three of them compared to two 6450s) because of how it can do EVERYTHING (including deinterlacing content at max settings) short of 4k.

Any difference in PQ between the GT43 and 6450?

 

[Automaticman]

XFX Fanless R7 240:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150698

 

[brainhulk]

I use a nvidia gtx 560ti+3770k+windows 7. You have to enable 3d in the nvidia menue. I actually like the video quality much more with this htpc than my ps3. It even beats the ps4 video quality.

 

[rockfella79]

I use a nvidia gtx 560ti+3770k+windows 7. You have to enable 3d in the nvidia menue. I actually like the video quality much more with this htpc than my ps3. It even beats the ps4 video quality.

Wow! Everytime I read good stuff about HTPC over other players I feel good

 

[rockfella79]

I use a nvidia gtx 560ti+3770k+windows 7. You have to enable 3d in the nvidia menue. I actually like the video quality much more with this htpc than my ps3. It even beats the ps4 video quality.

XFX Fanless R7 240:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150698

Thanks. I can't install this on my current mobo:

 

[Charlie98]

Thanks. I can't install this on my current mobo:

Correct.... you will need to get a single slot GPU like this in order to clear the sound card (I'm assuming that's what that is.)

Pick of mine on Giga board... (not the best shot, but you get the idea...)

 

[brainhulk]

I don't use a sound card. I just connect the video card to my receiver via HDMI. done!

 

[Charlie98]

I don't use a sound card. I just connect the video card to my receiver via HDMI. done!

Well, it looks like the OP has one... just trying to accommodate it.

 

[brainhulk]

Yeah I just wanted to point out to the op, there is no need for a sound card.

 

[rockfella79]

I know about that. The AVR+HT is in a different room. Need a 3D capable single slot cooler in the desktop.

I don't use a sound card. I just connect the video card to my receiver via HDMI. done!

I love my Xonar DX

Yeah I just wanted to point out to the op, there is no need for a sound card.

Thanks. Which card is that? I need exactly something like that with 3D support and a fanless version.

Correct.... you will need to get a single slot GPU like this in order to clear the sound card (I'm assuming that's what that is.)

Pick of mine on Giga board... (not the best shot, but you get the idea...)

 

[rockfella79]

Hey Charlie, Just saw your siggy, diamond gpus are not available in my country. I have a hard time finding a fanless 6450 now. The R7 240 won't friggin fit.