HTPC 3D video on your 3D TV
Having difficulties getting 3D video to work on your TV from your HTPC? Read this article!
You have been watching HD 1080p video’s with 5.1 sounds from your HTPC on your old TV without any problems. You recently bought a brand new 3D TV, downloaded, for instance, Avatar 3D and can’t get the 3D working? Read this article!
This article is NOT about getting 3D to work on a monitor.
TIP1: Monitor set up is different from TV set up!
There is a few things that make up a correct 3D HTPC and TV set up:
• 3D TV and glasses
• Video card with 3D support
• 3DTV software
• Movie Player with 3D support
• 3D movie
• TV – A/V – HTPC patching
3D TV and glasses
There are many types of 3D TV’s. Most important distinction is between active and passive 3D where active 3D is triggering the glasses to allow left eye sight and right eye sight sequentially and the TV sends a left eye picture and a right eye picture with the same frequency. Passive 3D sends a horizontal polarized light/picture and a vertical polarized light/picture sequentially and the passive glasses have a glass with horizontal polarization for one eye and a glass with vertical polarization for the other eye. The passive glasses to not have any active components and therefor do not need a battery.
I have used an active 3D TV for this article and the glasses that belong to that TV.
TIP2: nVidia is marketing a great 3D Vision solution with its own glasses but this is a solution for monitors which do not have embedded 3D support.
Video card with 3D support
In general there is three tastes of video cards: nVidia, AMD and Intel. I have used a nVidia card for this article but I’m sure that for AMD and Intel similar concepts are applicable.
I have a great integrated video card on my HTPC motherboard that works very well for HD 1080p movies. I learned that 3D video requires more recent video cards.
Follow this link for a list of all the 3D compatible cards: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-system-requirements.html. The first table is for desktops and the second table is for laptops. Note that this list is not up to date. For instance the GeForce GT 3xx series is not commercially available anymore and the GeForce GT 610 is 3D compatible but not listed. In general one can expect that every model higher than the ones listed here are 3D compatible. My new GT 610 (38 euro’s!) is 100% compatible with no performance issues whatsoever.
3D TV software
The video cards with 3D support are designed for working with a monitor! If you connect a regular 3D TV then you need a driver/software to tell the card that a 3D TV is connected with native 3D support. For nVidia cards you can find this software (NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility) here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-14day-trial.html. The license is about 40 USD.
TIP3: The NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility has a 14 days free trial available.
For the AMD based video cards a similar piece of software is available. I believe it is called TriDefC (Dynamic Digital Depth). I understand it is far more expensive than the nVidia solution.
I do not have any data for Intel.
Movie Player with 3D support
For my HD 1080p movies I was using Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 3 without any issues. This version does not support 3D video and you have to upgrade to Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 5.0.x.x (TMT5).
I have used TMT5 for this article but I’m sure any other Movie Player with 3d support (like CyberLinks PowerDVD 10 Ultra 3D) will probably work as good as this one.
When you click on a movie, depending on your settings, it might launch your Movie Player automatically. When using TMT5 you cannot change any 3D setting sin this mode. To set 3D settings in TMT5 you have to launch TMT5 independently.
My TMT5 settings, which worked perfectly well with Avatar, are:
• 3D > General Settings > "Always play Blue-ray 3D movie in 3D mode" option is checked
• 3D > General Settings > "Always play movies and video files in 3D mode" option is unchecked
o http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7963017270_664bc2f82f.jpg
• 3D > Viewing Environment > Select Your Display Configuration > NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready Display" selected
o http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7963019790_38923f77ba.jpg
3D movie
There are many techniques to broadcast 3D. Most popular ones are Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) and Side by Side (SBS). I happened to have two movies available for testing: Avatar, which is in S3D and Man in Black 3, which is in SBS. I also tested Nutcracker 3D (S3D).
TV – A/V – HTPC patching
TIP4: Test with an HDMI cable from your Video card (HTPC) to the TV directly (and bypass your A/V receiver).
Many people run HDMI cables from their HTPC to the A/V receiver and from the A/V receiver to the TV. This works perfectly well for HD video but doesn’t work for 3D video when the receiver does not support HDMI 1.4a.
You can try running the HDMI cable from the HTPC to the TV and use a digital audio cable (TOSlink or COAX) from the TV to the A/V receiver. This will give you 3D video but you will lose the 5.1 audio because the Sound Manager on your HTPC will only recognize the 2 speakers of your TV making it impossible for you to configure 5.1.
The only way to successfully patch for 3D TV with an A/V receiver that is not HDMI 1.4a compatible is by running an HDMI cable from your Video card (HTPC) to the TV and a digital audio cable from your HTPC to the A/V receiver. Your new Video card might not have digital audio out but I bet your HTPC embedded audio will. You can use your Video card and embedded audio connections next to each other.
TIP5: There is no such thing as an HDMI 1.4a cable. The protocol is HDMI 1.4a and if required the TV and A/V receiver need to be able to process the HDMI 1.4a protocol but this protocol works on all regular HDMI cables.
My configuration:
• HTPC with GA-E7AUM-DS2H motherboard and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400 Chipset (http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2946#ov)
• nVidia GeForce GT 610 video card - Asus (http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/GT610SL1GD3L/)
• Panasonic TX-P65VT50 with Active Shutter Progressive 3D (http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-P65VT50)
• Marantz SR7001 (http://us.marantz.com/documentmaster/us/dfu_sr7001_sr8001_final_eng.pdf)
• HDMI cable from HTPC to Panasonic directly
• TOSlink digital audio from HTPC to Marantz
• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1
• Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 5.0.1.86
• NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility 266.7
(http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-14day-trial.html)
• Avatar 3D (46.6 GB ISO file) and The Nutcracker 3D (37.5 GB ISO file) mounted with Elaborate Bytes Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0
Interesting articles:
• http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answ...dia-based-graphics-card-to-work-with-my-hdtv?
• http://3dvision-blog.com/1810-nvidia-is-getting-ready-for-3d-hdtv-support-with-3dtv-play/
Having difficulties getting 3D video to work on your TV from your HTPC? Read this article!
You have been watching HD 1080p video’s with 5.1 sounds from your HTPC on your old TV without any problems. You recently bought a brand new 3D TV, downloaded, for instance, Avatar 3D and can’t get the 3D working? Read this article!
This article is NOT about getting 3D to work on a monitor.
TIP1: Monitor set up is different from TV set up!
There is a few things that make up a correct 3D HTPC and TV set up:
• 3D TV and glasses
• Video card with 3D support
• 3DTV software
• Movie Player with 3D support
• 3D movie
• TV – A/V – HTPC patching
3D TV and glasses
There are many types of 3D TV’s. Most important distinction is between active and passive 3D where active 3D is triggering the glasses to allow left eye sight and right eye sight sequentially and the TV sends a left eye picture and a right eye picture with the same frequency. Passive 3D sends a horizontal polarized light/picture and a vertical polarized light/picture sequentially and the passive glasses have a glass with horizontal polarization for one eye and a glass with vertical polarization for the other eye. The passive glasses to not have any active components and therefor do not need a battery.
I have used an active 3D TV for this article and the glasses that belong to that TV.
TIP2: nVidia is marketing a great 3D Vision solution with its own glasses but this is a solution for monitors which do not have embedded 3D support.
Video card with 3D support
In general there is three tastes of video cards: nVidia, AMD and Intel. I have used a nVidia card for this article but I’m sure that for AMD and Intel similar concepts are applicable.
I have a great integrated video card on my HTPC motherboard that works very well for HD 1080p movies. I learned that 3D video requires more recent video cards.
Follow this link for a list of all the 3D compatible cards: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-system-requirements.html. The first table is for desktops and the second table is for laptops. Note that this list is not up to date. For instance the GeForce GT 3xx series is not commercially available anymore and the GeForce GT 610 is 3D compatible but not listed. In general one can expect that every model higher than the ones listed here are 3D compatible. My new GT 610 (38 euro’s!) is 100% compatible with no performance issues whatsoever.
3D TV software
The video cards with 3D support are designed for working with a monitor! If you connect a regular 3D TV then you need a driver/software to tell the card that a 3D TV is connected with native 3D support. For nVidia cards you can find this software (NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility) here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-14day-trial.html. The license is about 40 USD.
TIP3: The NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility has a 14 days free trial available.
For the AMD based video cards a similar piece of software is available. I believe it is called TriDefC (Dynamic Digital Depth). I understand it is far more expensive than the nVidia solution.
I do not have any data for Intel.
Movie Player with 3D support
For my HD 1080p movies I was using Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 3 without any issues. This version does not support 3D video and you have to upgrade to Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 5.0.x.x (TMT5).
I have used TMT5 for this article but I’m sure any other Movie Player with 3d support (like CyberLinks PowerDVD 10 Ultra 3D) will probably work as good as this one.
When you click on a movie, depending on your settings, it might launch your Movie Player automatically. When using TMT5 you cannot change any 3D setting sin this mode. To set 3D settings in TMT5 you have to launch TMT5 independently.
My TMT5 settings, which worked perfectly well with Avatar, are:
• 3D > General Settings > "Always play Blue-ray 3D movie in 3D mode" option is checked
• 3D > General Settings > "Always play movies and video files in 3D mode" option is unchecked
o http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7963017270_664bc2f82f.jpg
• 3D > Viewing Environment > Select Your Display Configuration > NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready Display" selected
o http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7963019790_38923f77ba.jpg
3D movie
There are many techniques to broadcast 3D. Most popular ones are Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) and Side by Side (SBS). I happened to have two movies available for testing: Avatar, which is in S3D and Man in Black 3, which is in SBS. I also tested Nutcracker 3D (S3D).
TV – A/V – HTPC patching
TIP4: Test with an HDMI cable from your Video card (HTPC) to the TV directly (and bypass your A/V receiver).
Many people run HDMI cables from their HTPC to the A/V receiver and from the A/V receiver to the TV. This works perfectly well for HD video but doesn’t work for 3D video when the receiver does not support HDMI 1.4a.
You can try running the HDMI cable from the HTPC to the TV and use a digital audio cable (TOSlink or COAX) from the TV to the A/V receiver. This will give you 3D video but you will lose the 5.1 audio because the Sound Manager on your HTPC will only recognize the 2 speakers of your TV making it impossible for you to configure 5.1.
The only way to successfully patch for 3D TV with an A/V receiver that is not HDMI 1.4a compatible is by running an HDMI cable from your Video card (HTPC) to the TV and a digital audio cable from your HTPC to the A/V receiver. Your new Video card might not have digital audio out but I bet your HTPC embedded audio will. You can use your Video card and embedded audio connections next to each other.
TIP5: There is no such thing as an HDMI 1.4a cable. The protocol is HDMI 1.4a and if required the TV and A/V receiver need to be able to process the HDMI 1.4a protocol but this protocol works on all regular HDMI cables.
My configuration:
• HTPC with GA-E7AUM-DS2H motherboard and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400 Chipset (http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2946#ov)
• nVidia GeForce GT 610 video card - Asus (http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/GT610SL1GD3L/)
• Panasonic TX-P65VT50 with Active Shutter Progressive 3D (http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-P65VT50)
• Marantz SR7001 (http://us.marantz.com/documentmaster/us/dfu_sr7001_sr8001_final_eng.pdf)
• HDMI cable from HTPC to Panasonic directly
• TOSlink digital audio from HTPC to Marantz
• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1
• Arcsoft Total MediaTheatre 5.0.1.86
• NVIDIA 3DTV Play Activation Utility 266.7
(http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-14day-trial.html)
• Avatar 3D (46.6 GB ISO file) and The Nutcracker 3D (37.5 GB ISO file) mounted with Elaborate Bytes Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0
Interesting articles:
• http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answ...dia-based-graphics-card-to-work-with-my-hdtv?
• http://3dvision-blog.com/1810-nvidia-is-getting-ready-for-3d-hdtv-support-with-3dtv-play/
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. I do have a bunch of stereoscopic 3D movies. Also I want to have it integrated with Windows Media Center, MyMovies and my Logitech Harmony, ie just click on remote and everything relevant starts automatically 
