Supporting HDMI 1.4 opens up a large range of big-screen TVs from 40-inch all the way up to 65-inch, and with 50-inch plasma screens available for well under £1000 now, prices are becoming reasonable for the these higher-end displays. On the right, the Samsung PS50C680 shows big screen 3DTVs are entering mainstream price brackets - this screen has been sighted for less than £800. The Panasonic P50VT20 (left) is one of the finest 3D displays available, costing around £1500. While the existing dual-link DVI solution outperforms HDMI 1.4 in terms of resolution, big screens aren't available in these configurations.
While 3D Vision is currently seen at its best on the range of 120Hz desktop LCDs, the recent release of NVIDIA 3DTV Play is hugely significant, because now you can hook your PC up to your new 3DTV and use it not only as a 3D-capable media centre (and Blu-ray player, if you like) but you can also get the full stereoscopic gaming experience.
It has other advantages over console too: you can easily upgrade your GPU for better performance or more effects, plus the strength of the 3D effect is tweakable by the user - something offered by Nintendo 3DS, but quite rare on the PlayStation 3D games seen thus far. This connection type offers big bandwidth advantages over HDMI, allowing for faster refresh rates and higher resolutions compared to console 3D. In its traditional form, 3D Vision operates at the 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 resolutions of its supported 120Hz LCD screens using dual-link DVI. "If the developer wants to get more involved with the creation and use our API, our developer relations team also supports them during the process, providing them with sample code, on-site visits, access to test drivers, and in-house testing," Fear adds. Developers can use the driver-level "automatic mode" and tweak that with NVIDIA support, or else they can build their own direct support for the system using the available APIs. NVIDIA's commitment to 3D Vision is such that, just like Sony, it has a dedicated team of engineers who work with developers to ensure the quality of the experience.