General Configuration

Recommended Computer

Although there is no minimal computer power required to drive a Planar SD stereoscopic monitor, there may be limitations with graphics cards or special software. Use the specifications recommended by your software or graphics card provider. Of course, more memory and faster processing will provide better results. If you plan to use one or two side monitors in addition to the stereo monitor, we would recommend a computer with two PCIe graphics card slots. We also recommend using a computer with a 5V PCI or PCIx slot that can accommodate the PCI mirror card.

Graphics Card

Quad-buffered OpenGL stereo applications such as those in the table in the next section will require a more specialized video card such as the nVidia Quadro FX line or the ATI FirePro cards.  Here are some recommended graphics cards that can be used with Planar’s SD monitors: :

SD Model	Display Resolution Per Eye	Appropriate Graphics Card
SD1710	1280 × 1024	nVidia Quadro FX1700 or better, ATI FirePro V8700
SD2020	1600 × 1200	nVidia Quadro FX3700 or better, ATI FirePro V8700
SD2220W	1920 x 1080	nVidia Quadro FX3700 or better, ATI FirePro V8700
SD2420W	1920 × 1200	nVidia Quadro FX3700 or better, ATI FirePro V8750
SD2620W	1920 x 1200	nVidia Quadro FX3700 or better, ATI FirePro V8750

It should be noted that midrange Quadro cards such as the Quadro FX1700 or FX1800 are capable of driving the SD2620W; however, you may see a drop in performance in moving large image files or complex 3D volume rendering. A higher end graphics card such as the Quadro FX3700 or FX4800 should process the stereo images faster. Likewise, a Quadro FX5800 would be a great graphics card to drive the SD1710 and there are some applications that may benefit from the top of the line card; however, a Quadro FX3700 would be sufficient for most tasks. The selection of the graphics card depends on the processing requirements of the stereo content.

OpenGL Stereo Software Setup

If you use OpenGL software such as those listed in the table below, then please reference the instructions for the OpenGL stereo configuration

Company	Application
3D Slicer	Open Source medical visualization SW
3DTV	StereoScopic Player
3mensio	3viseon
Accelyris	Discovery Studio Viewer Pro
AGI (Analytical Graphics Inc.)	STK
Autodesk	Maya
BAE	SOCETSET, SOCET GXP
Boeing	Photogrammetry SW
CAChe Group	CAChe workspace
CambridgeSoft	Chem 3D Ultra
Chemical Computing Group	MOE
DAT/EM Systems	Summit Evolution
DVP-GS
GEO CUE
Inpho
Intergraph
IVS-3D	Fledermaus
KLT Associates	Atlas
Leica	ERDAS, Stereo Analyst
Masuji SUTO	StereoPhotoMaker
Micro Vision Systems	stereo microscope video
Microsoft	PowerPoint
Overwatch Systems	Remote View
Schrodinger	Maestro
SolidWorks	SolidWorks
Template Graphics Software	Amira
Tripos	SYBYL
Tweak Software	RV

OpenGL Stereo Graphics Card Setup (NVIDIA Quadro)

1. Setup the SD Monitor
2. Set both monitors to their full native resolution
3. Go to Advanced Settings
4. Put the two monitors into Clone mode
5. Enable stereo in OpenGL
6. Use nView Clone mode for stereo display mode

Selecting a Side Monitor

If the side monitor matches the polarization of one of the displays used in the StereoMirror monitor, then you will only be able to see it with one eye when wearing the polarized glasses. A simple “workaround” is to select a monitor that has a different polarization. The table below shows Planar’s recommended desktop monitors to be used as side monitors with the given SD product.

SD Model	Recommended Side Monitor
SD1710	Dell UltraSharp 2007 FP (Dell#320-4687), HP LP2065, or NEC EA231WMi-BK
SD2220W	Dell UltraSharp 2007 FP (Dell#320-4687), HP LP2065, or NEC EA231WMi-BK
SD2020	Planar PL1911M, PX2210MW, or PX2411MW
SD2420W	Planar PL1911M, PX2210MW, or PX2411MW
SD2620W	Planar PL1911M, PX2210MW, or PX2411MW

Graphics Cards for the Side Monitor

If you plan to use an additional one or two monitors besides the Planar stereo monitor as part of your workstation there are three options:

1. Use a second nVidia Quadro FX or ATI FirePro graphics card that is of the same platform as the one used to drive the SD monitor. In other words, if a Quadro FX4800 is driving the SD monitor, then a FX3800 can be used to drive the side monitor. This option is viable only if you have a second PCIe graphics card slot available in your computer. Note, if a second graphics card that is not the same platform as the one used to drive the stereo monitor is used to drive the side monitor, stereo may become disabled or OpenGL performance may be restricted to the capability of the lower performing card. Here are the nVidia graphics cards that are compatible with one another for supporting a side monitor:
   • Quadro FX3800, FX4800 and FX5800 are compatible
   • Quadro FX1800 and FX3700 are compatible
   • Quadro FX1700, FX4600 and FX5600 are compatible
   • Quadro FX1500, FX3500, FX4500, FX5500 and FX4500 X2 are compatible
   
2. If you only have one PCIe slot in your computer then you can use a Quadro FX4700 X2 that will support up to four monitors from one PCIe slot.
3. Use the USB-to-DVI adapter from Gefen.  This device supports monitors up to UXGA (1600 x 1200) resolution through a 2.0 USB connection. This is a low cost solution if the side monitor will be primarily used for text and menus.  Because of the lower quality of video it is not recommended for viewing high resolution images.

Laptop Computer

There are several laptops that use an nVidia Quadro FX mobile graphics card and support dual monitors.  For example, both the Dell Precision M6400 Mobile Workstation and the HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation use the Quadro FX2700M and could drive two monitors.  The analog VGA output would need to be connected to the lower monitor of the SD unit. The DisplayPort output should utilize the DP-to-DVI adapter and get connected to the DVI Inverter Box that will mirror the image sent to the upper monitor. The diagram below shows how the video cables connect to an older Dell M90 laptop which had a laptop docking station that could house the PCI mirror flip card.

The nVidia Quadro graphics card is capable of driving two displays. When the laptop is connected to the StereoMirror, there are three display options: the laptop, the lower SD monitor driven with an analog signal, and the upper SD monitor driven with the DVI signal.

If an OpenGL stereo application such as RemoteView or SocetSet is being used on the laptop, then the two SD displays should be put in Clone mode. Make sure that stereo is enabled in the advanced global settings and that the stereo viewing mode has nView Clone mode selected.

If stereo pictures are to be shown, then the monitors can be put in dual monitor mode with the analog selected as the primary and the digital selected as the secondary.

Related Content

• Comparing Dual Stacked LCD Stereoscopic Monitors with Planar StereoMirror™ (pdf)
• Planar's StereoMirror Technology versus Red Rover/True 3Di (pdf)
• Stereopsis: Two Eyes, One 3D Image
• Exploring 3-D display technology
• 20 Reasons Why Planar's StereoMirror Offers Superb Stereoscopic Viewing (pdf)