3D Full SBS (3840x1080)... Success!

Hi there,

the way blue ray players send a Full HD 3D picture to the TV is in deed Frame Packing. It has a total resolution of 1920 x 2205 pixels (see here) and is well defined in HDMI 1.4a standard... But since XBMC and/or video drivers do not support these huge resolutions the only way to display 3d content atm is using the 1080p resolution which means that you loose half of the content per picture(like in half SBS).

Can someone of the development team tell us whether this is right or not? And: Is there a chance that xbmc will support a way of sending proper 3D images via HDMI 1.4a?

Hi guys (because yo seem to know so much).

I just want to make sure BEFORE I break down and buy a 3D projector...

1. XBMC can indeed play 3D SBS (half) movies (even if the quality must be slightly reduced)
2. Looks like your HTPC can play FULL 3D SBS movies if you get the right software? (not xbmc)
3. I need to make sure the 3D projector (Optoma HD33 in this case) has a setting for SBS movies.

Are these three thoughts correct? (if so I will proceed)

Also, as 3D must go through hdmi and I am going to a projector. Will I still be able to get audio out through a fiber optic wire to my stereo? Or will sound ONLY go thought the hdmi?

Thanks!

1. Yes, 3D SBS (half) is just a regular 1080p video. The TV (or projector) splits each frame into two frames (ie. 3D) so XBMC, your video card, etc, doesn't need to even know it's 3D.

2. Windows (nVidia; and probably ATI?) can definitely output "FULL 3D". (I'm assuming you are referring to HDMI 1.4 frame-packing 3D [ie. the same as Bluray 3D]) There is some software for Linux that appears to support this but I haven't researched it into. XBMC cannot output an HDMI 1.4 3D signal though.

3. Yes, your projector absolutely needs to have support for "Side-by-Side" 3D movies. There is no way for a TV/projector to know a movie is SBS so you will have to manually switch to this mode every time.

You can also configure XBMC (and Alsa; not sure about PulseAudio) to output video via HDMI and audio via Toslink. I was doing this type of setup for a very long time.

Hope that helps!

SofaKng Wrote:1. Yes, 3D SBS (half) is just a regular 1080p video. The TV (or projector) splits each frame into two frames (ie. 3D) so XBMC, your video card, etc, doesn't need to even know it's 3D.

2. Windows (nVidia; and probably ATI?) can definitely output "FULL 3D". (I'm assuming you are referring to HDMI 1.4 frame-packing 3D [ie. the same as Bluray 3D]) There is some software for Linux that appears to support this but I haven't researched it into. XBMC cannot output an HDMI 1.4 3D signal though.

3. Yes, your projector absolutely needs to have support for "Side-by-Side" 3D movies. There is no way for a TV/projector to know a movie is SBS so you will have to manually switch to this mode every time.

You can also configure XBMC (and Alsa; not sure about PulseAudio) to output video via HDMI and audio via Toslink. I was doing this type of setup for a very long time.

Hope that helps!

YES! That helped immensely! Thank you. I have no problem experimenting, I just didn't want to shell out that kind of money and then find out I could not do it at all! I just wanted to make sure I "could" do it. Now that I know, I can get the stuff and start messing around.

Any quick tip on a viewer for watching FULL 3D off my HTPC? I am assuming the half 3D setup on XBMC is still pretty good, but I may want to check it out!

One more question actually... If I am ONLY going to have a HTPC running XBMC hooked up to this projector, do you think I could buy a projector that handles ONLY PC 3D and still be able to watch 3D movies off the XBMC? Or would I still have to buy a projector that handles FULL 3D?

I ask because there is about a $1,000 difference. I would hate to spend the extra $1,000 and realize I never even use that feature!

(2012-02-08 21:57)SofaKng Wrote:  2. Windows (nVidia; and probably ATI?) can definitely output "FULL 3D". (I'm assuming you are referring to HDMI 1.4 frame-packing 3D [ie. the same as Bluray 3D]) There is some software for Linux that appears to support this but I haven't researched it into. XBMC cannot output an HDMI 1.4 3D signal though.

Hi again. Can you tell me where you found software for linux that support full HD 3D via HDMI 1.4a? I was not able to find any solution for linux...?

tommymsw- I can verify that the Optoma HD33 does support SBS. I use it in my Media Room and it works great!

top1percent:

You'd managed to get the HD33 to accept 1080pXX (Half) SBS 3D format?

I'm thinking of buyin one, and reading the specifications, the only info I could get is the HD33 only supports 1080i50/1080i60 (interlaced).

Thanks.

Is a 3D-ready TV required or can a PC and video card process everything onto a standard monitor or LCD TV?

Hi all, MakeMKV has released an updated (a couple of releases ago actually) that will enable you to create 3D MKVs from Blu Ray Discs properly. I am testing this out tonight, Ill update later if everything works well.