Latest news with #3Dtechnology
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Google Beam hands-on exclusive: a futuristic upgrade to conference calls
Google's Project Starline has been in the works for the last few years and is now heading out commercially as Google Beam and it's Google's way to make virtual meetings suck less. Beam uses a light field display and six cameras to render a volumetric, real-time 3D version of the person on the other end of a videocall. There's no headset, no weird glasses. Just a chunky display, a Chrome OS-powered compute puck the size of a DVD player, and a bespoke AI model working with Google Cloud in the background to stitch it all together. The Verge's Alex Heath got an exclusive hands-on.
Geek Culture
21-05-2025
- Geek Culture
Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF Gaming Monitor
While it may seem like an intriguing concept, 3D image technology has come, gone, returned, left and yet never truly disappeared even though it hasn't seen widespread implementation on single-user home devices over the years, largely due to the reliance on bulky 3D glasses. To be fair, the idea of glasses-free 3D implementation in computer monitors has been done before, albeit aimed at specific user demographics, like the content-creator-focused ThinkVision 27 3D or Sony's designer-centric Spatial Reality Display line-up. Setting its sights on the gaming market, the Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF gaming monitor harnesses some impressive technologies to offer a 4K gaming display capable of a high-definition, glasses-free 3D experience, although its somewhat-lacking library of supported games and steep price point might dampen its appeal for many. Decked out in a slick all-silver chassis, the 27-inch monitor sports an undeniably premium look and feel, with slim bezels apart from the top and bottom of the screen, largely due to the space needed to house its eye-tracking cameras (more on that in a bit). The same silver finish extends to its stand, which is wide and sturdy enough to support its 7.5 kg weight, offering additional ergonomic adjustments such as height (0~120mm), tilt (+15° ~ -3°), and pivot (+92° ~ -92°), although it doesn't provide swivel options. There is also a thin strip of RGB lighting at the base of the monitor, which subtly illuminates its underside with LEDs that complement on-screen colours. But where it's supposed to shine is in its 3D mode, and it does… once you get it to work. First, you need to make sure your rig is powerful enough as the monitor's biggest barrier to entry is its rather hefty system requirements, with Samsung recommending at least an RTX 3080 GPU to run 3D gaming smoothly, as the monitor only performs three-dimensional game conversion while running at full 4K resolution. There's also the software component, which means that setting up the monitor to make use of its 3D capabilities isn't just plug and play. First, you have to download and install the Samsung Reality Hub app on your PC, which is an additional software download required to make use of its 3D features. Next, you also need to plug in the provided USB-B cable to the PC, and also enable the use of the monitor's 3D camera via the PC's device manager. That's not enough though as during testing, the monitor was also unable to properly display its 3D effect until we unplugged our secondary display. We also had to switch off HDR mode, as leaving the setting on resulted in a washed-out image. That said, once the proper setup is done, the 3D effect works as advertised, with the monitor utilising a pair of cameras to deliver a three-dimensional image using eye-tracking technology, together with a view-mapping algorithm that constantly adjusts the stereoscopic image according to a user's position. Because of this implementation, users do have to sit at a proper distance away from the screen, with Samsung recommending a 60cm viewing distance for the best effect. Multiple pairs of eyes can also disrupt tracking, making the monitor built for individual users. Those standing by the side of the main user also won't enjoy the full effects either. The 3D effect kicks in during two main usage scenarios – watching videos and gaming. For video content, the selected clip must first be set to full-screen, which then automatically prompts an on-screen selection box with the option to turn either a 2D or side-by-side video into 3D. In practice, this feature works best using the latter, and the best way to describe the 3D conversion is that objects will appear close to what they would be like to see them in real life. So things in the video's background will appear far away as reality, while elements closer to the camera seem to pop out of the screen. Is it incredible? Yes, if the source material is impressive to begin with, like an establishing shot of looming forests or wide mountain ranges. While this effect extends to virtually any 2D video, the results can be rather inconsistent if your source video is just regular, run-of-the-mill content. In general, playing videos with multiple elements in the background and foreground, like Doom: The Dark Ages' gameplay trailer, led to instances where it didn't completely render all background elements in their proper perspective, and vice versa. Videos with brighter lighting also tended to perform better than dark ones, and the feature also only works with non-DRM protected videos, so watching Netflix or Disney+ streaming content in 3D is out of the question. Moving on to gaming content, the limitations do continue, this time due to its severe lack of supported titles. At the time of testing, the monitor only features 3D support for the following 12 games, with each needing to be launched via Reality Hub for the feature to work as intended: Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition Lies of P Little Nightmares II Palworld The First Berserker: Khazan The Smurfs: Dreams SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake Stray Wigmund Safe to say, these aren't AAA games that will make you want to go and pick up this monitor. The good news is that an additional 50 titles will be added to this by the end of 2025, including Darksiders Genesis, Like a Dragon: Ishin! and Psychonauts 2 , which may seem like a random selection at first glance, until you realise that all these titles are built using Unreal Engine 4. According to Samsung, the Odyssey 3D will only support Unreal Engine-developed games, which is a restriction that also explains its slim library, and it remains to be seen if this support will extend to Unreal Engine 5 as well. This means that if you're looking forward to playing such hits as Grand Theft Auto V, Baldur's Gate 3, Fortnite , or even Minecraft , you're in for some major disappointment. With only a handful of games to choose from, we fired up Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed, Palworld, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and Stray to test the 3D effects, which worked as described. But while its effectiveness did vary across each title, it's safe to say that none of these games demand to be played in 3D. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and Stray offered the best results, like the patches of vegetation in the latter's early hours popping out of the foreground or the former's wide open spaces presenting a realist depiction of depth perception. On the other hand, Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed and Palworld offered a more subdued 3D effect, especially noticeable in the former, which at times presented an image barely distinguishable from 2D. In addition, despite the claims that they were supported, the tested games did suffer from cutscenes that were not optimised for 3D, with Stray and Palworld being the worst offenders. In short, during instances where a subject close to the foreground would take up too much of the screen, such as in close-up shots, the 3D effect would break for that particular character, essentially presenting a 2D foreground subject against everything else in 3D, which was incredibly jarring and almost nausea-inducing. Apart from these instances, the 3D implementation worked well and didn't cause any strain or dizziness after prolonged play though it's fair to say that these experiences would surely differ based on individual tolerances, even with the monitor's eye-tracking technology being rather accurate enough to not ruin the effect even with minor head movements. Still, a little further optimisation is needed to fully flesh out the supported titles and negate any of the aforementioned issues. While touting all its 3D capabilities, the reality is that users would probably use the monitor in its standard 2D setting far more often. Fortunately, it does offer a respectable viewing experience, with the monitor boasting a 4K resolution IPS panel with a max refresh rate of 165 Hz and 1ms grey-to-grey response times needed for smooth, high-intensity gaming. Then again, most modern gaming monitors do provide similar specs, meaning that outside of its key 3D feature, the Odyssey 3D offers little that can't be found elsewhere. For connectivity, the monitor offers a basic but serviceable selection, housing two HDMI 2.1 ports, two USB-A 3.1 ports, a USB-B Upstream port and a DisplayPort 1.4. It should be noted that the monitor doesn't support DisplayPort 2.1, a standard often seen in other premium gaming monitors of the generation. The ports are also outward-facing on the rear instead of being placed beneath the monitor, which is pretty helpful in terms of cable management and general ease of access. The device's on-screen display (OSD) control joystick is also tucked behind the display, to the left of all its ports, located close enough to the base of the screen to make accessing it comfortable and intuitive. Its on-screen interface is also clear and easy to navigate, housing options to assign preset shortcuts, image quality adjustments like sharpness, brightness, or contrast, alongside gaming-specific features like adaptive-sync, black equaliser, or a virtual crosshair. There's only one 3D-related option found here, which is the option to choose which of its three inputs is 3D-enabled, with its other options delegated to Samsung's Reality Hub software. With a hefty retail price of S$2,998, the Samsung Odyssey 3D's admittedly impressive glasses-free technology can't make up for the fact that it lacks support for the very thing it's built for – gaming. With its sparse launch library, inconsistent 3D effectiveness for both video and gaming content, and most importantly, its steep asking price, it unfortunately comes across more like a luxurious party trick to show off to friends, rather than a viable gaming companion. Summary While the Samsung Odyssey 3D impresses with its eye-tracking 3D technology, its steep price point and limited gaming library make it a difficult recommendation for most. Aesthetics - 8/10 Build Quality - 7.5/10 Performance - 7/10 Value - 6/10 Geek Satisfaction - 6.5/10 Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Gaming Monitor Monitor Review Samsung Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF
