Another novelty of Samsung is the Odyssey 3D gaming monitor, which the company mentioned at the beginning of the year at CES 2024. The main feature of the model is the ability to reproduce a three-dimensional image without the need to use special glasses and other accessories.

Samsung launches the Odyssey 3D gaming monitor. As the name implies, the display supports stereo imaging. The developers of the technology have managed to fix the main problems of 3D technology, but does this mean that we will soon return to the era of three-dimensional images?

 

samsung odyssey 3D

 

10-15 years ago, 3D was on everyone’s lips: any blockbuster was necessarily released in stereo, and it was easy to find a 3D TV in the homes of wealthy geeks. However, by 2017, the last major manufacturers – Sony and LG – curtailed the production of such models. The popularization of 3D was hindered by three nuances: the high cost of equipment, the lack of content and the complexity of use. Separate glasses were required for each viewer, since 3D TVs were characterized by insufficient brightness and a narrow viewing angle.  As a result, the stereoscopic format was finally entrenched only in cinemas, where a giant screen smoothed out technical flaws, and the audience was ready to sit in glasses to watch special effects.

A New Era of 3D

Leia was founded as a division of HP more than a decade ago. Its technology uses a combination of security cameras and a special optical layer, a lenticular lens, which “splits” the image into two streams. The algorithm tracks the movements of a person’s face and sends a voltage to the liquid crystal to change its refractive index. There is even AI that predicts movements in a few seconds. Switching between 2D and 3D is also supported.

 

Finally, without glasses. Will Odyssey 3D gaming monitor return on horseback?
 
 
Odyssey 3D is presented in modifications with a screen diagonal of 27 and 37 inches. The resolution of the monitor’s OLED panel in both cases is 4K, the refresh rate is 165 Hz, and the response time is 1 ms. In addition, the novelty supports AMD FreeSync Premium adaptive sync technology. The 3D image effect can be disabled if necessary.

The problem with the lack of 3D content has also been solved. Leia has created a neural network that turns any two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional one. The authors of the technology say that they have trained algorithms on a huge array of 3D images, thanks to which the conversion result using Leia AI is almost indistinguishable from professionally created stereo content.

The most serious compromise is the resolution of the picture. In 3D mode, one half of the pixels is used to generate an image for the left eye, the other half for the right eye. But this is compensated by 8K screens. In addition, so far, the system is able to track only one pair of eyes, so the return of family 3D viewing should not be expected in the near future.

Finally, without glasses. Will Odyssey 3D gaming monitor return on horseback?

In addition to the Samsung monitor, Leia technology can be tried out in some Acer laptops (usually as an additional option). There is also a 27-inch Lenovo ThinkVision 3D monitor. It is not surprising, because modern AAA games are often three-dimensional, which makes them a natural field for testing.

To convert 2D to 3D, the monitor uses dual-camera tracking technology combined with proprietary mapping technology. The result of their work is two slightly different images that “glue” into one three-dimensional image.

The Odyssey 3D interface set includes a pair of HDMI 2.1 connectors and one DisplayPort 1.4. Provides and adjusting the bundled stand to adjust the position of the monitor depending on the user requirements.