Fellow stereo-3D addicts, I am endorsing Planar stereo 3D displays for use with PyMOL.
Note that there is absolutely no relationship between DeLano Scientific and Planar, but I did see the product at the Schrodinger User Symposium and both Planar and Schrodinger were kind enough to allow me to test and demonstrate PyMOL running on one of two displays during much of the event. Very cool! The Planar displays are bit expensive ($4 to 8k depending on size), but they do work really well for our kind of 3D content -- much better than any other LCD-based CRT-alternative I have personally seen to date. In fact, these are the first displays I can honestly imagine replacing desktop CRTs for day-to-day stereo 3D visualization tasks in structural biology. The stereo 3D quality is at least as good as (if not significantly better than) a CRT with shutter glasses, and I don't think the cost is unreasonable for what you get. Why are the Planar display is noticably better? Because most of the other LCD-based displays give you only half a display's worth of resolution per eye, whereas Planar delivers up to 1920x1200 pixels to each eye. That means your electron density and thin-line bonds come through crystal clear, not blurred, pixelated, or otherwise distorted. Also, with the largest display, it is possible to have up to ~8 people gathered around, each enjoying a crystal-clear stereo 3D image of your structure. Note that polarized glasses are much less expensive than shutter glasses, so there is some potential savings to be had over CrystalEyes in terms of per-observer costs. (By the way, for larger groups, a Christie Mirage DLP projector with a Z-screen & polarized glasses provides unbeatable stereo display quality). If you do buy or indeed already own one of these displays, then please do let me or the PyMOL mailing list know how it is working out. I don't have enough feedback yet to know for certain that Planar is the best option, but given that CRTs are no longer viable, it is very important that we come together to identify, test, and confirm good stereo 3D display alternatives. If your own experiences contrast this endorsement, then it is crucial that you speak up to provide balance and counterpoint. By the way, in terms of cards & drivers, I believe this technology requires a graphics card which can do stereo "clone" mode -- which means you need two DVI output ports and drivers which can translate standard OpenGL QuadBuffer Stereo 3D into two complementary display images. This presumably implies running native Linux or Windows (not Mac OS X) with a mid-to-high-end nVidia Quadro card. If you own an Intel-based Mac with a Quadro card, then you'll need to run Linux or Windows via BootCamp instead of using Leopard (sorry Steve!). Without a Quadro card, you might still be able to get full-screen stereo 3D using a window spread across both displays with PyMOL's "geowall" stereo mode -- but that's not optimal. Right now they are discounting the displays 15% for our market, so if you are looking for a stereo 3D display, contact: Scott Robinson Planar Systems Product Manager, StereoMirror 3D Displays [email protected] (503) 748-5833 or follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/45yc8e Cheers, Warren DeLano Scientific LLC
