14 DAY TRIAL // There are certain situations when the time between the moment a certain product is announced and the one it actually starts shipping is way too long, and that's pretty much the case with NVIDIA's 3D Vision Pro solution, that's just now starting to become available, despite being officially unveiled way back, in mid-2010.
As some of you might remember, the 3D Vision Pro is actually a 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D viewing solution designed specifically to cater for the needs of professional users, such as digital content creation (DCC) artists, product designers, and even physicians.
Unlike its consumer-grade sibling, that employs an IR system, the Pro system sports a RF-based communication hub, thus ensuring a much higher functioning range (up to 100 feet), but also no line of sight requirement between the glasses and emitter.
The system also includes 120Hz active shutter glasses and enables bi-directional communication, meaning that installations can verify that the glasses are operating and see their battery levels.
Additionally, the 3D Vision Pro solution also offers an explicit connection between the glasses and the hub, without crosstalk, that makes it a very good solution for multi-user environments.
However, this particular 3D solution from NVIDIA won't really work with just about any GPU on the market, requiring a fairly powerful system containing one of the company's QUADRO graphics cards.
Given the fact that we're talking about a professional-grade solution targeting a fairly specific market segment, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise the fact that the 3D Vision Pro is only available from authorized channel partners, namely PNY Technologies in Europe, ELSA in Japan, and Leadtek in Asia Pacific.
According to NVIDIA, the 3D Vision Pro will also be quite expensive, the MSRPs being set at $349 (USD) for each pair of stereoscopic 3D shutter glasses, and $399 (USD) for the RF hub.