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crefvik
Journeyman III

AMD Radeon HD and OpenGL Quad Buffer Stereo

Hi guys,

I have a graphics card with an AMD Radeon HD 7750 GPU and I've written an application using OpenGL quad buffer stereo (QBS).  I wasn't expecting the application to work, but low and behold it actually works in stereo.  To be honest, it only works in stereo in full screen mode and not in windowed mode.

I have two questions:

  1. How can I tell which consumer cards support OpenGL QBS?  I was only expecting OpenGL QBS support with the FirePro series of cards.  If a card is certified AMD HD3D does that mean it supports OpenGL QBS?
  2. Is there a known bug in the driver that enables QBS for OpenGL?  I've written a few demos using AMD's DirectX QBS SDK and AMD Radeon cards, so I know these cards have the ability to do stereo rendering.  And like the DirectX QBS support, my app works on the Radeon HD in full screen and not in windowed mode.  I just don't know if there is a known bug in the driver - I've searched but haven't seen anything.

The reason I'm asking is because the AMD FirePros and NVIDIA Quadro cards are expensive - if there is anyway I can support my application with cheaper hardware that would be awesome.

Thanks in advance,

Christian

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1 Solution
gsellers
Staff

Hi,

OpenGL QBS will work on any Radeon HD series board in the 6000 series or better with a compatible display. You are correct that it only works in full screen mode on consumer boards. This is by design and is true in both Direct3D (via the QBS SDK) and OpenGL. Rendering stereo in windowed mode requires complex interaction with the desktop manager and is something that is reserved for certified applications on professional products. Our professional products also support a much wider range of 3D output devices.

Support on Radeon HD is really designed for gaming and watching movies on 3D capable TVs, but if your application is able to run in full screen mode, then there is no reason not to use a Radeon for productivity or other non-gaming applications.

Cheers,

Graham

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5 Replies
gsellers
Staff

Hi,

OpenGL QBS will work on any Radeon HD series board in the 6000 series or better with a compatible display. You are correct that it only works in full screen mode on consumer boards. This is by design and is true in both Direct3D (via the QBS SDK) and OpenGL. Rendering stereo in windowed mode requires complex interaction with the desktop manager and is something that is reserved for certified applications on professional products. Our professional products also support a much wider range of 3D output devices.

Support on Radeon HD is really designed for gaming and watching movies on 3D capable TVs, but if your application is able to run in full screen mode, then there is no reason not to use a Radeon for productivity or other non-gaming applications.

Cheers,

Graham

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Does the support for OpenGL Quad Buffer Stereo extend to the mobility versions of the cards? I haven't been able to get it to work on a 7660 or 7970.

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Hi,

In theory, yes - it's supported. Those GPUs are capable of 3D output. However, the same set of other requirements must be met. You must have a compatible 3D display connected via HDMI, DisplayPort or in some cases DVI-D. It is unlikely that the built-in display on a laptop will be 3D capable, but there may be some models out there that support this. Also, your application must be full screen and be running in a video mode that your display will recognize as 3D.

Cheers,

Graham

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Thanks Graham, that gives me hope. I've been testing with an LG 3D TV connected via HDMI. I've been running the app in fullscreen, but perhaps the QT framework I'm using is not setting the video mode correctly. Is that an OpenGL thing, or a windows thing? The TV itself detects 3D mode has been set when I run the DirectX example, but not my OpenGL app. The windows screen resolution dialog simply says it's in 1920x1080.

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After a lot of experimenting, I've had some success by reverting my graphics drivers to 8.973.7, setting the desktop resolution to 720p, forcing the notebook to use the low-powered 7660G rather than the high-powered 7970M, and forcing the app to use fullscreen. Any other combination does not work. Is there some reason that only the older drivers work, or why only the 7660G works?

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