Products from HCL,Asus, Panasonic, Dell, BenQ   for India market unveiled; a solution to convert 2-D movies to 3-D.

Graphical computing leaders, NVIDIA have brought a full slate of products to fuel the 3D TV and PC experience in India. At a launch event earlier this week in Mumbai, they announced partnerships with OEMs in India like Acer, Alienware, Asus, BenQ, Connoiseur, Dell, Fuji, HCL, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and ViewSonic… and many of them showcased their first offerings, fuelled by NVIDIA technology

“The opportunity that lies untapped in India is huge. The Indian movie industry has realised the potential of 3D and is harnessing the hype and excitement around 3D. At NVIDIA, with our global expertise in the field, we are keen to work with Indian studios and content creators to provide them with the necessary technology support,” said Nishant Goyal, Head of Sales, South Asia, NVIDIA.

The flagship offering is a piece of software -- NVIDIA 3DTV Play software -- which allows users to connect NVIDIA 3D Vision-enabled notebooks and desktops to 3D HDTVs for the ultimate high-definition, big-screen entertainment experience. With NVIDIA 3DTV Play software, any compatible NVIDIA GeForce GPU-powered system can be connected to a HDMI 1.4 3D HDTV. The combination enables users to view 3D photos and videos, and play nearly 500 games in 3D environments.

NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is bundled with a new family of Dell XPS laptops unveiled at the NVIDIA 3-D event in Mumbai, which also includes high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 400M GPUs and battery-friendly NVIDIA Optimus technology. The new systems, which come in 14-, 15- and 17-inch screen sizes.The Dell 3-D XPS laptops are also the world’s first with a full HD webcam.

Indian PC making leader HCL was also around to showcase its own 3-D laptop – the HCL ME XITE 85 -- with a 15.6 inch 3-D LCD screen and fuelled by an Intel Core i7 processor, up to 8 GB of DDR3 memory, up to 640 GB of hard drive, a DVD super multi drive and NVIDIA’s GeForce GTS 360M graphics . Expect to pay Rs 70,000 plus for this machine.

Asus was the other big name to unveil its 3-D notebooks and monitors at the event.
Panasonic had a whole range of large screen TV 3-D monitors on show -- and Patrick Beaulieu, Senior Product Manager, NVIDIA UK, unveiled a Panasonic 3-D camcorder that would be available at the equivalent of $ 1400 if you want to create your own semi professional 3-D content. He assured th audience that one could however find a $ 189 3-D stereo camera if one was less fastidious.
BenQ, has gone beyond 3-D monitors; while unveiling the first ever 3-D 24 inch monitor, BenQ National Sales Manager Manish Sood also showed off India’s first HD home projector – the W600 – which could project up to 300 inches diagonal pictures.

 See 2-D movies in 3-D

For those of us who have a large legacy collection of 2-D movie DVDs, NVIDIA has worked with companies such as Cyberlink to convert 2D movies into 3D. Through this alliance NVIDIA hopes to give a new lease of life to existing titles. Soon available in India is a $ 99 ( equivalent) software from PowerDVD and comes with their latest version PowerDVD10 Mk II.  Such converted 3-D content cannot quite match movies shot in 3-D -- like Avatar or Alice in Wonderland  or Piranha 3-D --  but it will pass for 3-D for all except the most demanding viewers.


NVIDIA 3DTV Play software will available to consumers in three convenient ways:

Free upgrade to NVIDIA 3D Vision PCs – NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is available as a free upgrade for all 3D Vision PCs via the latest Release 260 GeForce drivers for desktop GPUs, and Release 260 Verde Notebooks drivers for notebook GPUs. Download the latest drivers at http://www.nvidia.com/drivers.

Available on 3DTV Play PCs – NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is bundled on preconfigured PCs and notebooks.
Available for Purchase in November 2010 – NVIDIA 3DTV Play software will be available for sale next month at NVIDIA.com ( $ 40 approx) as an upgrade for existing PCs that include an NVIDIA GeForce GPU and Microsoft Windows 7. 

Note: All the systems unveiled require special  shutter-type glasses.

See our video on the NVIDIA Technology on the home page

October 28 2010