Per-window stereo on MSG's Octanes

Overview

By default, MSG's Octanes use a split-screen technique (top half of the screen is shown to one eye; the bottom half to the other eye) for hardware-assisted stereo. With this method, a stereo-capable application typically uses the entire screen.

It is also possible to put the Octanes in a state (see the instructions) below, where hardware-assisted stereo is done by alternating which eye is used each time the monitor begins a vertical scan. This is how most of the O2s at MSG are configured and generally makes it easier to use a mixture of stereo-capable and normal applications at the same time. This method for hardware assisted stereo is referred to below as per-window stereo.

Instructions

To use an Octane with per-window stereo, do the following:

1. In a shell window, enter perwindow which when executed should return immediately with no messages.
2. Log out. When the login screen reappears, the letters will be larger than normal because of the reduced resolution (1024 x 768) when operating in the per-window stereo mode.
3. Log back in and run the stereo-capable application(s).
4. When finished, simply log out; the system will automatically revert to using the normal graphics.

If an Octane is left in a state where it displays the screen at 1024 x 768 resolution, logging in and logging back out will restore it to the normal resolution.

Application Compatibility

These applications are functional when used with per-window stereo on an Octane:

• Priism

At this point there are no applications which are known not to work with the per-window stereo on the Octanes.

If you find an application which isn't listed above and you know it does or does not work with the per-window stereo on the Octanes, please send mail to eric@msg.ucsf.edu.

Desktop Configuration

The desktop can be configured so that the position of open windows is continuously saved and when you log back in the windows are in the same position as when you last logged out. This doesn't tend to work well with switching to and from the per-window stereo display. A workaround is to configure the desktop to use a "home session" (an arrangement of windows on the screen which is always restored when you log back in regardless of what configuration the windows were in when you last logged out). To do this:

1. Arrange the windows on the desktop as you would like them appear when you log in.
2. Select the Desktop->Customize->Windows option in the Toolchest. This will open a Window Settings dialog.
3. Change the Save Windows & Desks option to Explicitly. Also press the Set Home Session button to save the current window layout.
4. Close the Window Settings dialog.

modified July 3, 2000