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Hi Georg,

My first answer would be it's a bad idea for several reasons:

1. PRICE/PERF
Laptops are always much more expensive than worstations for a given performance and often you cannot reach the performances of a desktop or tower computer with a laptop.

2. QUADRO + 120 Hz DISPLAY
Then if you want to use hardware stereo you will not only need a Quadro GPU as Pedro mentioned but also a screen with a vertical frequency of 120 Hz or higher and an external IR emitter. If you install Win7 it might work. If you install Win10 it won't with the current version of Coot (PyMol, Discovery Studio will). If you want to run linux as OS then you will need in addition a stereo VESA 3-pin connector (between the graphic and the IR emitter) which I think doesn't exists for laptop graphic cards.

Using an external monitor won't make it either unless your laptop has a DVI-D output (very few I think were manufactured and are no longer) or a Display Port 1.3 or 1.4 and your monitor also has a DVI-D or a DP 1.3 or 1.4 input.
Using a Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) output will not help either because I don't think you will any monitor with a Thunderbolt input running at a vertical frequency of 120 Hz. Then even 3D Club (http://www.club-3d.com) does not make a Thunderbolt to DVI-D active adaptor with a refresh rate higher than 60 Hz, i.e. you cannot use an external monitor with a DVI-D input.

So it not easy to have Quadro based hardware stereo on a laptop (I tried at some point to use the OpenGL drivers for GeForce that were available for developers and supposed to allow OpenGL 3D but without success).
You might find old Asus or Acer laptops (intel core of the 2nd or 3rd generation) with screens running at 120 Hz and built-in IR emitter but they are using GeForce graphic cards. At this point you might try to replace the GeForce by a mobile Quadro (if it can fit into the PCIe slot).

Alternatively to double requirement of a Quadro and a 120 Hz monitor, you could make use of the WiFi mini PCIe port of any laptop and use an external Quadro GPU that you will have to supply with electrical power (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwuDbXsQck (FR) or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq0ZE8wmv-Q (EN) ) or use some commercial eGPU solution (often using the TB3 port; e.g. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2984716/laptop-computers/how-to-transform-your-laptop-into-a-gaming-powerhouse-with-an-external-graphics-card.html ) but with their restrictions (laptop compatibility list and I'm not sure it will work under linux).
I haven't tested these solutions as the benefit in portability of a laptop ins then lost.

And overall I think you're better of buying any cheap second hand workstation, Quadro graphic card and a 27" monitor @ 120 Hz.

Best regards,
Philippe


Philippe BENAS, Ph.D.

ARN UPR 9002 CNRS
IBMC Strasbourg
15, rue René Descartes
F-67084 STRASBOURG cedex
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Le vendredi 1 février 2019 à 10:11:48 UTC+1, Pedro Matias <[log in to unmask]> a écrit :


Hi,

You need a laptop with a NVIDIA Quadro card that supports quadbuffered 3D stereo under Linux. I found this page

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/design-visualization/quadro-for-mobile-workstations/

that may help find a laptop with the needed specs.

For example, you can find info about a DELL laptop with a QUADRO P4200 at

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/precision-7730-mobile-workstation/spd/precision-17-7730-laptop?view=configurations

but you need to make sure the display supports 120/144 Hz refresh rate.

Best regards,

Pedro

Às 22:52 de 31/01/2019, Georg Mlynek escreveu:

Dear all, I am considering to buy a new laptop and would like to install the latest ubuntu version and have 3D glasses. Following the discussions in the lasts years, this issue seems to be not trivial. Which setup of laptop and 3D glasses will work plug and play?

And what about VR. When is coot and pymol VR ready?

Best regards, Georg.


On 31.01.19 10:54, Philippe BENAS wrote:
Dear all,

I had an HP Z620 that was dual boot Kubuntu 14.03 and Win 10. Coot was working in stereo mode without any problem for a year or so. But after one of their major updates Coot crashed as soon as the built-in IR emitter of my Asus VG278H turned on, as described Pedro and Jan.

My personal guess is that the new Win 10 kernels no longer accept some direct exchanges from programs to hardware parts, probably for safety issues. So I came to the same conclusion as Pedro: stick to Win 7 if you want to run Coot under Windows or use a linux distribution or dual boot workstation.

Nevertheless PyMol was just working fine in stereo mode under Win 10. At least until last september when I sold my Z620 for a Z820 (Kubuntu 18.04/Win7). May be PyMol developers at Schrödinger could give their tips and tricks to Bernard Lohkamp to whom I send my warmest aknowledgments for porting Coot under Windows.

Best regards,
Philippe


Philippe BENAS, Ph.D.

ARN UPR 9002 CNRS
IBMC Strasbourg
15, rue René Descartes
F-67084 STRASBOURG cedex
+33.3.8841.7109




Le jeudi 31 janvier 2019 à 10:18:42 UTC+1, Pedro Matias <[log in to unmask]> a écrit :


Hi all,

The problem with COOT stereo and Windows 10 is that the COOT binary is not compatible with the newer OpenGL drivers or somesuch in Windows 10. So, COOT runs fine in Windows 10 but crashes if you enter hardware stereo mode. However, PyMOL works fine in stereo in Windows 10.

According to Bernhard Lohkamp, the Windows COOT developer, this problem has not yet been fixed because he has no access to a Windows 10 PC.

Therefore, stick to Windows 7 if you want to run COOT stereo on a cheap Quadro card.

Best regards,

Pedro

Às 04:38 de 31/01/2019, Jim Fairman escreveu:
I had a Windows 7 machine that would run Quad buffered stereo back around 2009, haven't had a chance to try with Windows 10.

On Wed, Jan 30, 2019, 02:03 Jan Stransky <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Dear all,

I started looking into the never ending story of stereo in crystallography... As with our standardized linux setup we probably are not willing to move to X.org-world, if was wondering, if anybody was succesful to make stereo working in Windows 10. I did read some NVIDIA forum, and it seems that 3d vision is not very supported by NVIDIA, even for gamers... Was anybody able to mke it work with Geforce cards, to save few bucks?

Best regards,

Jan

Dne 03.01.2018 v 10:42 Wim Burmeister napsal(a):
I answer a bit late, but I repost a message on 3D graphics from Mai 2017 :

Hello,

we just wanted to share our experience in finding a configuration which allows to use 3D graphics under linux using Nvidia GeForce 3D glasses.

We had quite a hard time to find a configurations which works correctly.

We finally used Debian linux with a xfce desktop. Other recent desktops use a tiling which is not compatible with 3D graphics.

The hardware consists of

  • a DELL Precision T5810  desktop computer with an Nvidia Quadro M4000 (8 Gbyte memory, 4 DP) graphics card
  • Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision 2 (NVIDIA GEF 3D VISION 2 GLASSES KIT) active stereo glasses
  • a stereo connector PNY Quadro 4000 3D for the synchronization of graphics card and glasses
  • an ASUS 24" LED 3D - VG248QE display
  • a DisplayPort-DisplayPort cable

The Nvidia linux drivers from version 367.57 can handle the current version of the Nvidia glasses.

For an obscure reason a direct DP-DP connection between graphics card and display is absolutely required in order to obtain fully working stereo. If a DP-DVI dual link adapter is used, the stereo does not work on the top and the bottom part of the screen. This is true for a native DELL active adaptor or generic models. The exact reason remains unresolved, but the solution is to use a direct DP-DP connection. This limits the available choice of displays which require 120 Hz for 1080*1980 screen resolution and a DP input. We have been choosing a “Nvidia 3D ready” model.

There has been a considerate about of exchange about this problem on

https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/992892/linux/partially-working-stereoscopic-effect-with-3d-vision-under-debian-linux/

The setup comes with a price tag of about 1600 € free of taxes.

coot, pymol and chimera work straight without problems in hardware stereo mode. The experience is absolutely great.

Best

Wim

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Industry and Medicine Applied Crystallography
Macromolecular Crystallography Unit
___________________________________
Phones : (351-21) 446-9100 Ext. 1669
         (351-21) 446-9669 (direct)
 Fax   : (351-21) 441-1277 or 443-3644

email : [log in to unmask]

http://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/biological-chemistry/industry-and-medicine-applied-crystallography
http://www.itqb.unl.pt/labs/macromolecular-crystallography-unit

Mailing address :
Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica António Xavier
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Av. da República
2780-157 Oeiras
PORTUGAL

ITQB NOVA, a great choice for your PhD
https://youtu.be/de6j-aaTWNQ

Master Programme in Biochemistry for Health
https://youtu.be/UKstDCFjYI8


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