Watch 2D Video in 3D with Virtual Desktop
Virtual Desktop can show the converted Windows picture from Stream to 3D on a large stereoscopic screen inside a headset. Enable passthrough and that screen can appear in your own room while the bed, furniture and the rest of the surroundings remain visible.
Virtual Desktop passthrough demonstration
This concise Quest recording uses Pexels footage and Stream to 3D's fast real-time Temporal conversion. It shows the Stream to 3D Play screen, the packed Half Top/Bottom output, Virtual Desktop switching its matching 3D mode off and on, and the resulting stereoscopic passthrough presentation.
A headset recording is a flat view from one eye. It can show the scale and position of the virtual screen, but a normal webpage cannot reproduce the stereoscopic depth visible inside the headset.
What you need
- Stream to 3D on the Windows PC;
- Virtual Desktop Streamer on the PC and Virtual Desktop on the headset;
- a supported Windows media player selected in Stream to 3D; and
- a short 2D video for the first test.
Quick start
- Connect to the Windows PC from Virtual Desktop and display the Windows desktop in the headset.
- Open Stream to 3D and choose Play.
- Select a 2D video. Use the Configuration Wizard when you want Stream to 3D to recommend settings for that video and PC, or use your saved manual settings.
- Select a 3D layout supported by Virtual Desktop. Full or Half Side-by-Side and Half Top/Bottom are available routes.
- Start playback and make the Windows player full-screen.
- In Virtual Desktop, select the same SBS or Top/Bottom mode. The two packed views should combine into one stereoscopic picture.
- Choose a Virtual Desktop environment or enable passthrough, then position and size the screen for comfortable viewing.
Use Play for this desktop-viewing route. The Stream button is for sending video through a network protocol to a compatible receiving player; Virtual Desktop is already showing the Windows display.
Choosing the conversion method
Fast real-time Temporal conversion has the broadest hardware coverage. AI Depth Guided conversion can produce a different result but is more demanding. The best real-time choice depends on the video as well as the PC, so use the Wizard recommendation when you are unsure.
The demonstration above was recorded with manually configured Temporal conversion and Half Top/Bottom output. A later Wizard check confirmed that Temporal was the suitable real-time choice for this particular 29.97 fps reel. The detailed figures are kept in the performance guide rather than making them part of the viewing experience.
Concise walkthrough
This longer edit retains the essential Stream to 3D settings, file selection, packed Top/Bottom picture and the switch to the correctly interpreted 3D view.
Playing a converted file in Virtual Desktop
Virtual Desktop's own video player can open a completed stereoscopic file created by Stream to 3D. Select the matching SBS or Top/Bottom mode just as you would for the desktop Play route.
Use this as a finished-file workflow. In testing, Virtual Desktop did not continually reread the converted file as Stream to 3D wrote more data, so allow conversion to complete before opening it there.
Common problems
- You still see two pictures: select the Virtual Desktop 3D mode that matches the SBS or Top/Bottom output from Stream to 3D.
- The picture looks stretched: check that Half and Full layouts are not being mixed and return player scaling to its normal or best-fit setting.
- Playback is not smooth: use the Configuration Wizard recommendation for that video and PC, or try fast real-time Temporal conversion.
- Audio repeats or echoes: follow the Virtual Desktop audio-routing guide.
Converting a live PC screen
The workflow above plays a video file. Capturing another PC screen or application is a different Live Sources workflow and normally uses separate source and output displays to avoid a repeated-window feedback loop. See the Virtual Desktop dual-display screen-capture walkthrough.