PyMOL: objects are blurry at the exact focal plane

#1

Hi, I bought Looking glass 15.6 to use PyMOL but am a little bit disappointed. I’d like to know whether I can fix some problems. (All below are about PyMOL.)

  1. Objects in the foreground are blurry.
    I found this post (objects-in-foreground-are-blurry/2238) and now understood that it is the limitation of Looking glass.

  2. Objects at the exact focal plane are still blurry.
    In the demo video, it seems that the amino acids are clear in the Looking glass monitor (Getting Started with Holographic Maestro & PyMOL in 3 Easy Steps — Through the Looking Glass). However, in my PyMOL, the amino acids are still somewhat blurry even they are at the exact focal plane (https://drive.google.com/file/d/19VvKwjk1fBSsYbMYvLOEuih5_aMmKHHq/view?usp=sharing). Thus, I feel tired to see the Looking glass monitor for several minutes.

My questions are:
(1) Is it normal that the objects at the exact focal plain are still blurry in Looking glass? It seems that the resolution at the focal plane is very low (even though I set up it 3840 x 2160).
(2) I tested Looking glass with either “No graphic card” or “Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060”. However, there were no differences at all in terms of graphic quality or focus. Have you tested Looking glass without graphic cards?
(3) Text is broken in Looking glass. When the computer is turned on, some folders in the background are shown in Looking glass, but I cannot read the folder name. Is this normal?

Thank you.

#2

I downloaded the example from here (How it works - The Looking Glass User Guide)

  1. Text
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l1clHAD3nc5LhnOB02Kxb0Hq5Jq8e9FV/view?usp=sharing
    The focal plane of my Looking glass is too narrow compared to the demo (shown in the above monitor).

  2. DOF Blurring
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/15URqvSGX3qzw77nH7Ct1TEC7L3vpYp-3/view?usp=sharing
    I cannot see any difference between DOF Blurring and No DOF Blurring.

  3. Another example
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Po2DLcT5daquJV1WmBx4pcACKIQotrai/view?usp=sharing
    I cannot find the same example from the website, but it seems that this is not normal…

#3

I tested another “Featured Applications” from here (Looking Glass 15.6" - The Looking Glass User Guide)

  1. Froggo
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fMSvceeqFobewr-BrcPoPzJmp_5x8VMK/view?usp=sharing
    The frog image is broken in my Looking glass.

  2. Keijiro Squid
    I can see only gray screen (I changed the monitor by using Windows+Shift+Left arrow.

  3. Squishy Squad
    I can see only black screen. It seems that only the background color of Squishy Squad is shown.

#4

Even at the focal plane don’t expect retina or even pre-retina LCD sharpness. To become a lightfield display, the optics need to take that retina resolution 4K panel and spread those millions of subpixels across many dozen unique views, so the effective resolution is VGA-ish (it’s hard to put an exact number on it because it’s analog, but ballparking it I’d say something like 550 x 300). Also because of the directional light spreading you get some gaps between the dots of light so there’s a bit of a “texture” even on smooth surfaces. But for these tradeoffs you get an unencumbered-viewing lightfield, which is pretty cool and useful.

#5

@Dithermaster Thank you for letting me know the information! Do you know how I can get a broader focal plane from Looking glass, as shown in the demo video? (Referring #1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l1clHAD3nc5LhnOB02Kxb0Hq5Jq8e9FV/view?usp=sharing). If the broadness (or depth) of the focal plane can be adjusted by calibration, I would be much happier. My Looking glass shows a very narrow focal plane compared to the demo one and induces an eye strain.

#6

In that video, only that text at the focal plane is readable; everything else is blurry. Either you have some kind of massive DOF blur going on, or your Looking Glass is not using its calibration values. After looking at your other videos, I’m pretty sure it is the latter (since objects disappear as you move the camera left/right). Whatever toolkit you are using is not reading the calibration values from your LG. If you’re using a USB hub, go directly to the computer. Or try changing USB ports. Try the demos – if you don’t clearly see objects like the frog in 3D, it’s not working right.

#7

@Dithermaster Thank you so much for your comment. It’s great to know that my Looking glass is not normal. I used a direct USB port on the computer. I tried another port but got the same result. Thank you.

#8

I recommend opening a support ticket with Looking Glass.