Here we go again…
Vero V does nicely handle Full-SBS 3D files encoded in h264 in my old projector. It sets up the SoCto decode them and output them as FramePacked. Which was the only FullHD mode my old projector supported anyhow (Epson 5050UB).
Of course, h264 is not the primary encoding you’d want for FullSBS. There are quite a good amount of good FullSBS videos on youtube, of course all VP9. And if you encode FullHD3D so that it can also be played on VR glasses, you would also NOT use h264, but at least h265. After all, flash storage on a mobile phone is limited.
My new living room display, XGIMI Horizon 20 Max can als receive FullHD 3D not only via FramePacked, but also as FullHD Side-by-Side - like XR glasses. E.g.: 3840x1080. It even shows that resolution for both 24 and 23.98 fps in the OSMC Kodi whitelist. Video format can of course also be 3840x2160 but of course it has to be vertically stretched to the full 2160 lines then.
On any Kodi that has no platform specific 3D support but just the upstream kodi 3D support, this works fine. I have not yet tried e.g.: LE/CE, but on Windows, it recognizes the file as 3D, looks for the matching resolution, switches to it, and e voila. [ Admittedly, i had to add these 3840x1080 resolutions via the AMD GPU GUI tool so Windows - and Kodi would have them. No good EDID handling in windows. What else is new. ]
On the Vero V not so much. Whenever it recognizes a file to be 3D side-by-side, it immediately wants to only output it as frame packed. Which does of course only work for h264. Could not even get it to output as FullHD SBS, even when selecting that option.
So then i hack around, change file name, remove stereo-mode metadata from mkv header, so Vero V does not recognize the file anymore as 3D. Kinda works, but its not switching to 3840x1080 (of course that’s in the whitelist), but 3840x2160. So i have to stretch it. I guess this is because OSMC distinguishes 2D and 3D resolutions, and 3840x1080 shows up as “3D Full-SBS” resolution. But i get 3D now on the projector. And of course kodi continues to think it’s 2D only. And of course if i tell kodi in video config it’s 3D, it goes back to the non-working SBS→FP hardware path. And without Kodi knowing it’s 3D there is of course no 3D skin or subtitles.
Yada yada: As soon as a display can output full-SBS directly, it seems to me as if OSMC Vero 5k should not require any different decoding pipeline than it does for 2D. Just make it work like upstream Kodi in that case.
Of course, i can’t 100% say if this is true for OSD/subtitles or for any 3D flag on the HDMI side. But i would be surprised if there even was a HDMI flag, given how Full-SBS is not part of the HDMI spec AFAIK, so it’s really only a question of 3D OSD/subtitle even when the video is just handled as if was 2D.
I think most of the current new “lifestyle” projectors (rear and UST) that do support 3D could also support 3D-Full-SBS input mode, but of course i am speculating from just the fact that they all seem to use some form of MediaTek SoC like it’s also in my projector. But of course, all those chinese companies have sworn Omerta - no documentation. So impossible to figure out.
Nevertheless: Suggestion is to check how easy it is to NOT engage the video 3D pipeline when outputting Side-by-Side, but just handle it as 2D, allowing it to pick the 3840x1080 resolutions - and still get 3D OSD/subtitle.
Of course - don’t do this only on my behalf, i have enough display options, i just wanted to report what i think could hopefully be useful for more users. Just consider it given how there is more and more Youtube and other FullSBS, and how people may want to have both VR Glasses and a good Home Theater setup. And not use multiple encoded files.
Btw: The FullHD-SBS 3D support in displays may also because of more and more windows tools to output games in 3D that way. My projector for example does allow FullHD-3D not only up to 24 fps, but 60Fps with Full-SBS and renders it as 120 Hz. So on a projector certainly good fun (24 fps FP would be too slow for action games). Not relevant for Vero V, just saying where there seems to be at least a bit of new market developing and why those displays may support this mode (beside using the same format as VR glasses).
. It’s a bug then