Vision Restoration Alpha 0.3.6

Released October 19, 2026 for Windows 10/11 (64-bit). Tag: v0.3.6.

Highlights

No more black flashing under heavy GPU load

If another program worked the GPU hard, for example orbiting a Cycles render in Blender's viewport or running a demanding game, the glasses could flash black or lose sync. Windows was making the 3D output wait behind the other program's GPU work for up to 57 ms, longer than the 25 ms of frames the app keeps queued. The app now asks Windows for realtime GPU priority, and in testing the wait dropped to about 1 ms with no flashes. Confirmed through the glasses while orbiting a Cycles viewport.

This applies to every source, not just Blender. If Windows ever refuses realtime priority, the app tells you instead of silently running at a lower priority.

Bright scenes keep their highlights

Raising Image brightness used to flatten everything near white into one solid white, so a bright sky lost its gradient. Highlights now roll smoothly into white while shadows and midtones keep the full boost. A new Bright scene limit (Tuning tab, under Image brightness) gently rescales only the brightest large areas, such as a sky or a white page, keeping their gradients and their order; darker areas are untouched. It starts at its maximum and can be lowered.

Other improvements

• Steadier emitter sync: when the display's timing shifts slightly, the original NVIDIA emitter now re-locks to the new timing straight away instead of drifting.
• Smoother recovery from hiccups: after a brief stall the display queue refills without doubling up frames.
• Fullscreen menu inside the 3D picture: pressing Home no longer opens a separate window over the output, which could cause flashes.
• Black level slider: zero is now neutral. Move it left to deepen shadows, or right to lift them as before.
• AI desktop: the depth search can run at 75, 50 or 25% resolution for speed, while the eye images stay at full resolution.
• Remembers your stream view: the 2D stream view, its cover-the-display mode and the chosen eye are saved between launches.
• HDR is off by default and marked experimental. When enabled it uses HDR10.
• Friendlier documentation: a rewritten README, user guide, quick start and project page.

Also new since 0.3.0

• Wibble Wobble / SteamVR input: shows SteamVR's left and right eye images directly, connecting and starting the preview automatically. Guide
• VRto3D input: finds the VRto3D window and supports Half/Full side-by-side and top/bottom, with a separate game window for input. Guide
• AI depth controls: optional depth map adjustments (levels, contrast, detail, invert) with presets, plus steadier depth that copes with noise and scene cuts.
• Capture choices: window capture and AI desktop each remember their own capture method.
• Recovery after stalls: presentation and emitter timing pick up again cleanly after a hiccup, for both the NVIDIA and RP2040 emitters.
• An application icon, and fullscreen (F11) now starts 3D straight from eye inspection.

Upgrading

Download Vision-Restoration-Portable-v0.3.6.zip, extract it, and run Start Vision Restoration.cmd. Close the old version first. To keep your calibration, copy your profiles folder and emitter.fw from the old folder into the new one.

Not included, as before: NVIDIA's emitter firmware, the AI depth models and game fixes. The README explains where to get each.

Validation

• Release build with all 26 automated test suites passing, including GPU rendering (with a new highlight roll-off check), capture, emitter clock recovery and window-order tests.
• Public ZIP checked after extraction: 95 files, internal hashes verified, GPU and UI smoke tests passed from the extracted copy.
• GPU-load fix measured with a Cycles OptiX render on an RTX 5070 Ti (worst wait 57 ms before, 1.4 ms after) and confirmed through the glasses on a 240 Hz OLED with black frame insertion.

Known limitations

• LCD, QLED and Mini-LED screens still show ghosting between the eyes.
• Geo11 game fixes are experimental; Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear Solid V still crash.
• VRto3D, Wibble Wobble, AI desktop and HDR output haven't been confirmed through the glasses yet.

Vision Restoration v0.3.0 - Half/Full SBS and windowed preview

Vision Restoration v0.3.0 - Half/Full SBS and windowed preview

VLC movies, stereo images and captured windows now offer explicit Half SBS and
Full SBS input formats, preserving the intended proportions of each eye.
Windows 10/11 x64; experimental prerelease.

Downloads

• Vision-Restoration-Portable-v0.3.0.zip: extract the entire archive and run
  Start Vision Restoration.cmd or Launch.cmd. Includes the app, AI
  runtime/helper, x86/x64 game adapters, emitter tools, RP2040 firmware,
  release notes and both setup PDFs.
• Both setup PDFs and SHA256SUMS.txt are available separately.
• The release tag includes the matching source code.

Exit the old application before launching the updated copy. Keep your existing
profiles when upgrading. NVIDIA emitter firmware, AI model weights, Geo11/game
fixes, user profiles, recordings and diagnostic logs are not included.
VLC playback requires a complete installed or portable 64-bit VLC 3.x runtime.

Changes since v0.2.0

• Half and Full SBS: all three packed input sources share explicit packing
  choices. Half SBS restores horizontally squeezed eyes; Full SBS preserves
  native per-eye proportions. A combined 1920 x 1080 Half SBS frame and a
  3840 x 1080 Full SBS frame both display each eye at 16:9. Choose the format
  used by the content, then click Start source again after a packing change.
• Aspect-correct output: previews, fullscreen output, eye inspection and
  the 2D stream view preserve SBS proportions with black bars when necessary.
  Top / bottom retains its existing output-area scaling.
• Windowed preview: move, resize, minimize or maximize a separate 3D output
  window while keeping the main controls available. F11 switches to fullscreen
  and back to the previous placement. Esc or closing the preview stops it.
• Capture across displays: the captured window can be on another monitor;
  fullscreen stereo covers the selected output display regardless of the
  captured window's position or size.
• Updated source documentation, download page and setup PDFs.

Validation

• Release build and all 17 main CTest suites, including real VLC decoding,
  Half/Full SBS image and Windows capture metadata, windowed/fullscreen
  transitions, direct-eye transport, timing and emitter simulation.
• Rendered-pixel checks for eye proportions, pillarboxing and letterboxing,
  SDR/HDR shader paths, inspection panes, eye boundaries and the 2D stream.
• Public archive hashes, allowed contents and extracted GPU/UI smoke checks.

These are software checks. They do not establish optical quality through the
glasses or sustained game stability. The emitter firmware and game adapters
are unchanged from v0.2.0; no hardware flashing is required for SBS support.

Known limitations

• Direct VLC playback and the 2D stream view use SDR pixels.
• Movie optical quality and gameplay under sustained load need validation.
• LCD/QLED/Mini-LED ghosting remains unresolved.
• Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear Solid V retain unresolved failures; broad
  Geo11/3Dmigoto compatibility and native NVIDIA-driver stereo are not supplied.
• Generic DX12, DX9/10 and Vulkan stereo integration remain unsupported.

Vision Restoration v0.2.0 - timing, BFI and stream view

Vision Restoration v0.2.0 - experimental portable release

This release brings together presentation-clock recovery, fullscreen/input fixes,
recording output and BFI controls.
Windows 10/11 x64; experimental prerelease.

Downloads

• Vision-Restoration-Portable-v0.2.0.zip: extract the entire archive and run
  Start Vision Restoration.cmd. Includes the app, AI runtime/helper, x86/x64
  game adapters, emitter tools, RP2040 firmware, release notes and both PDFs.
• Both setup PDFs and SHA256SUMS.txt are available separately.

NVIDIA emitter firmware, AI model weights, Geo11/game fixes, user profiles,
recordings and diagnostic logs are not included. Keep your existing profiles
when upgrading. AI desktop requires a separate model; VLC playback requires
installed 64-bit VLC 3.x.

Changes since v0.1.1

• Presentation recovery: retain an established clock through isolated
  timestamp outliers and unavailable/disjoint frame statistics. Eight distinct,
  consistent samples establish a replacement clock. Both direct and composed
  output follow actual displayed-refresh statistics.
• High-refresh scheduling: reserve approximately 25 ms of presentation
  frames (six at 240 Hz), increase the emitter queue accordingly and reject
  duplicate/backward shutter deadlines, including already-dispatched commands.
  Added clock-outlier, correction, queue and duplicate-command diagnostics.
• Fullscreen and input: keep opaque stereo output over the selected display,
  repair window ordering without taking game input focus, and route captured-game
  fullscreen/F11 output through the same passthrough behavior. Source loss holds
  the last complete pair until output is stopped.
• Recording and screen sharing: an optional steady single-eye SDR stream view
  provides a recordable window or desktop mirror while stereo continues. It
  removes black slots and shutter-specific brightness/band corrections, supports
  either eye and runs at up to 60 fps. AI desktop already excludes its overlay
  from capture and therefore does not use this extra view.
• BFI controls: checkbox and shortcut select true black reset frames after
  neutral-reset experiments and preserve the selected timing mode. Diagnostics
  distinguish requested black insertion from presentation activity.
• RP2040 setup: OLED 240 Hz with Left / Black / Right / Black was reconfirmed
  by the user on 2026-09-26. A saved profile had BFI off; restoring BFI recovered
  sync while retaining the original phase, shutter widths and eye order. This
  was a profile correction; no firmware or driver change was needed. The public
  ZIP now includes the read-only USB/clock probe.
• Geo11 startup: preload an existing local NVAPI wrapper before Geo11 when
  using the proxy chain, so the fix can resolve its own stereo implementation.
• Updated setup guides, website, PDFs, RP2040 troubleshooting and release tools.

Validation

• Release application and x86/x64 shared runtimes built successfully.
• All 16 main CTest suites passed, covering timing, profiles, BFI controls,
  fullscreen ordering/routing, stream-view pixels, RP2040 scheduling and
  waveforms, GPU texture retention, direct-eye transport and VLC playback.
• RP2040 firmware built successfully. UF2 payload, headers, boot checksum and
  reset vectors passed artifact checks; hardware was not flashed.
• Real Geo11 capture passed all five output layouts on both architectures
  (10 cases), each delivering 90 ordered eye pairs and exiting cleanly.
• The public ZIP passed extracted GPU/UI smoke checks and verification of all
  57 internal file hashes. Both regenerated PDFs have the correct version and
  RP2040/BFI instructions (README: seven pages; quick start: five pages).

The pre-release RP2040 check passed its USB clock test, all 1,200 standalone
120 Hz shutter commands, and the short 240 Hz BFI test without reported emitter
errors or late commands. The user confirmed that BFI restored glasses sync.

Known limitations

• Short optical checks and synthetic GPU/transport tests do not establish
  sustained gameplay stability or eliminate all visible flashes under load.
• LCD/QLED/Mini-LED ghosting remains unresolved. Direct 240 Hz Left / Right is
  a different cadence from the confirmed 240 Hz BFI setup.
• Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear Solid V retain unresolved failures. Broad
  Geo11/3Dmigoto compatibility and native NVIDIA-driver stereo are not supplied.
• Generic DX12, DX9/10 and Vulkan stereo integration remain unsupported.
• AI desktop and VLC optical quality still need validation; direct VLC and the
  recording stream are SDR. The older depth-based ReShade hook remains nonworking.

Vision Restoration v0.1.1 - Experimental

Vision Restoration v0.1.1 — experimental portable release

This maintenance release improves presentation recovery, game overlay behavior, and AI desktop responsiveness. It remains an experimental prerelease for Windows 10/11 x64.

Downloads and setup

Download Vision-Restoration-Portable-v0.1.1.zip, extract the entire ZIP to a writable folder, and run Start Vision Restoration.cmd or Launch.cmd. The archive includes the application, AI helper and redistributable runtime, x86/x64 game adapters, emitter utilities, RP2040 firmware, README, and both setup PDFs. The PDFs and SHA256SUMS.txt are also attached separately.

Original NVIDIA emitters require user-supplied firmware and WinUSB setup. NVIDIA firmware, AI model weights, Geo11/game fixes, saved profiles, and diagnostic logs are not included. AI desktop needs a separately downloaded model; VLC movies need installed 64-bit VLC 3.x.

Changes since v0.1.0

• Direct-flip presentation follows timing slips immediately instead of retaining a stale refresh mapping. Composed presentation retains its existing jitter filter. New blackOnImage and clockReacquires diagnostics help investigate flashes.
• High-resolution polling replaces waits that limited covered-game capture and AI desktop conversion to roughly 32 stereo pairs/s. Capture and depth scheduling retain a steady cadence after late wakes.
• The Geo11 adapter stops presenting its own swap chain while the app covers the game, and paces new pairs to the app's output interval. Fullscreen game overlays retain game input focus and tuning controls.
• AI desktop keeps mouse and keyboard passthrough across fullscreen/F11 and source changes. Responsive desktop selects Small at 518 px, low smoothing, and a saved limit of 60 depth updates/s.
• Actual depth shows measured depth updates, map age, and inference time separately. Desktop motion can remain smooth while depth updates run more slowly; actual rates depend on capture delivery and GPU load.
• Updated usage instructions, website, PDFs, and diagnostic tools. README PDF links now follow the release version automatically.
• Fixed an x86 compilation error in the diagnostic process runner used by runtime regression checks.

Known limitations

• These fixes do not establish that every black flash is resolved. Sustained gameplay and optical validation remain pending.
• Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear Solid V retain unresolved failures and are not supported games. Broad Geo11/3Dmigoto compatibility is not established; the discontinued NVIDIA stereo rendering backend is not supplied.
• Game output requires windowed/borderless mode on the selected display. Native DX12, DX9/10, and Vulkan integration are not provided.
• LCD/QLED/Mini-LED ghosting remains unresolved. AI desktop and VLC viewing through the glasses still require validation; VLC direct playback is SDR.
• The older depth-based ReShade hook does not work; the separate direct-eye add-on remains experimental.

Validation

• All 13 CTest suites passed, including presentation-anchor regressions, profile persistence, GPU textures, and direct-eye transport.
• Release app, x86/x64 adapters and diagnostic helpers, and RP2040 firmware built successfully. UF2 structure, payload, boot checksum, and reset vectors passed artifact checks; hardware was not flashed.
• Real Geo11 capture passed all five output modes on both architectures (10 cases), plus covered-window SBS and Katanga capture on both architectures (4 cases). Every case delivered 90 ordered eye pairs and exited cleanly. Covered-window logs confirmed that the redundant swap chain stopped presenting.
• The extracted public ZIP passed GPU and UI smoke tests. Prepare-game watching, AI desktop fullscreen/F11 passthrough, and the game input overlay passed their dedicated UI smoke checks.
• Verified all 55 internal file hashes, the public ZIP checksum, excluded private/proprietary data, and version/content in both regenerated PDFs. The quick start has four pages and the README has seven.

Synthetic transport, GPU, and UI tests do not establish sustained gameplay or optical performance.

Vision Restoration v0.1.0 — Experimental

Vision Restoration v0.1.0 — experimental portable release

This release makes the current Windows app available for community testing. It is not a stable or universal game-compatibility release.

Downloads and setup

Download Vision-Restoration-Portable-v0.1.0.zip, extract the entire ZIP to a writable folder, and run Launch.cmd or Start Vision Restoration.cmd. Both start the same app. The ZIP includes the updated Vision Restoration README.pdf, README.md, and Vision Restoration Quick Start.pdf. Both PDFs and SHA256SUMS.txt are also attached separately.

The app requires Windows 10/11 x64. Original NVIDIA emitters need user-supplied firmware and WinUSB setup; the PDFs explain both. Proprietary NVIDIA firmware, upstream geo-11/game fixes, AI model weights, saved profiles, and local diagnostic logs are not included. AI desktop needs a separately downloaded model. VLC movie playback needs an installed 64-bit VLC 3.x runtime.

Included

• One app with the left Tuning and Input/Games tabs.
• Prepare game: select the actual game EXE before launch, arm the app, then launch normally. It watches the full EXE path, attaches to an available provider, and starts frame-sequential output when complete eyes and a foreground game window exist.
• x86/x64 geo-11 capture bridge, experimental direct-eye capture add-ons, and their required redistributable runtime files.
• Window capture, stereo images, VLC stereo movies, optional AI desktop, emitter utilities, calibration controls, and RP2040 firmware.

Known limitations

• Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear Solid V remain unresolved and are not supported games in this release. RE2 delivered stereo pairs before GPU device loss; MGS startup failures remain unverified after configuration changes. Prepare mode does not fix a crashing renderer.
• Classic 3Dmigoto fixes that depend on NVIDIA's discontinued stereo renderer still require that rendering backend. This app does not emulate it. Broad 3Dmigoto/geo-11/Katanga game compatibility is not established.
• Game output requires windowed/borderless mode on the selected output display. Native DX12, DX9/10, and Vulkan integration are not provided.
• Successful GPU/USB tests do not prove optical separation. OLED configurations have user-reported success; LCD/QLED/Mini-LED ghosting remains unresolved.
• VLC direct playback is SDR. The older depth-based ReShade hook is not working; the separate direct-eye capture add-on is experimental.

Validation

All 13 CTest suites passed. Both runtime architectures and RP2040 firmware built successfully. The extracted public ZIP passed GPU and UI smoke tests, and the preparation watcher test covered exact-path matching, operation outside Input/Games, waiting for a provider, and cancellation. The ZIP's 55 internal checksums and public asset checksums were verified. Both PDFs were checked for the updated Prepare instructions and known game failures.

These checks do not establish crash-free gameplay or optical performance.