Playback
Playback and format guide
StereoLift delivers your 3D video in Full Side-by-Side format — both eyes at full original resolution in one wide frame. This guide lists tested players and playback paths for the major VR headsets, 3D displays, and stereoscopic software players, explains what to do if 3D mode does not switch on automatically, and shows how to preview the 3D effect without a headset.
Quick start
- Open the downloaded video in one of the recommended players for your device. The device guide below lists a tested option for every major platform.
- Many dedicated 3D players switch to Full Side-by-Side mode automatically when they read the embedded stereoscopic metadata.
- If 3D mode does not switch on, set the format to "Side-by-Side" or "Full SBS" in the player's settings and the picture will render correctly.
- If you need a different platform behavior later, the free local metadata tools can add or remove 3D recognition and display-shape signaling on your device.
Output at a glance
Device and player matrix
Recommended player or setting for each platform StereoLift output is verified against. Pick the row that matches your target device.
| Platform | Recommended apps or players | Best fit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Quest and Pico | SKYBOX, Pigasus, 4XVR, Bigscreen | Direct Full SBS playback in dedicated VR media players. | If the app does not detect the format automatically, select Full SBS in its 3D settings. |
| Apple Vision Pro | SKYBOX, Moon Player, Reality Player | Third-party SBS playback on visionOS. | Output is standard Full SBS, not Apple's MV-HEVC spatial format. Apple's native Photos and Apple TV spatial experiences do not play SBS files; use one of the third-party players above. |
| PSVR2 | Rad TV | Stereoscopic side-by-side playback on PSVR2. | Some Rad TV features, including local file handling, require a premium subscription. |
| 3D TVs and projectors | Display-native 3D mode or external player | Displays that accept Full SBS input directly. | Older HDMI 1.4-era 3D displays were designed around half-width SBS and frame-packed Blu-ray formats, so behavior on Full SBS varies. Selecting Side-by-Side or Full SBS manually in the display menu is usually enough. |
| Android TV, Fire TV, and NVIDIA Shield | Kodi | Living-room playback with explicit stereoscopic mode switching. | Kodi reads the embedded 3D metadata directly and is the most reliable choice for 3D mode switching on TV-class devices. |
| Windows | PotPlayer, Bino | Desktop playback with built-in 3D mode switching. | PotPlayer offers the fastest switching between SBS, anaglyph, and cross-eye output via its right-click menu. |
| macOS | mpv, Bino | Desktop stereoscopic playback on Mac. | mpv handles Full SBS reliably from the command line. Bino offers a graphical interface where building from source is acceptable. |
| Linux | Bino, mpv | Desktop playback with strong stereoscopic controls. | Bino is available via Flathub. mpv covers cross-eye and anaglyph viewing directly from the command line. |
| iPhone, iPad, and Android | nPlayer | Mobile playback with full 3D post-processing controls. | Open Settings → Video → Post Processing, enable it, then choose 3D Mode and select side-by-side input. |
| Standard 2D players | Any regular player with red-cyan glasses | Anaglyph playback without dedicated 3D software. | Order the separate anaglyph conversion when a SBS-aware player is not available on the target device. |
Will my player auto-detect the 3D format?
Every delivered file carries stereoscopic metadata, including 3D container flags and frame-level signaling. Many 3D-capable players use this to switch into Full SBS mode automatically. Players or platforms that ignore the metadata still work when you select Side-by-Side or Full SBS manually. If you later need the same Full SBS pixels to behave differently, the free local metadata tools can add or remove 3D recognition and display-shape metadata fully on your device.
Why does a 2D player show a squished image?
If a regular 2D player opens the file, both eyes look horizontally squashed. The file is not damaged — it carries display-shape metadata, also called SAR or aspect-ratio signaling, that tells the player to fit the wide frame into its normal display area. A 3D-capable player splits the frame first and renders each eye at full resolution. To free-view the file at its native 2:1 width for cross-eye stereoscopy on a regular monitor, run mpv --vf=setsar=1:1 your-file.mp4, open the file in PotPlayer on Windows and switch to cross-eye output, or use the free local metadata tools to remove the display-shape signal from a copy.
Is StereoLift output the same as Apple MV-HEVC spatial video?
No. Apple's MV-HEVC spatial format encodes each eye as a separate HEVC track inside an Apple-specific container and is required by Apple's native spatial-video apps on Vision Pro, iPhone, and iPad. StereoLift output is standard Full SBS, which works in the SBS-aware players listed above — including third-party SBS players on Vision Pro (SKYBOX, Moon Player, Reality Player) — but not in Apple's native Photos or Apple TV spatial experience.
Can I upload my 3D video to YouTube?
Yes. YouTube accepts Full SBS uploads, and StereoLift writes the stereoscopic metadata YouTube expects for MP4 delivery. In supported YouTube VR and 3D playback paths, the upload is recognized as stereoscopic after processing. The YouTube VR app on Meta Quest and Pico headsets is the most relevant target; standard web and mobile players may still show the file as a single wide 2D frame. If you want YouTube to treat the same SBS pixels as a plain side-by-side video instead, use the free local metadata tools to remove YouTube 3D recognition metadata before upload. Two upload tips: keep the source roughly 16:9 so the resulting SBS file lands at a YouTube-friendly aspect ratio, and avoid vertical (9:16 or taller) sources — YouTube routes them into Shorts, which uses a different player with no 3D mode.