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eDimensional Wired 3D Glasses Review
Julio writes "Today at TechSpot we have reviewed eDimensional's Wired 3D Glasses, based on the original 3D Stereo technology that became popular a few years ago, these revamped version of the glasses seem to offer much more value and compatibility to the table. Adding amazing effects to games we tested which include Jedi Outcast and some other racing and flight simulators, this item could easily make it into your holiday shop list...
"The images looked very cool, and I spent about 10 minutes gawking at my new surroundings. After playing around with Jedi Outcast, I was ready for more. I checked the supported game list, and just about every game I had was listed there.""
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Computers offer the best and most impressive gaming graphics, besting any other console found on today's market; however as of late we have the PC losing some ground as a gaming platform due to impressive development efforts from the popular console makers; a relatively new system with a powerful graphics card offers the most realistic graphics you'll ever lay your eyes on.
Not satisfied with that, PC gamers are always looking for the next best thing to enhance their visual experience. Some might purchase a flat screen monitor; others may choose a faster graphics card which handles higher resolutions. Now that your system is decked out to the hilt, what's next? Well, companies like eDimensional hope you will eventually add some 3D Gaming glasses to the mix.
3D glasses have been out for some time now, but the technology is getting better with every release. Companies like NVIDIA continue to update drivers to improve the 3D gaming experience, which has many companies believing that some day all gamers will own a pair. So is this really the next best thing, or will this leave you looking like a geek for nothing?
Today I'll be reviewing a pair of 3D glasses made by a company called eDimensional. The company was founded in 2000, mainly focusing on enhancing the multimedia experience. They call their 3D technology E-D, and promise it to supply you with an amazing submersive 3D environment. One of the main reasons I decided to review this product was to see how it compared to the DTI 2015XLS 3D LCD Display I reviewed not so long ago, if you can recall that expensive gadget costs nothing less but $1700.
How It Works
I don't know the technical lingo to explain how 3D works, but I'll sum it up as best I can. Basically, people have two eyes and your eyes see things from a perspective when looking at objects depending on their locations, which is called binocular disparity. One eye sees one side of an object, and the other eye sees the other side. Your brain uses both views to create one three dimensional image. So this means the depth you actually see is just a perception of what the brain thinks it is; it may not actually be the true look of an image. Pretty weird stuff, eh?
Anyhow, the E-D system shows you a two eye view from your computer monitor. The depth-of-field is simulated using shutter-glasses with lenses that can alternate between clean and opaque (blocks light). While using the glasses, a left eye image is first displayed on a computer monitor, and the shutter-glasses left lens is clear, while the right lens is dark. The image on the monitor is then switched to the right-eye view, and the lens of the shutter-glasses is reversed. This switching occurs many times per second, fast enough for your eyes not to notice it. Your brain fuses the separate images together to create 3D. Yes, it's just your brains perception of what the image should look like. Pretty neat how we can trick the brain, don't you think?
Compatibility
The following cards are compatible with the 3D glasses
Features and function will differ depending on which type of 3D accelerator your system is equipped with. A compatible game list can be checked at the eDimensional home page. Not all games work on all cards. Now let's take a look at system requirements for gaming.
Setting Things Up
Installation was very easy, especially with the well written instructions included in the box. Hookup is done through a VGA adaptor that plugs directly into your video card. Your monitor is connected to the output of the adaptor, and your glasses plug into the rear of it. Initial setup took me about 3 minutes, and was effortless. The glasses come in two flavors, wireless and wired version, I've got the latter one.
Next, it's required to install the software included and stereo drivers for your particular card, which can usually be found on the manufactures website or the included installation disk. If you are using a NVIDIA card, I'd highly recommend using the latest drivers available to make sure you have the latest updates for glasses usage. When using a card other than NVIDIA, you will need to install the 'Wicked' drivers included on the disk. After completing the installation process, a system reboot is required.
The software installs an applet found in your display panel properties, which can be accessed through the advanced button. Here, you can turn on/off 3D and assign hotkeys that will enable you to define different settings to enhance your 3D experience.
Here are the specifications of the system I used the glasses with:
Entering the 3D World
The glasses are relatively comfortable, and seem to be well constructed. The package comes with 2 different sets of bows for different sizes of heads to ensure a good, comfortable fit. I would defiantly advice of wearing in a dark room, with nobody in sight, because they are sure to ignite a little bit of harassment due to the nerdy look (my kids tore me apart). After testing, I dropped them a few times to check for strength, and they didn't break.
The entire installation process was quite simple, and the hotkeys make tweaking the settings very convenient. The first game I tried was Jedi Outcast, which is an Open GL based game using the Quake 3 engine. I checked the game list, and fired the game up. One thing you need to remember is that your monitor might not support stereo 3D with the same resolutions and refresh rates you'd normally use, so try starting low and increase as you go on. I found the 3D effect to be simply amazing; these glasses provide the best 3D images I have ever seen on a PC, including those output by the DTI 3D LCD I reviewed in the past.
The images looked very cool, and I spent about 10 minutes gawking at my new surroundings. After playing around with Jedi Outcast, I was ready for more. I checked the supported game list, and just about every game I had was listed there.
There is a very nice selection of supported titles, and also a link to request a game that's missing from the list. I chose Motocross Madness 2 for my next adventure, notably because it's based on Direct3D and wanted to see how that worked. The 3D images looked great here too, especially after a bit of tweaking. Overall, these glasses are very easy to use and offer beautiful 3D environments for every game I launched.
After going through about 20 different games, my feelings from the beginning have not changed. Racing games look impressive, and flight simulator 2002 looked incredible. These glasses make PC games fun again and actually kept me glued to it for quite sometime (which is not an easy task due to the Xbox sitting right next to my computer). It takes a lot to impress me, and this product really did.
Final Thoughts
The first thing to remember is that if you are using Windows 2000/XP, be sure you have an NVIDIA based card, of it will not work. Like I said previously, the glasses are well constructed and are comfortable at first. After a while, they became a bit uncomfortable around my nose, mainly because the relatively hard plastic resting on the bridge. I don't wear glasses, and rarely wear shades so this might just be a getting used to thing. The cord isn't really an issue, but if you have the extra cash for the wireless, it would be nice. The cord could have been a little longer; you might have problems if your tower isn't close by.
Also notice 3D images on computers are not perfected. As good as they look; they are still a little blurry but that's not to say they don't look unbelievable. The 3D images are amazing, and will definitely add some spice to some of your favorite titles. I'd say if you want 3D, then these glasses are the best thing on the market, hands down.
In the other hand it's just not something I would use with every game. When playing a racing game by myself, sure, but when playing Quake 3 online, forget it. Frame rates drop considerably, so you end up playing at lower resolutions. Lower resolutions mean graphics don't look as sharp.
Overall, eDimensional glasses offer excellent 3D, and the $69.00 price tag is pretty reasonable especially compared to 3D monitors which cost in excess of $1500! I really liked them better than the 3D monitor, but I don't know how much I will really use them. For you this might be different, but this is just how I feel. The glasses are also said to work with DVD titles, you just need to purchase additional software to witness this (which I did not). To sum it up, if you're looking to add a little zing to some computer favorites, these 3D glasses will deliver.
Unfortunately the lack of stereo vision that this results in means that the picture is now no longer 3D.
However, there is a solution: alternately open and shut your left and right eyes around 24 times a second.
Oh wait...