64 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2005
W
e can’t remember the last time we
heard someone say, “What the world
needs now is a good set of 3D goggles,” but
we’re happy this apparent lack of demand
didn’t stop eMagin from designing the best
3D goggles we’ve ever tested.
Technically, the Z800 3DVisor isn’t a pair
of goggles; rather, it’s a pair of OLED (organic
light-emitting diode) micro-displays that
you wear on your head like eyeglasses. The
unit also includes a pair of stereo earbuds,
a noise-canceling microphone, and a head-
tracking mechanism. It’s more than just an
expensive toy, but you might have difficulty
convincing other people of that: With a $900
price tag, it’s definitely expensive; and most
buyers will just use it for gaming. But that’s
not its only application. Honest.
OLED displays are known for excel-
lent contrast and superb color saturation,
and the ones inside the Z800 deliver just
that: They’re bright, vibrant, and completely
capable of displaying everything from mov-
ies to fast-action games without smearing or
stuttering. Although each display measures
just 0.59 inches diagonal, eMagin claims
that their near-eye proximity delivers a pic-
ture equivalent to a 105-inch screen viewed
at 12 feet. The claim sounds a little fishy, but
we really did feel as though we were sitting
in primo seats at a good movie theater.
Each of the micro-displays inside the Z800
can display maximum resolution of 800x600
pixels. We didn’t find this limited resolution
to be a significant drawback, but eyeglass-
wearing editors quickly discovered that they
couldn’t get by without their specs; andpeople who wear
progressive bi-focal
lenses had real dif-
ficulty reading text
on the Z800.A SECOND DISPLAY
If you’re a frequent flyer (and can tolerate
stares from curious fellow passengers),
you could work—or watch movies—on
your laptop without worrying about snoops
leaning in for a peek. Use it as a second-
ary monitor, and you can do anything
that’s possible with a twin-head videocard
and two monitors.
Activate the head-tracking mecha-
nism and you’ll transform your melon into
a mouse, controlling the cursor with 360
degrees of freedom as you tilt and turn
your head. Playing games with head-track-
ing enabled involves a learning curve: The
device is responsive enough that you can
use head-tracking to determine your direc-
tion of movement (turn your head left in a
shooter, for example, press the W key, and
you’ll walk to the left).
We were surprised to discover, however,
that this didn’t feel as natural as manipulat-
ing a mouse. But then we dialed the head-
tracking sensitivity way back and found
that turning our heads slightly enabled us
to change our view—and effectively target
enemies—without significantly changing
direction. And this, in combination with the
game world filling our entire field of view,
immersed us in games better than any
device we’ve ever tried.SO WHERE’S THE 3D?
So where does the “3D” in
“Z800 3DVisor” come in? The
device doesn’t require specific
support from games and other
applications to display 2D
images; to produce 3D images,
on the other hand, the Z800
must be paired with a video-
card capable of producing
frame-sequential (page-flipping)
stereo.When operating in this mode, the video-
card renders unique views for each eye and
alternates between the two views in rapid
succession. The Z800, in turn, alternates
between the left image in the left eyepiece,
while blanking the right screen, at a rate of
60 frames per second (60Hz). Persistence of
vision melds the two alternating images to
produce a three-dimensional view.
As we went to press, nVidia’s GeForce
series cards are the only consumer video-
cards capable of producing frame-sequen-eMagin Z800
3D Visor
OLED micro-displays take you to the bleeding edge
reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED
The headset portion of eMagin’s Z800 3DVisor consists of twin OLED
micro-displays, stereo earbuds, and an integrated mic.You can plug in your own headphones or
earbuds if you don’t like the sound of the
Z800’s built-ins.The visor is hardwired to its control module, which
houses brightness, power, and standby buttons, along
with ports for power, USB, headphones, mic, and video
in/out. The visor draws power through the USB port.DISPLAY TYPE Dual OLED micro-
displays
RESOLUTION 800x600
AUDIO Stereo earbuds,
integrated mic
I/O PORTS VGA in/out, USB, mic
out, headphone in
2D COMPATIBILITY Any videocard
3D COMPATIBILITY nVidia GeForce onlySPECS