18 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
The best low cost 3D system for the PC
Date of Review: Apr 5, 2006
The Bottom Line: This is the best low cost 3D shutter glasses system available for the PC.
I highly recommended this system.
I've owned this 3D shutter glasses system for several years now. It has worked great. Since then I have used lots of other 3D hardware. Some of the HMDs available are pretty good, but cost a ton of money. Most of the other similar 3D shutter glasses systems work well too but cost more. I don't recommend using those old fashioned red and blue anaglyph glasses; they cause loss of true color and tend to cause eye strain. If you want true color eye popping 3D effects at a low cost, this is the only 3D shutter glasses system you should buy for your PC.
For a truly amazing 3D experience, try riding one of the roller coaster rides in the Rollercoaster Tycoon game (not included in this system) using this 3D system connected to an InFocus X1A, X1, X2, or X3 DLP projector with a 10 foot screen. There is a little bit of blue ghosting, but on a 10 foot screen the 3D experience is beyond belief! REALLY FUN! WOW!
The only disadvantage I found to this system was that it requires an nVidia graphics card if you want to play games in 3D. For years I only had an ATI graphics card so I could not play games with the system. This did not matter to me because I bought the 3D system to view 3D photos using the JPSViewer software package (not included in this system) which works on any graphics card with this 3D system. After a few years I bought an nVidia based graphics card and was able to play all my games in 3D.
For a good 3D experience you need a good CRT monitor with a refresh rate of at least 100 Hz, some people recommend 120 Hz. This is NOT the default in Windows; you need to set this refresh rate yourself. If the refresh rate is too low the screen will flicker and cause eye strain. For the best 3D experience I recommend one of the Infocus projectors I mentioned above. With these, a refresh rate of 85 Hz seems to work really good. If you don't know how to change the refresh rate of your monitor, ask someone to help you. The other thing you need for a good experience is to properly adjust the 3D effect. If the 3D effect is turned up very high to an unnatural level, your eyes will not be able to view it properly and this will lead to eye strain. I learned this after a few minutes of using the system. Once I had the system properly adjusted I was able to use the system nonstop without making my eyes tired.
Some people with very weak eyes may find 3D content difficult on the eyes. Some eye specialists actually recommend these types of 3D systems for improving weak eyes. I can view 3D content 24/7 without it making my eyes the least bit tired. I have never experienced any eye fatigue whatsoever on a properly adjusted system. If the system is properly adjusted you will have a very positive immersive 3D experience. The other reviewers who complain about the system making their eyes tired either have extremely weak eyes or do not have the system properly adjusted.
