Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED review part I: Unboxing and deisgn comparison vs the smd ST1080

You may not know it but hmds are the new tablets.. from summer 2011 and the release of the Sony HMZT1 to the release this year of the siliconmicrodisplay ST1080 , the Oculus Rift ( in a few weeks time) and the now in my hands Zeiss Cinemizer OLED you can see the great amount of creative energy , lab coated and t shirted geeks of all nations wracking their brains to solve a problem like the consumer hmd... for lab coated and t shirted geeks like you and me to trip some Count Zero action... 

This is not going to be one of those 3 hour company unit loan reviews that you will read with many a more serious and grammatically corrector tech site . No I am going to take my time as this is a unit I purchased, much like you will have to so the review is going to based on actual real day to day use of the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED with an ongoing comparison to the awesome ST1080 , the HMZT1 is over , gone dead , dodo and the HMZT 2 well ...fool me twice...fool me ... oh and the Oculus Rift when it arrives in a few weeks..

Although all these devices are marketed as mass consumer items, right now the technology,ergonomics,cost and supply issues really keep these as enthusiast niche devices.. If you want to test this theory try getting hold of a HMZT 2 , ST1080 , Oculus Rift or indeed Daniel Jackson..a Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED ..

Right now the consumer hmd is still in it`s Orville and Wilbur Wright phase at best displaying (!) the same level of proficiency as those old bold pilots in the intro to the Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. And they pretty much tend to look like Cylon ships too.. if Apple designed Cylon ships that is...

super conductive anti gravity A4 paper used to display the ST1080 and Zeiss Cinemizer OLED in Cylon pose (vertical)

If you are buying into one you are brave and you know this is also the most exciting time to get hold of hmds .. But the truth is there is NO hmd that will fit your face /head without discomfort or produce the clarity of image or indeed the VR experience that you were expecting .. But they are trying ..bless them..and for me these are the coolest pieces of tech to come out since some old hippy dude invented that magical device for surfing the web on your belly...

So let`s check out the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED ..and compare with the ST1080 .  I am going to be looking at design choices .

First let`s have a tour of what you get ..

Sony gave you a cinema , smd gave you 1080p and portability what revelations do Zeiss bring ?

Look closely at the above picture ...one of these things is not like the other . One of these things does not have a power supply+plug ..With the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED there is no power supply ... no PSU .. what ? Yes no PSU and I find that awesome, this is the first hmd that really is portable . You are not going to be hunting around for battery packs or charging with old fangled 3 pin and 2 pin sockets... no you just plug it into a USB port on your laptop ..and hopefully console too ( more on that when I get console gaming)  . In fact I use my ST1080s the same way connected to a USB port on my laptop .. but it is pretty radical to leave a PSU out together and it positions the Cinemizer OLED firmly as a portable device in the minds of users ..they want you to carry this around 

The battery/control unit is extremely light and as far as I can see so far does not heat up the way the ST1080s does , nor does it take up its own shelf as the HMZT1s did. And it is smaller than the ST1080s super hot control unit combining both power and display voodoo functions.. (yeah take that technical term AV trolls) ..

I just finished using the unit for around 4 hours  playing Dishonored in Tridef 3D and trying out various 3D videos (next part of my review)  and wonder of wonders the entire battery and control unit is not even warm ..in fact it is cool ..amazing this means you can actually carry this around in your pocket. Something which is not advisable with the ST1080 control box and totally impossible with the Sony HMZT1 and T2 control units... although I am sure a few AV blog trolls have tried...they tried ...and di..

Any way weaknesses of the battery control unit :  To connect your hdmi cable you need to use the mini hdmi to hdmi connector ..ok this separates the hdmi cable from the unit and should cut down on possible interference ..the ST1080 uses (ugly) magnetic shielding to get round this. However this is another lead to carry around and lose it and you lose your hdmi input option altogether. There is also no place for it in the carry case .. which at first glance looks cool but really is quite weak when it comes to taking care of your £600 hmd.. just sayin.. THE way to store your hmd is the smd ST1080 way,now that comes in a two compartment foam containing box , the uppermost unit containing your hmd , and in the lower compartment buried in two deep foam compartments all your gubbins .. none of which can damage the delicate hmd above. The Zeiss Cinemizer OLED carry case however  has you placing the the control unit ABOVE the hmd in the case wrapping it with the av cable AFTER you take off the ear locks... Zeiss obviously outsource or need to outsource their case and storage design . Any form of delicate optics needs a foam template containing case .. they do it for lenses etc why not for the Cinemizer OLED... Once you dare to pack the hmd into the case where do you put all the other leads ? whoops ... 

In three moves or less get all that into case above without damaging your £600 hmd ...

Comfort and ergonomics : The Zeiss is THE most comfortable hmd ever created or experienced by myself , really these are glasses or as close to glasses as you can get in terms of how it distributes weight on your nose and fits over your ears. The design with circular windows next to circular dioptre wheels , the sleek and featherweight temple arms and even the ear locks , with the power lead starting where it should on a hmd for a change make this a very cool looking and ergonomically functional device. 

The Zeiss is the first hmd that does not put your head in a vice grip , or require one of those rear shoe lace style head straps or the SM torture machine that accompanies the Sony HMZT 1 and T2 . You will NOT feel those temple arms at all , in fact playing dishonored when you use the beating heart item and that wonderfully soothing voice starts talking to you it felt like someone was whispering in mine ear .. I forgot the head phones were in my ears and I could not feel the temple arms pressing against me at all , a radically different experience from the HMZT1 and the ST1080..

On the nose :  on paper the Zeiss weighs just  a little less than the ST1080 but the intelligent bridge design ,ear locks and the arms that feel as loose and absent as the arms on your shades or glasses mean this is the first hmd you really could use for VR and move around without any strain on your neck or having to lower yourself to the point of justifying your £800 by posting the Fireman Helmet Mod your mother knitted for you to tempt the trolls on your favourite AV blog into buying it from you..so you can pick up that 3D LED tv instead... 


Optics ... the mechanics of the optics are great as expected :

The sweet spot issue 

The bane of hmd users (after discomfort ) is known to we happy few as "the sweet spot" . The sweet spot is the uber technical term describing the ACTUAL area of the screen you see clearly,  so forget about fovs of 120 degrees or 30 degrees or screen sizes of 70 ft at 20 m or 40 inches at 2m because what matters is how much of that screen you can see. Now move out of the sweet spot with your eyes and you lose the 3D effect , lose image clarity . The HMZT1 had a famously bad sweet spot, move ever so slightly and the optics would mess up altogether. Pain and discomfort was not the only reason HMZT1 users sat in virtual paralysis during their hmd sessions of watching Avatar in 3D ..  Looking through the viewer of the HMZT1 felt like work the optics were near useless not least because when the thing powered up it would warn you never to use the unit EVER if this line did not cross that line... oh the things AV blog trolls don`t tell  you...

The Zeiss Cinemizer OLED has NO sweet spot issues , you see a clear screen from corner pixel to corner pixel... ( albeit a on a display with a lot less of them). The optics are excellent , unshakable in fact you can look from a distance through to the OLED displays behind the optics and you can still see images and text (as long as you are at a sensible resolution) . 

Like the ST1080 the Zeiss has no optical lens distortion issues , when you look through on both these devices you see a flat screen behind . None of the curving , mind bending looking through one eye to chase text or icons of the olde HMZT1...

A matter of perspective
Another barrier to getting in lost in your 3D VR world is  offset perspective .. in order to explain this  let us consider Leonardo Da Vinci ( yes the one from Assassins Creed ) and his Last Supper which used an offset perspective that requires you to stand in a particular place and look from a particular angle  to experience the full 3D effect of his masterpiece drawing you to Christ . Yes Leonardo did in fact create ghost free 3D centuries before you got hold of your first 3D hmd .. don`t believe me ... go check out the original in the original place... it`s worth leaving your cellar for.. 

Any way when using a hmd the shape of your head, angle of your eyes,your nose shape  is different for everyone and can shatter the illusion of 3D, manufactures have a few ways around this ,the rigid positioning and immovability of the HMZT1, the shear weight of 680g of hot OLED designed to discourage you from moving and shattering the 3D effect once you had spent several hours trying to find it... The ST1080 uses a head strap and nasal bridges and the Cinemizer OLED uses adjustable nasal bridges and attachments , it does not always work for some with the ST1080 they still have to raise or lower the hmd to get a full view of the screen. The Cinemizer OLED has NO perspective issues that I can see and it comes with intelligently designed attachments  helping distribute weight and also counter the perspective issue you find with hmds. How effectively will depend on the particulars of your face, but I think Leonardo would be proud of Zeiss` attempts. In fact I am tempted to look at The Last Supper using Tridef 3D and check out what Mr Sforza paid all that money for...there you go 3D viewing of masterpieces yet another use for the Cinemizer OLED..

Dioptre wheels of joy : Another  inspiration of genius is the inclusion of the dioptre focus adjustment wheels that can compensate for short sight ..sadly not astigmatism though .You start to wonder how all the other (ok 3 ) consumer hmd makers missed out including them. 

Also it feels very cool turning those wheels like you are using expensive precision optical equipment .. which of course after paying £600 odd you are ! The Zeiss is the first hmd that you can see and feel the quality of... on the outside of at least ..find out the quality of the picture later on ..

Using hmds for almost a year the most important issue is comfort, then optics - how it moulds to your vision. On both these counts Zeiss have the perfect design model. You will feel it when you open the glasses ... it really is just like opening glasses the temple arms move with such free action that there is 0 effort ...and none of the opening the vice of the ST1080 or the abject horror of those straps on the HMZTs and that is before you adjust the forehead cushion that is going to leave a nice sweaty imprinted 3rd eye indentation right above your eyebrows...

With the Cinemizer OLED there is no need for mods , ski goggles , pickernic basket mods .. you just put them on and go.. 

looking up the nose of the smd ST1080 and the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer

Both the ST1080 and the HMZT series have lateral adjustments for what we call in UK playgrounds "Wonky eyes" .. as you can see from the above picture the sliders are on the underside of the ST1080 and you can move them independently and to any position . The HMZT 2 has caught up with this idea. With the Zeiss I needed no such adjustment. I was worried about the lack of this option but wow they just work you put them on and see the screen behind.

Putting the Zeiss on for me or you is as easy as putting on a pair of shades.. no nasal bruising , no leather footprint embedded into your forehead that makes your head smell like polished cowhide Loafers after a long session with the Sony HMZT1.  

I used the unit for around 4 hours .. the unit did not cook my face like the HMZT1, the OLEDs weren`t heating up and I had no neck pain or dizziness. I never needed to adjust the unit for discomfort at any point.

So lets talk about the experience : 

Screen size : they say this is 40 inches from 2m . the HMZT1 is a Cinema sized screen from the back row , the ST1080 is a 100 inch screen from 10m . OK people lets get real when you place your head in darkness looking at a rectangle of bright light for a significant length of time your brain turns the screen you see into the same size ..whether you use the HMZT1 , ST1080 or Cinemizer OLED you can only use one at time and after a while the screens all look the same size. 

We have to see what Palmer Luckey does with the 120 degree fov of the Oculus Rift but as far as my experience of hmds goes the screen sizes are virtually the same, what matters is how much of that screen you can see without distortion from the optics used. The Cinimizer OLED has 0 distortion . 

There is a caveat to all this what really makes a hmd screen look bigger is the amount of detail in a scene so the 1080p res of the ST1080 really comes into its own the 100 inch screen of the ST1080 just feels bigger as you see so much more detail. 

Is that 870 by 500 res limiting for the Zeiss ?  Well you go for OLEDs for their colour and refresh and in this case the design , ergonomics and reputation of Zeiss for quality will be enough to push a few of these out . I have no doubt there will be a 1080p version at least down the line, but you are talking a year or so at least , it took 4 years to out this from Zeiss.  720p OLEDs as used in the HMZT1 have problems of cost ,heat , size and in hmds optical distortion. Whether it was down to cost issues that Zeiss went the lower res route or design preferences I can tell you the Zeiss produces an image not far off in colour from the HMZT1 , albeit at a lower res , for quick portable movie viewing this is fine ... although at some points  in my tests today I was getting diagonal banding in 3D sbs viewing of mp4 files. The one game I had time to try Dishonored in tridef 3D worked excellently, just like on the ST1080 only with lower res but offset by the rich colours of OLED tech. 

Glitches like this are to be expected , my first HMZT1 actually had dead pixels , Sony were so embarrassed they went all quiet and took 5 months to replace it ( thankfully I had a spare). The ST1080 launched with a vertical bar and no 720p scaling of 3D games and missing some 3D formats , all of this was solved within weeks of launch .. 

And Zeiss are keen for you to register with them ..for of course amongst other things firmware updates

Sound : The reproduction of sound depends on your source , the most awesome experience of my 4 hour testing today was that voice whispering in my ear in Dishonored , the headphones are not that great in quality but they are so light and comfortable you forget they are there , if you need more boom boom then you can attach your own headphones to the battery/control unit as you can with the ST1080 and the HMZT2 ( if you truly want to suffer)... The sound is nowhere near the ear shattering power of the ST1080 though , which has the best sound of any hmd to date.

Tomorrow I go through the games on PC and consoles and talk about the problems ...come on hmd fans you know every hmd has problems. Solving those problems or chasing them is the fun of being an early adopter and the whole point of this babble....

I have to say I am impressed with how the hmd is developing. disappointing yes that this is not at least 720p but nowhere as much as I feared . This is however the first hmd you can wear as easily as shades, gives you the colour and refresh of the HMZT 1 and 2 , without the discomfort or pain, you can readily use this for VR as it is so well ergonomically designed. If you have to work or intend to do more with your hmd the finest is the smd ST1080 hands down. However the Zeiss is just cool , literally and aesthetically , anyone you know could use it and more importantly wear it . 

From my initial impressions Zeiss have nailed the really vital aspect of hmd design : they made one that fits , more to follow in part II ...

feeling brave .. don`t need to read the next part of my Zeiss Cinemizer OLED experience ? Purchase  in the UK/EU the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED 3D iPack including iPhone adapter and in the USA the Cinemizer OLED , 

 

this content is © and originated from thegameveda http://the-games-veda.blogspot.com/  if you are reading it from any other site that has not provided a link back it has been leached