The death of my 6th PS3 60 gig phat, turned out to be my last and final old timer PS3 console ,as Sony no longer have parts to replace or repair it and delayed my testing the Cinemizer OLED hmd with an ever increasing stack of 3D PS3 games I have yet to get past the first level of. So I had to resort to procuring my very own PS3 Super Slim 500gb model..sounded great for just £179.. turns out it is very much a console for austere times .. with no hmd lead, no Ethernet lead, two USB 2 sockets and a top you actually have to slide manually to close..and open ... I love it already.... Still this lets me double review the new Slim PS3 and the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED hmd..
So on with the testing
Connection: I powered the Cinemizer using the one of the PS3s USB sockets ..I cannot get over how cool it is to power your display from a USB socket .. and how literally cool the battery,power pack stays cool too.
On switching on the PS3 super slim 500 the Cinemizer OLED is picked up as a 1080p display .. So far so simple .. depending on if you are bothered you can adjust the spidery font of the PS3 cross media bar to better suit your eyes .. I just left it as is ..
The PS3 has a far larger 3D enabled catalogue than it's rival consoles stemming from Sony`s E3 push to sell 3D TVs a couple of years ago resulting in a number of actually quite decent 3D games to test out the Zeiss. The display is seen as a 44 incher by the PS3 ..don't fret though, because the entire fov is going to be perfectly clear, corner pixel to corner pixel .And there are currently no other hmds you can say that about ...not under the 20k. mark at least...
On with the games :
Resistance 3 :3D
Watching the install video the picture is razor sharp no fluctuations in image focus. I am typing this looking down from wearing the Cinemizer OLED this is what I love about the Zeiss it is light enough to allow this and I can easily see the iPad keys below and look back up at the hmd screen .. Resistance is a series famous for its use of every shade of brown... and yellow ...it is practically sipia colour... the Zeiss handles all this with ease , when you start the game you can immediately see and feel the depth of the screen , environmental particles , dust ,embers all flit around you in the best of 3D gaming and film traditions. The OLED displays handle black , darkness perfectly. What this has over the ST1080 and the HMZ series is a perfectly crystal clear uniform picture with no sweet spot issues . The smaller FOV makes it perfect for FPS games . And throughout my gaming tests one of the most impressive things about the Zeiss is those super comfortable earbuds , that you forget you are wearing..FPS games were made to be played on hmds and Insomniacs beautiful game of browns and yellows is amazing to play with this hmd, even better when you play with the Move and motion controls
Crysis 2 3D :Intro is razor sharp I have not seen it this impressive with other hmds , all the power up sequences are in 3D and you will notice! Sound is awesome on Zeiss you cannot feel the earbuds just like you are listening to sound in a room. The HUD is sharp and clear . You need a powerful PC to run this game in 3D, but on console it is simple . Yes the ultimate game experience is always on better hardware , but Crysis 2 plays a decent speed and detail level in 3D on the PS3 with the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED hmd.
Vanquish 720P 2D looks great plays great the high refresh rate of the OLEDs helping convey the action. This game looks great on the ST1080 and now also the Zeiss.
Killzone 3 3D
3D set up is automatic on the OLED after you set the option in game .3D is readily apparent in cut scenes, characters and lights stands out from background I can see into the screen depth is excellent
Most impressive are environmental debris dust and weather effects flying out at you.
Playing using the Zeiss you do not even feel like you are wearing your display because it is so comfortable..you will not be asking the air hostess for Aspirin on your transcontinental flight ..
Uncharted 3 3D : set up is simple once you see the 3D health warning you have 3D enabled. Great OLED colours , great sound , the OLED black reproduction really helps in this game which I really should get off the first two levels of when I have time.
Avatar 3D : Avatar is a highly underrated ambitious game taking the DUNIA engine of Farcry 2 and recreating Cameron's Pandora.. and like the film with a host of 3D options. I use it to test hmds as you can easily try out all the different 3D formats. For my test I used Line Interlaced and the game look and plays great with your character standing out ,impressive depth into the screen as base corridors stretch into the screen for miles on a razor sharp display anyone who tells you 3D is fad has not played a game in ghost free 3D on a hmd . This just as impressive as the film All the displays holographic displays and planet map are in 3D just like the film. Things get even more impressive when you get into the Pandora jungle. You know all the floating tree spirits ,vertigo and screen depth fx..
Child of Eden 3D
Lumi looks amazing in Eden, the intro video is crystal clear . Setting up 3D through the options menu is simple.Diving in and wow this is amazing I just saw a neon tentacled squid explode into a million neon shards in 3D this is going to floor you ..the depth in 3D game play is amazing you can feel the distance below you the OLED colours are sharper than the st1080 sound is on a par.
You jump back when denizens jump at you or explode power ups and those pink enemy missiles feel closer to you as a result you physically feel them closing in and react faster than playing 2d where they blend into the background.
Playing this will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck It is early on in the second stage that you will really go wow ..to tell you more would spoil the experience.
There is no hmd that can produce this rush , the st1080 has the res , but this has the colours and comfort , sound and ergonomics playing this game is a rush this is how the author intended you to get lost to feel the synesthesia and playing in 3D with the Cinemizer OLED you feel it in your head and bones .
Ratchet And Clank Q Force 3D .. this demo I recently downloaded and has the most wonderful 3D .. this series regularly approaches PIXAR levels of detail on PS3 and shines on the Cinemizer OLED .. good to see developers not give up on 3D gaming .
Wipeout HD and Fury : Here is another game that can blow your mind with its 3D neon trip. You need a mighty strong stomach to put up with the eye candy in 3D though . There is no better way of getting lost in the Wipeout zone...
Batman Arkham City 3D
The 3D in this version of the game is not as pronounced as the PC version I tested with Tridef 3D , though you still have the excellent colour and black reproduction of the OLED display. And the fact that this game is totally free for PlayStation Plus
DYAD and The Unpainted Swan : are great tests of two of the many problems many users of current gen hmds experience. Firstly a crystal clear none distorted image which the Cinemizer OLED manages with ease . The Unpainted Swan in particular is a great test for this , as you throw black paint at the screen ,the glimpses of the hidden world you see is perfectly displayed without distortion on this little hmd. Secondly hmds tend to struggle with black reproduction and again whether you are painting the screen black in the Unpainted Swan or experiencing the neon highlighted trip that is DYAD you will be impressed.
There is none of the optical distortion ,sweet spot issue problem seen with the HMZT series.
And this where I come back to the issue of having a smaller FOV on a hmd and the advantages this has for gaming . In any FPS you must be able to see your entire fov , it is essential if you want to game with skill rather than go on an IMAX roller coaster ride. More relevant though is the fact that todays OLED technology together with current optics cannot produce a clear hmd fov greater than the 44 inch display of the Zeiss . I say this with over 1.5 years of experience of multiple hmds using OLED tech.. In my opinion and experience Sony should have made the HMZT 2 along the lines of the Cinemizer OLED , instead of continuing along the unusable head crab route . Zeiss just have it down when it comes to optics ,comfort,setup,headtracking .
Higher fov hmds currently require non OLED technology to produce clear and none distorted fovs , thus we see LCOS in the 100 inch display of the smd ST1080 and on Oculus Rift what looks like a single phone like display split in half with software to generate the 110 degree allegedly fov encompassing display .. which I will literally believe is possible when i see it. And I am getting more and more tempted to use my Nexus 7 to build my own Oculus as I wait for my Rift dev kit ..
For playing games or watching movies this fov size perfect and you really can take it with you anywhere.
DUST 514 : played with head tracking on the Cinemizer OLED
I had just finished testing a stack of PS3 games using the Cinemizer OLED hmd ,when my prototype headtracker arrived. As it emulates a PC mouse this raises the intriguing prospect of playing console games with head tracking ..No drivers emulators or dongles required, just plug the USB cable into to your PS3 and you are good to go. Any game that allows mouse input should allow you to use head tracking currently though that is Dust 514, Unreal Tournament 3 and Counter Strike GO as far as I can ascertain..
As for DUST 514 ... my first ever play of a console game with headtracking . The Zeiss head tracker is just as precise and lag free on console as it is on PC. I was effortlessly controlling the in game FOV with head tracking , as easily as I did in PC games like Planetside 2. Aiming , target acquisition,looking round the game world ..all with no recognizable lag. As this is a game I intend to spend a great amount of time with and with the prospect of Planetside 2 hitting PS3 (with mouse support please) the Zeiss headtracker just became even more invaluable.
But this was not enough for me , I need to have head tracking in all PS3 games ..how then to achieve this ? Well with a PS3 pad to keyboard/mouse converter. I surmised that if the converter maps the right thumb stick to mouse input and the Zeiss Headtracker emulates mouse input ..this should in theory mean we get head tracking control in not just a few ...but in any and all PS3 games ...PS2 games ....and PS1 games ... who's for Armored Core , Demon Souls . Oblivion, Skyrim , Wipeout , Gran Turismo , F1 2012, Ace Combat , Rez , Child Of Eden and of course Metal Gear Solid ... with a little head tracking? SSSSSNNNNNAAAKUU!!!
But lo ... the Eagle Eye mouse converter did not see the headtracker ..although the PS3 does without problems.. still I am hopeful of getting hold of a mouse emulator of another make and when I do so I will update this review!
If you have a console mouse emulator/dongle that you think will work with the Zeiss headtracker .. making it appear as a generic mouse let me know , as I need to play through Metal Gear Solid 4 again with headtracking.
A caveat ,if you were to use PC emulation to run PS3 ,PS2 or PS1 games using mouse input you could play all Sony's classics with headtracking .. using the Zeiss headtracker ...
Bluray : I also had time to spin the Bluray of .. The Elite Squad .. which opens with a lot of fast moving colours and blacks and great music to test the audio.. why a cool Brazilian film? Well because I want to learn Portuguese and also see how the 1080p video scales to the 872 by 500 native resolution of this hmd. And it does so well , amazingly well , I can read and see subtitles perfectly, no pixels visible at all. This is just like watching on a smaller version screen of the HMZ series , with several differences .. the screen is perfectly clear from corner pixel to corner pixel, you could easily watch this on a train or plane journey , you could easily watch this sitting anywhere.. as long as you had your PS3, laptop or with you!
In the Cinemizer OLED we have a perfectly viable 3D and non 3D portable comfortable crystal clear display head mounted display for console gaming ,even allowing headtracking control in games like Dust 514 ,Unreal Tournament 3 and Counter Strike GO...
There are many hmd makers making many claims about future tech , which they are going to release some time in the distant future ..sometime ..I guess as Mr Lucas once said ..waiting for the technology to catch up to their ideas.. and wessa all know how well thassa worked out for the prequels now don't we? ..
I could promise you 4k VR $300 wifi OLED contact lenses with 0 input lag iris, pupil and headtracking ... just send me the money (don't) and I will have them ready for development testing when the tech becomes available..after someone else writes the code...solves the problems ..hmmh..
True innovation occurs by taking the best of what we have now and making the most widely functional and useful device with it ,releasing it as a commercial quality product.
That is what Zeiss has managed to do better with their hmd, of course it is not perfect , the tech for better OLEDs,larger FOVs ( by which I mean actually clear non distorted FOVS) , resolutions and even longer battery life will come . But currently the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED is the finest quality build, has the finest optical design ,ergonomics ,headtracking and a wide number of uses from console and pc gaming ,to serious VR work.
More to follow
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