Siliconmicrodisplay ST1080 review part X :Space the final frontier

Taking a break from gaming tests , I thought I would check out how Star Trek , ala J.J. Abrams faired on the ST1080.


Watching a 1080p video in it's native resolution on a 1080p monitor like the ST1080 should give you a far higher resolution experience than a 720p one like the Sony HMZT1, and it does , significantly so.


Take the opening sequence with the close zoom out over the U.S.S. Kelvin. You can see every detailed spec of dust or decay on every detailed tile on the outer hull as it zooms by . When the camera pulls back you will feel the scale of the 100 inch screen coupled with the benefit of the higher resolution as the ship maintains definition and sharpness as it becomes smaller . 


The picture is perfectly flat and has 0 distortion towards the edges. You have already stopped caring if the blacks are blacker on an OLED screen by this point ...


I am watching without light blockers with bright sunlight to my back and the picture is still clear.


With a resolution this high all those considerations of LCOS vs OLED go out of the airlock.


And when battle commences for the first time outside IMAX you will see every piece of exploding debris,lens flare, bead of sweat and pore on the face of the doomed Kelvin captain and as he shouts the immortal line "walk with me" you will..


Scale is amazing 100" of 1080p cinema in crystal clear focus,without your eyes having to work the way they do with the Sony HMZT1. I have to say that again and again  , the comfort issue blows the old Sony head crab out of the water...


If you  have ever felt the sweet sweet pain of watching a movie or two in a row on the HMZT1 you know what I am Trekking about....


So even with non 3D movie viewing the ST1080 gives you a substantially more detailed view , exactly the effect of going from a 720p TV to a 1080p TV only on a 100" screen.


The fov  also appears larger than the HMZT1 , and with less fiddly optics you really do feel like you are looking at a giant flat screen , and not working your eyes or tricking your mind into deceiving you are.You can comfortably look down or up or the corners of the screen without the illusion of the 100" screen in front of you breaking , just as you can comfortably read the HUD in Crysis 2 or a flight sim.


The ST1080 also does nothing to cause you pain . You are going to want to move your head around when you are watching a film and none of these natural movements are impaired at all by the ST1080 unlike the AV troll favourite and my other HMD the Sony HMZT1.


People ask about brightness , I watch with it turned to 0 , the light blocking strip on the back is so effective you can look into a bright sky and there is no bleed through of light , throughout this test I was watching the film in bright sunlight with 0 eyepiece light blockers. And yes I have tried waving my fingers behind it , and you see nothing but the film you were intending to see ..


Which bodes well for mobile usage scenarios , if you want to sit on a plane watching a film , or outside in your garden and want to be able to reach for your drink without using Jedi training you can. Thanks to the 10% opacity theoretically keep both eyes on local wildlife whether it is in your garden or walking up the aisle of your plane is also possible ...


Maybe you're Bohemian like me and you want to watch a movie , whilst blogging about the experience on your iPad , you can.. with the ST1080.


And this is another crucial difference about the ST1080 , unlike other HMDs it is not meant to be an isolation tank ,when using the ST1080 you still feel connected to the world , whilst that may send AV blog trolls into another tizzie , to them I say iMax 3D is better than your home cinema ..Disqus..


For the rest of us we are at the beginning of a head mounted display revolution , and that revolution is not just based on 3D , colour depth , screen size and resolution but with a device like the Siliconmicrodisplay ST1080 based on versatility ,ease of use and integrating our virtual pursuits with our real world pursuits , not disconnecting them the way isolation tanks like the Sony HMZT1 have obliged us to  do.


Sound from the headset still emits a background buzz for me , turning the volume up negates this or using external head phones eliminates it altogether . SMD are trying to get me a fix as I type...


All of this is of course impossible to convey in photographs or text but check out some blurry Ipad pics any way: 

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