Sony Readying 3D Headset
Device Emulates Theater Experience
While 3D TVs are slowly but steadily carving out a position in the tech market, popular hardware manufacturer Sony is offering a different way to view media in three dimensions. This fall the company will release its 3D Personal Viewer, a headset that not only allows users to play games and watch movies in 3D, but also includes 5.1 surround sound headphones.
The 3D Personal Viewer connects to any media source with HDMI capabilities -- such as a Blu-ray player, DVD player, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or cable/satellite box. In essence, it replaces the television or computer monitor as the display unit, and it does a fine job doing it -- inside the headset can be found two individual OLED screens that output 720p high definition video. With two images displayed at once, it's easier for the brain to process information placed physically closer to the eyes, reducing eye strain and thus, painful headaches.
Early reviews of the 3D Personal Viewer are now hitting tech blogs. Although it takes some getting used to, the ability to adjust the device's fit makes reaching a reasonable comfort level relatively easy. Playing games on the device is really quite impressive, for a number of reasons. For one, the 3D works great -- the OLED screens put out a fantastic picture while the 5.1 surround sound headphones allow gamers to easily detect the location of enemies.
Sony claims the device mimics watching a film in a movie theater, and I can see where they're coming from. The headset really does sever one from the rest of the world, whether they're playing games or watching a good flick (though munching on popcorn is tricky).
There are a couple drawbacks, however. For one, the headphones aren't noise cancelling, which means the audio experience, while impressive, isn't completely immersive. Secondly, the headset does block out virtually everything around you, meaning it can be hard to navigate a remote control or video game controller. Beyond that, moving from one remote to another is downright impossible. Luckily, there is a slit below the headset that allows users to look directly down, but the field of vision is extremely limited.
Then there's the cost: although we haven't yet got an official price tag for the 3D Personal Viewer, it's rumored that the device will retail for around $1,000 -- roughly the cost of a high-quality 42-50" LED TV. It is, however, significantly cheaper than most 3D TVs, and one shouldn't discount the value of those 5.1 surround sound headphones. Headphones of this quality often retail for $200, alone.
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