The eMagin Z800 3D Visor Review

Ratings: Ease of Use, Performance: 18/25, Look & Feel: 20/25, Features & Software 20/25, How much I enjoy 20/25
Total: 78/100

The eMagin Z800 3D Visor is a display system that puts the gaming square in your face, more exactly right in front of your eyes. The Z800 visor is small display screens and a system that connects your graphics card to the visor for some good looking 3D gaming.

Features straight from the 3DVisor site:

The Z800 3DVisor is the first PDS (personal display system) to deliver on the promise of immersive 3D adventure and entertainment. The Z800 3DVisor surrounds you with an enormous virtual display - for your favorite game, your favorite movie, or your work.

True 3D stereovision compatible

Advanced headtracking so you can "Get Inside the Game!"™

Stereo earbuds for superb sound

Noise-canceling microphone

Lightweight and ergonomic design

USB Powered

The eMagin 3D Visor is no toy, not at the cost of $1499 from their web site. But it is a really neat and interesting way to view and play video games. The Z800 3D visor is a set of small video screens in a visor that you wear over your eyes to view PC games. This connects directly to a controller and then to your video card for viewing on the small screens that sit an inch or so from your eyes. This really reminds me of some of the things in the military or even of some gadgetry at your optometrist when you get an eye exam.

But this is a great way to play some video games like Il-2 Sturmovik and FEAR. I received the Z800 3D Visor and connected the small controller box to the visor and my PC's graphics card. The power for the visor and converter comes from your USB connection and there are connections for your audio as well. The drivers load some programs for controlling the speed of the tracking system and other features of the visor.

The visor acts in two ways; the small screens are for your viewing but there is also a tracking system built into the visor that keeps track of your head movement. The system translates these movements to the movement on screen in games for your character. You turn your head and on screen the head of your first person perspective also turns his head. It is really neat in a game to see around you far easier than using a mouse. The small screens and added lenses make the screen and images you see appear to be in front of you by about 10 feet or so.

The eMagin 3D Visor comes with the visor headset, a controller that connects the visor to your graphics card, cabling, an installation CD, a quick install guide and a handy carry case. The visor consists of the two screens, an internal noise cancelling microphone, the two ear buds for stereo sound and the head motion tracking. There are two straps one at the back of your head and one over the top to secure the head visor on.

For games such as flight simulator 2004, Il-2 Sturmovik or other airplane simulators you sit in your cockpit and any movement of your head gives you the view you would normally see from the perspective of the pilot of the plane. This is by far the best way to use this system. The benefits of having an IR tracking system is readily apparent and not having to keep your eyes on the screen when your moving your head is great when dog fighting.

Flying with the smaller planes such as World War II fighters is a joy with the Z800 3D Visor when you can see everywhere you want to just by turning your head and looking in that direction. Dog fighting becomes an immersive experience to playing the video game and you can really feel the combat thrill. Using the visor does not mean you cannot see your keyboard or joystick. The visor sits in front of your eyes and you can adjust the visor so that you have some space between the visor and your face so you can glance down at your controls.

I played several games and by far the best ones are the World War II simulators such as Il-2 Sturmovik and its expansions. Lock-on Modern Air Combat worked well but you do not get much of a 3D perspective and the thrill is just not there when flying the faster jets. I also played Flight Sim 2004 from Microsoft and it played very well with the Z800. I could not play the most recent Flight Sim X though as you need to have 1024 X 768 minimum resolution for the game and the visor needs to have your game and screen resolution set to 800 X 600.

This is the first of a few small problems areas that are not exactly fantastic about the visor. Set up does take some switching resolutions so if you have your desktop resolution to a higher one you will be switching back and forth on your main screen controls. You can have your games always set to the lower resolution but it is a bit of a pain to have to keep changing your screen resolution when you want to use the Z800 3D Visor.

Another problem that I had and you may or may not have is a headache after using the visor for a time. I would develop a headache when using the visor in 2D games but not so much when playing on a 3D game. The 2D and 3D that I am referring to is some games are supported and work well in the 3D Stereovision by using the Nvidia Forceware drivers. Some of the games do not work due to how the games engine is built and so only have a 2D perspective. But the game still uses the head motion tracking that gives you an advantage as well as the cool visor view.

Using an ATI graphics card for a week or so was great, the 2D images and video game playing was very fun but I would got a headache and eye strain. This could be due to my wearing glasses or the fact that I am not used to the visor but it is a possibility. You also need to correctly adjust the visor using both the visor adjustments to sit them correctly on your head and the screens in front of your eyes as well as using the visor program.

You need to adjust and align the visor using the eMagin program and adjust the sensitivities, horizontal and vertical adjustments and motion speed. It is pretty important to get the visor adjusted properly as you may have problems like I did with strain or headaches. When using the Z800 3D Visor with an Nvidia graphics card and the latest Forceware drivers I had less of a problem with headcahes and the game improved considerably.

The 3D viewing is fantastic when using an Nvidia card in some games like FEAR multiplayer. The games come alive and adds the perspective and viewing as if you're there in real life and the game is so much more fun to play. In some games the 3D perspective does not work at all and in some it is just not as apparent as others. For a flying simulation like Il-2 the 3D view is great and adds to the games appeal but for some games like Lock-On, again, the game does not have much perspective while flying so there is not much to compare for items in a 3D setting.

I really enjoyed playing games like Quake 4 and FEAR using the 3D Stereovision visor. Objects and parts of the scenery are really in a 3D perspective and it is a really enjoyable experience to use the visor with a great game, it enhances the entertainment of these enjoyable games. The visor worked very well and setup was easy, the main problem I have is with the visor having to use a 800 X 600 resolution, so switching back and forth on my screen is a bit of a hassle.

Overall I did enjoy the eMagin 3D Visor very much but do have to caution anyone interested in purchasing this, it might be addictive. Gaming while using the eMagin 3D visor is great in some games but there are not a lot of supported games that use the correct engine or whatever it is that creates the impressive 3D Stereovision. I would suggest checking out the site and if possible going to a conference and seeing for yourself how the 3D visor works in person. The eMagin Z800 Visor is a great way to see the world, or at least some games, in 3D.