Sony HMZ-T2 Personal 3D Viewer

World's first wearable personal 3D viewer

Sony launched the so called world’s first wearable 3D TV in India for Rs.69,900. The HMZ-T2 personal 3D viewer is a head-mounting device which has HD 2D and 3D personal display with win OLED screens.

The last among the many gadgets released by Sony on October 11, 2012 is the personal 3D viewer. This device is named as 3D Viewer HMZ-T2 and Sony has priced it at Rs.69,990. This sci-fi looking gadget is already available for pre-order at Sony Stores and they will be out during the Diwali season.

The Personal 3D viewer comes equipped with a HDMIU cable which can be connected to any device that has an HDMI port. Sony has made some changes as well from their earlier version; HMZ-T1. The built in ear buds have made way from regular 3.5 mm audio out jack. This change makes it easier for the user.

Once put on, the user looks like he walked right out of a science fiction movie. These glasses are not at all a disappointment when it comes with 3D images and brilliant sound quality. The 3D images that one views with this camera are not disappointing at all. The two individual OLED screens in the glasses allow the user to experience smooth transition between 2D and 3D content. The sound quality through these glasses is also quite impressive. But there is a drawback with the headphoens; since it is tiny the user must make sure he is in a very quiet environment.

The Sony HMZ-T2 Personal 3D Viewer is the second iteration of what Sony had initially created as a concept product. Designed as a way of looking into the future of home entertainment the device is Sony's answer to the awkward truth that 3D in the home still isn't perfect.Using two tiny OLED screens, the HMZ-T2 is able to create a 'perfect' 3D image without any of the eye-based confusion that can still take place using passive or active 3D technology.

These are claims that shouldn't be taken lightly, not only does the HMZ-T2 cost as much as a high-end TV, but it also limits viewing in that only one person can see the image. Of course, if that image happens to appear the size of an IMAX screen then things begin to make sense.

SIZE AND BUILD

With an almost identical look and feel to the original Personal 3D Viewer the HMZ-T2 has clearly taken its design cues from the world of Tron looking about as futuristic as you can get. With a plastic body and rubber headband it's not too heavy either coming in at a reasonable 330g. All the controls are sensibly arranged along the bottom while the now interchangeable headphone jack has been bafflingly placed inside the eye cavities resulting in a tangle of wires before you've even turned it on.

Where the HMZ-T2 fails is in how you actually wear it. Available with a series of rubber inserts that help to block outside light out, one wonders why these actually aren't a permanent fixture. Instead you have to individually pop each part of the 'blinkers' resulting in something that is less than stable adding to the overall feeling that perhaps you're still using a prototype.

SETUP

Taking this approach resulted in a completely painless setup. There's a box for HDMI input/output and power, the HMZ-T2 then uses a separate cable, which runs to the headset itself.

The wire is more than long enough for pretty much any living room. Because it's a single HDMI you can plug in almost any input from a Blu-ray player, your Sky HD box, Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 with the only downside being that it is just a single input so you will have to disconnect everytime you want to switch between formats.

PICTURE QUALITY

The headsets features two small OLED displays each of which has a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. Yes you read correctly, that's NOT Full-HD. Does it matter? The only way to answer that question is by breaking it into two parts; gaming and films. Treat the HMZ-T2 as a gaming device and you'll be treated to a completely original gaming experience, well until the Oculus Rift is finally released.

With both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 maxing out at 720p the images you see are not only huge (The T2 creates a virtual screen size of 750-inches) but also clear. Fast response times along with the virtual 5,1 surround sound both contribute to create an immersive gaming experience that you simply won't find anywhere else. We spent a weekend playing Bioshock Infinite and felt a palpable sense of disappointment when we reverted back to a conventional TV.

Watching regular 2D films are where the chinks begin to show. Because the output is only 720p and the viewer has been designed for 3D viewing it immediately becomes clear that what you're seeing isn't the full Blu-ray experience. Instead fast moving images can become blurry and picture quality is noticeably reduced. The rubber attachments are an annoying design flaw while the fact that it's not Full-HD is regrettable. Add to that a price tag that could make you weep and what you have is a brilliantly engineered, but still not fully practical piece of the future.

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