Sony's third-gen personal 3D viewing headset now up for pre-order

[Shawn Knight]

Sony’s HMZ-T3W personal 3D viewing headset is now available for pre-order on the company’s website and in retail Stony stores. The third iteration includes wireless connectivity with dual OLED monitors that are said to simulate sitting 65 feet away from a massive 750-inch display.

The unit is able to stream content from up to seven meters away from the source which should be plenty for most usage scenarios. Speaking of sources, one can connect the headset directly to their smartphone or tablet via MHL or micro-HDMI to improve viewing experiences on those devices.

The revamped model no longer requires you to remain tethered to an AC power socket, either. Instead, you’ll need to tote around a portable battery pack which will share power with connected smartphones or tablets. The battery is said to deliver three hours of wireless use or up to seven hours via HDMI. When drained, you’ll need to set aside 2.5 hours to get the device back to 80 percent capacity and 4.5 hours for a full charge.

Expect to pay $999 when the HMZ-T3W viewer begins shipping next month. At that price, it’s still very much a luxury item but if you have the scratch, early reviews suggest it does provide a great personal cinema experience. With a PS4-optimized version rumored to be in the works and if Sony could get the price down a bit more, something like this instantly becomes much more attractive for a wider audience.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54272-sonys-third-gen-personal-3d-viewing-headset-now-up-for-pre-order.html

 

[MrAnderson]

Well... okay... this is definitely not their Oculus Rift competitor.

 

[VitalyT]

Indeed, oculus is about an attempt to bring an exciting idea into market, while for sony this is 4th iteration of making a great product perfect. Therefore, I have a lot more faith in sony product than in oculus.

 

[VitalyT]

Having looked at the spec, 720P at 24fps - no, thank you!

 

[GhostRyder]

Well as for the 720p and 24fps, most movies already output in a normal 24FPS as it is so this is no surprise. The 720p however, its a small screen so I guess it makes sense, but if its simulating that distance from the TV, then I dunno.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

LOL. Okay, curved phones and now these. Pretty soon we will all be living in a container full of red goo with cables attached to the back of our head. Won't even need to go outside to enjoy the sun.

 

[Acespaces]

To much girth and expensive, I'll wait for a small cheaper one to buy them maybe in 10 years.

 

[VitalyT]

LOL. Okay, curved phones and now these. Pretty soon we will all be living in a container full of red goo with cables attached to the back of our head. Won't even need to go outside to enjoy the sun.

The important part of that experience was in absolutely believing that you are outside, enjoying the sun

 

[MrAnderson]

Having looked at the spec, 720P at 24fps - no, thank you!

I'm sorry but I cannot disagree with you more. I give Sony credit for having technology in this small market, but they have really done nothing but keep the status quo. Progress is at a snails pace and the price remains very high. It is the same story with the smartphone market. Only this time it is Oculus VR, and not a 800 pound gorilla like Apple that can fend off copy cats with an army of lawyer and (mostly) lame patents.

The point is, it usually takes someone outside to put the light under most large companies' bums before they will give us what we want, have been waiting for, or did not know we needed.

[Extra Rant]
The Oculus VR guys are small, but they are thinking about consumers. They want to keep the price down so that it is accessible to as many people as possible. Sony would have it as high as they can place it because they are a business first. That is why it is good to have the small guy get the juices flowing. 3D printing and the MakerBot guys is another example. Before it was just for big manufactures and DYI guys with CNC projects. Now the lit the fire under the bigger guys bottoms, and not too long later Windows has print to 3D. Oculus guys are really bring us VR, where Sony and many others were giving us incremental, slow improvements of a large screen display that appears 6 feet away from our face. I'm glad someone finally did something about the pace.
[/Extra Rant]

Cheers

 

[Wendig0]

To much girth and expensive, I'll wait for a small cheaper one to buy them maybe in 10 years.

Sounds like something I said about an ex-girlfriend of mine. I've found a few that were smaller, but I still haven't found one any cheaper.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Thanks Sony but it's really as much use to me as tits to a bull.