After months of waiting I finally got my SMD ST1080 today. I ordered on March 16th, so I got very lucky that my unit was part of the second batch after SMD caught and corrected some quality control problems on the production line. It took two extra (excruciating) weeks but I am happy now to have a well-built device. No noticeable dust or delamination problems that I am aware of. I've spent 3 or 4 hours with it now and have a lot to say about it.
First off, I will say that I am satisfied with the device and plan on keeping it. There have been a lot of negative reviews and panic on AVS Forums and the ST1080 website about the quality of the device. There are some accurate and valid criticisms concerning image and optical quality - I won't deny that. However I also believe that several of the reviewers approached the device from the wrong perspective. People who have never used an HMD tend to have overblown expectations and are disappointed when they are not transported into a Holodeck. Others have approached the device purely from a high-end A/V perspective and are disappointed with many of the technical aspects. Primarily it has been compared to the Sony HMZ-T1. Unfortunately I don't own one of those and have tested one for only about 5 minutes, so I cannot give a lot of comparative analysis. Instead I am going to compare it to a previous generation HMD that I do own and use often - the Vuzix Wrap 920. In many ways this is a fairer comparison because the Vuzix and the ST1080 both serve the same purpose. They are both meant to be portable displays. The Sony is a great device but it is not designed for mobility in any way. If all you do is compare the imagery between the Sony and the ST1080 then you are missing half the discussion. The other half is about ergonomics, portability, immersive gaming, and VR - aspects that I care greatly about.
Design and Ergonomics
The construction of the device is a mixed bag. From the outside it looks pretty good - one of the least dorky looking devices out there. Not as well sculpted as the Vuzix, but still something you could wear on an airplane and not feel too embarrassed about.
The front has a slick and curved presentation and some metal accents. It does not look cheap…until you look at the backside of the unit facing the eyes. For some reason they kept that portion of the device very straight and blocky. It does not conform to your face at all so it's not as comfortable as it could be. It lets in a lot of light from the edges, and looks very much like a prototype from that angle.
You have to jam your face right up against it to get the lenses close enough. There are two rubber nose pads of different thickness, but they just push your face away from the lenses. I have a prominent nose so I had to remove the nose pad and rest the raw plastic against the middle bridge of my nose. Not the most comfortable position. I feel like they could have done a better job with the physical face-interface. The top of the unit is just hollow plastic, so it could have been shaped better to conform to your forehead. Instead it feels like a flat board sitting against your face. The Vuzix by comparison has a much more refined design. It sits higher on the nose and the whole unit fits snug against your face. Still - the ST1080 serves its purpose. You can get your eyes into the correct position fairly easily and it doesn't move around that much when worn. Much of that is due to the well-designed arms. They are spring loaded to clamp your face. I had expected that the front-heavy device would want to fall off a lot when I tilted my head, but the arms work surprisingly well to keep it in place. It does tend to slide down your nose over time, but even without the supplied string it doesn't feel like it's going to fall off. The unit is not "heavy", but it is a lot heavier than my Vuzix. That, combined with the mid-placement on the nose leads to discomfort over time. Because the unit is so thick and hollow, it seems like they could have reduced the weight a bit which would have made it better. One of the things that I dislike about the Sony is the "requirement" of a comfort mod to make it wearable. While the ST1080 is better ergonomically, it still probably needs a small strap over the head to pull some of the weight off your nose for prolonged usage. Also the thickness and chunkiness of the arms may cause them to conflict a bit with large over-the-ear headphones. I used it with my headphones and it wasn't bad, but they are only a medium cup size.
The control box is about the size of the original iPhone but is much lighter. SMD said that the box would need an external battery to power it because it draws up to 1.5A which exceeds the USB spec. I was skeptical of this claim because a lot of computers don't enforce the USB current limit and I have successfully powered devices exceeding 1A before over USB. But just in case, I went ahead and bought a PowerGen Duo-Power External Battery Pack that can supply 2A. That was wasted money however, since I soon discovered that I can just power the ST1080 directly with a USB port from my laptop. Now compare that to the Sony that's got a control box the size of a hard-back book and must be A/C powered! The ST1080 is vastly more portable in this regard.
Field of View
The field of view is exactly what I expected based on the specifications and my experience with the Vuzix and the Sony. Compared to my Vuzix it is much wider but not a whole lot taller. I remember when I put the Sony on thinking that it looked like I was sitting in the middle row of a theater. That impression is helped by the fact that the Sony wraps your face a bit and blocks out the environment. The ST1080 is not nearly that enveloping. If I sit in a dark room, then it looks a bit like I am viewing a theater screen from the back of the theater. But you don’t always get that sense of scale because a lot of the environment is visible around the side under normal lighting so it often just looks like a floating monitor. Comparing it to my 21” desk monitor it looks as if I was sitting with my face about 18 inches from the screen. You are NOT completely immersed in the screen. But on the other hand, this compromise allows you to view all parts of the image easily and use the desktop.
Display and Optics
Most of the reviews so far have focused on the technical aspects of the displays and optics – and they are mostly accurate. I captured some video to help convey the quality. The videos only vaguely represent what the image looks like live. In real-life the image is not nearly this washed out and the colors are very vibrant. I only show these for a basic impression and to help describe some of the visual artifacts that are reported.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Nk0_hyfv4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGLWRsZhipc[/youtube]
The colors are very vibrant. Combined with the clarity and the high resolution, the images in general look really good. This became more evident as I switched back and forth between my Vuzix and the ST1080. While playing SkyRim I looked up at the sky and on the Vuzix it just looks like a washed-out mess. The brightness and dynamic range on the ST1080 is way, way better. The same sky viewed through the ST1080 is vivid and beautiful – even when the sun peaks through and flares the image, you can still make out the details and variation in the clouds. When you look way in the distance the details on the mountains are just breath-taking.
The black levels are bad - worse than my Vuzix and a lot worse than the Sony. This is compounded by the fact that there is a thick border around the screen that appears gray. There is also light-bleed on the sides and some sort of "ghostly" line artifact that forms a small triangle with the edge of the screen. All of this creates a pretty noticeable and noisy border which can be distracting at times - mostly in dark movie scenes. I watched a bit of Avatar on my 55” LG Passive 3D TV and then on the ST1080, and some scenes do appear a bit washed out in comparison - not so much that you can’t enjoy the movie, but it is noticeable. I cannot recommend this device as a substitute for a good LCD TV. As a portable television however, I think it would work very well. I can definitely envision using this in a car or airplane to watch a movie.
Another issue that has been reported is the optics. Now they are actually quite good compared to my other HMD. With my Vuzix I can just barely even use the desktop at all – and only because I memorize the icons and text. The ST1080 however is sharp throughout most of the screen. (I am writing this review using the ST1080 at the highest resolution). But you never do really forget that you are looking through lenses. The first thing I notice when I put them on are the reflections and the slight geometrical distortion. There is a subtle horizontal “barrel” effect where the screen appears slightly bulged in the center and the top curves a bit downward. If you push the device higher it straightens the top edge but the screen never looks completely flat. It’s a very minor issue however. The other issue is the internal reflections. They are noticeable along the top and bottom of your FOV and they create some faint “ghostly” lines and overlays within the image itself. Now part of this could be due to my contact lenses. I have my own internal reflections caused by my lenses that create flares and star-bursts when I drive at night – and these are the same type of lens artifacts that I recognize in the display. I just can’t tell which artifacts are my lenses and which are the ST1080. I don’t want to exaggerate this however. It’s not that big of a deal, and after a few moments these things are hardly noticeable.
The thing that is constantly noticeable when using the device as a desktop is the focus. The bottom half of the screen is always razor sharp. But towards the top and especially at the top corners, the image starts to blur. When you move your eyes to the upper region, it takes a few moments for your eyes to refocus. If you are looking around the entire screen often, this refocusing can become a bit tiring on the eyes. Tilting the device and/or mashing it against your brow ridge can correct the top, but as the unit slides down your nose, the focus begins to fade. The focus is the worst in the top corners. No amount of tilting or squinting can seem to bring the corners into focus enough to read text at 1080. I would say the corners are as bad as my Vuzix. So the device is usable as a desktop but it has limitations. I tend to keep my window in the lower center where the focus is best and limit my eye scanning. Of course there are other practical reasons for this as well. It is not natural to use a desktop with a fixed head position. In the real world I don’t lock my head in one place and use my eyes to look at the screen edges. Instead I tilt and turn my head to reduce the amount of work my eye muscles have to do. So part of the problem with using it as a desktop is simply a matter of mechanics. Making your eyes do all the work can be tiring. On the flip-side, I believe that combining this device with a head-tracked virtual desktop could make it very useful. That would allow the much more natural habit of moving your head to look at different areas of the screen and would also keep the area of interest right in the center of the ST1080 where it looks best. I did this a while ago with my Vuzix and was pleased with the results, however a limitation of Windows prevents any window from being larger than the desktop, so with the Vuzix all my Windows were too small to make it practical. You can see an example of this in the video below. But with 1920x1080 window sizes and vastly clearer optics, I believe that the ST1080 could be used productively as a huge virtual desktop. Imagine being able to work with your laptop on a plane and having access to the equivalent of 6 HD screens !! I’m going to try and test this out very soon. Again this is something that while technically possible on the Sony, is impractical because of the physical design of the HMZ-T1.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXlFOi-7qmA[/youtube]
Another issue that has been reported is the "rainbow" effect if you move your eyes quickly across the screen or bounce. It is a fundamental issue with the LCOS screens so it is present in my unit as well. If the unit shakes then you will see it, but it doesn’t pose much of a problem during normal desktop and movie usage. It is a bit of an annoyance however when using head tracking (I’ll get to that later).
3D
I watched a few minutes of Avatar 3D and also played SkyRim stereoscopically and was underwhelmed with the 3D. It seems very mild – especially in a head-to-head comparison with my LG passive 3D TV. I love the 3D effect of my TV. It is very bright, easy on the eyes, and jumps off the screen. There was a huge difference when watching the same scene on my LG and then on the ST1080. At first I thought I had turned the 3D off somehow, but after fiddling with the settings I convinced myself that it was on. It was just very subtle. With SkyRim, at first I thought the 3D was less pronounced than my Vuzix, but after switching back and forth between them it appears about the same. My understanding is that this is due to a perceptual trick that occurs with all HMD’s when you don’t have a fixed external reference frame. I don’t know the details, but I can report that it is true. If you are expecting to be floored with the “pop-out” of your 3D movies, then I think you will be very disappointed with this device.
Immersive Gaming
This is where I think the device really shines. So many of the technical issues that are problematic during desktop usage simply “vanish” once you are immersed in a first person game - especially the focus problems. Images do not suffer nearly as much as text does with soft focus. And since you tend to move your camera toward the area of interest, the stuff that you are looking at tends to be in the center of the screen where it looks the best. As I said before, SkyRim looks astonishingly good on this display.
But the real “kicker” is when you match it with head-tracking. That’s when you really start being pulled into the game. Sure you can surround your head with 120 degrees worth of desktop monitors running at insane resolutions. But no matter what you do, you are still keeping your head basically fixed and moving the view with your hand. Transferring this basic mechanic to your head where it belongs creates a quantum leap in immersiveness – much more so than the jump between 2D and stereoscopic viewing. Standing on a mountain cliff and turning around to view the scenery in SkyRim (whilst just standing in my office) is simply awesome. I am dying to try this thing out with a free-motion interface so I can eliminate nearly all the manual controls and just move naturally through the scene. [Edit: I can confirm that is a truly amazing experience. While not quite reaching total immersion, it is definitely a massive leap over the Vuzix in terms of immersiveness and clarity of the virtual environment]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpwN23wPeKg[/youtube]
Again, this is possible because the ST1080 is designed as a portable device. You cannot have this experience with any fixed screen setups – so don’t talk to me about technical details like color contrast, etc. The ST1080 (and all HMDs) may not perform as well as TV’s and monitors in those aspects, but it can at least approach their performance. Conversely, an HMD can do something that no TV can even approximate – allow you to step into a virtual environment.
There is however one nagging issue when using this particular device with a head tracker. The aforementioned “rainbow” effect that is endemic to LCOS displays doesn’t usually occur too often since you don’t typically shift your eyes that fast. However when you are head-tracking and turn your head, you tend to “lead” the turn with your eyes. Also a lot of physical movement tends to bounce the device a bit. So unfortunately the color aberration effects seem to be more evident during VR usage than during regular usage. It’s not a deal breaker, but it is one area where the Sony has a clear advantage.
Summary
In short, if you had hoped to replace your 3D TV and watch movies all day with this device I wouldn’t bother. It doesn’t compare to a decent big screen TV. Also if you want to be productive and write code and surf the Internet all day on it, I would advise you to temper your expectations. It can be done, but it is not as good as using real screens and I think it would be tiring over long periods of time. (I stopped using this device midway through this review for that reason) The best uses for this device are as a mobile platform and for immersive gaming. It would be very good for taking on a plane and watching a movie, surfing the web, or getting some work done. And for immersive gaming it is great! Its closest rival is the Sony, but the Sony has major ergonomic problems. I suppose a completely modified Sony that fits comfortably and fixed your eyes into a stable focus is probably a superior solution (ie. ski-goggle mods). But you have to be very dedicated to create that, and of course that’s not something you would really carry onto a plane - is it. So as a mobile and general purpose VR device I think the ST1080 is very good and is why I plan on keeping mine.
