New Zalman Display: ZM-M215W

[cybereality]

Zalman has a new 3D monitor coming out soon, a 21.5" 1080P display:
http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Produ ... sp?idx=384" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems most features are the same as older models expect this new model does support HDCP. Not sure if it would really be worth getting over the 22" model I have, but it might be an interesting option for people just looking to get a 3D display. I think I will wait for a 24" model.

[Exposed]

Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place, but I couldn't find if this monitor was interlaced or not like the previous Zalman monitors. If the vertical resolution is halved, not sure how they can claim "full 1080p HD resolution."

[Likay]

Selling argument. It is a full-hd monitor. Just not in 3d...
Jokes aside: I think it's still use horisontal interleaving so half res in 3d. According to some users here the zalman seems to be quite nice inspite of the half res. This can be true because ghosting tends to plague other solutions in the same pricelevel.
I have yet to see the zalman in action but it still seems to be a quite good solution, at least for the newbie. It's supported by the nvidiadrivers (maybe not the new model but then iz3d takes over if nvidia won't) and most other softs "out there" which is just as important as good hardware specs. The current 22"er is supported by almost everything written for 3d. Since nvidia also supports it, it actually has better softwaresupport than a dual projector rig.
I think they're going to be around for quite a while more.

[DmitryKo]

I heard Zalman were also showing a 24" IPS monitor with 1920x1200 pixels and similar line-interleaved polarization filter. Now if they took that 27" IPS panel from LG with 2560x1440 pixels (Dell U2711, 27" iMac etc) and created a line-interleaved stereo 3D monitor out of it, that would be quite avesome display for both daily use and ocassional stereo 3D! This this would probably cost in excess of $1100 though...

[cybereality]

I just noticed something that might be a deal breaker. If you look on the pictures on the Zalman site this new monitor appears to have very little in the way of adjustments. Specifically it only has a tilt adjustment, not height (at least that is what the picture shows). If that is the case this monitor is next to unusable. The Zalman 22" has a very narrow vertical viewing angle and you have to carefully adjust the monitor to compensate. Without height adjustment this model is dead in the water, I don't know why they would do that. I guess you could get a monitor arm but thats an extra $100 for a feature that should have been included.

[DmitryKo]

There is no need to adjust the height when you simply need to adjust the vertical angle

Most newer 22-24" monitors do not feature height adjustment, and no one has been complaining so far. If you recall the CRT monitors, they were never height adjustable because of the weight of the glass tube, and everyone was fine with having only vertical angle adjustment.

[cybereality]

Oh, I see what you are saying. Still though, if you had a Zalman you would know how precise it needs to be. The adjustments help a great deal to get a ghost free image.

[cybereality]

A review has come out (although the reviewer is clearly a noob when it comes to 3D):
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM-M215W/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GHG]

A review has come out (although the reviewer is clearly a noob when it comes to 3D):
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM-M215W/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Totally disagree with you there when you say he's clearly a noob. The problem is, for 3D to be viable to the general user (most of whom are what we would call noobs) then the technology needs to become noob friendly, and right now it isn't. That paired with the price are the primary barriers of entry to 3D for the general and casual users. Until botrh of these barriers are removed 3D will never become mainstream.

He's totally right on what he says about the drivers. The IZ3D drivers make you jump through hoops for just about everything to get anything to work. Nothing is clear, nothing is straight forward. You need to have a good tech background and also develop a general understanding of how 3D works in order to even get the drivers working, nevermind get them working well. I encountered exactly the same problems when trying to activate my IZ3D software that he did and still haven't figured it out, as a result I'm still on the trial version and TBH as it stands I can't even be bothered to go back and try and figure it out because the Tridef drivers are vastly superior in every way.

The tridef drivers, they just work. They work with pretty much every game out there (more than they say on the list; if a game is DX9 it will most of the time work). The ones that they do have on the list work flawlessly and this is where I think IZ3D cheat. They have all these games on their list and the fact of the matter is, a lot of them still have problems. Tridefs autofocus is also vastly superior, IZ3D's auto-convergence is simply pants in most cases. Also, tweaking the 3D settings with Tridef is a lot easier, theres even an in-game overlay, so no need to memorise hotkeys to get anything working. 3D settings can be tweaked for depth or pop-out (or a combination of the two) with ease using the screen depth and percent in front settings. So yeh, Zalman should be using Tridef rather than IZ3D as a partner because to be frank they are a lot more noob friendly and will mean more people will be able to get the most out of their new monitor more quickly rather than have to go through initial periods of being underwhelmed and frustrated (during which I predict a lot of people will just box their monitor up and return it).

Call the reviewer a noob all you like, but its noobs like him that will make 3D mainstream and until things are suitable for them 3D will forever be merely a premium afterthought.

Overall, its an accurate review of the monitor as far as I'm concerned.

[Likay]

Page 5: Movies:

Even with that small choice of clips and movies, there is no guarantee that it supports the employed type of 3D rendering - in this case circular polarization.

A little bit newbish about 3d maybe? This sentence is especially funny!

However i really like the review otherwise. It's positive in general unlike what i've seen until now. Is it maybe starting to be officially allowed liking stereo-3d?

Tiny extranote: I have to disagree about the iz3d drivers but then i use them all the time. However he got a point if trying to sell the monitor since licenses are bound to users. If you shift machine yourself you can simple deactivate license on the old machine and activate on the new.
I recently started using tridef drivers and find them excellent for supported games. However i didn't manage to get nonsupported games running that even runs with kinddragons old openstereo program. I'm a newb at these drivers and have to tinker with it a bit but it looks like ddd's going to have another customer as well.

[Dilip]

Does this monitor now officially supported by IZ3D drivers ?

Just like ZM-M220W were being supported by Nvidia.

[Likay]

I'm 99% sure the iz3d-drivers will be free for it. Anyway the iz3d-drivers will support it.
Nvidia hasn't really been proved supporting products so well but you're able to use both iz3d as well as tridef ignition (not free though) with it.

[cybereality]

I believe you get the IZ3D driver for free if you buy this monitor. You can also use the DDD driver but not Nvidia.

[BlackShark]

If I remember correctly the driver will work for free for a while (30 days i think) then it will ask you to enter the serial number to continue using it.
The iZ3D serial number comes with the monitor installation CD.
It will unlock a special mode of the iZ3D driver that only works with Zalman monitors.