Hey Guys,

Haven't been on here for a long time

I just stumbled upon the 3D-XL converter from Optoma and as it's got 2 HDMI ports I wonder if it can be used with 2 projectors for a passive setup?

If you don't know what the 3D-XL is, it's a box that connects your 720p HDMI 1.3 3d enabled projector and allows it to work with the new 3D over HDMI 1.4a standard. Currently it's only known to work with 14 of the compatible projectors in the Optoma range. Which I believe all have a native resolution of 720p. When asked whether the box will work with other projectors makes. A spokesperson from Optoma said that has not been decided yet.

http://www.optoma.eu/projectordetailshe ... t&pc=3D-XL

Optoma say the conversion box supports all the latest 3D display formats, and can work with Sky 3D, Bluray 3D, PS3, 3D enabled broadcast set top boxes.

So I was thinking maybe I should get Optoma's latest 720p 3d projector which is the HD67, in the UK it's £500 including VAT and delivery, which is pretty awesome. The conversion box is going to go on sale early next year for $400, pretty expensive. others have suggested it should of been $200 but have pointed out that as always online stores will be very competitive. I imagine a lot of people will buy into this especially if Optoma allow it to work with projectors from other manufacturers that should bring the cost down considerably.

Now I got some questions I hope you guys could please answer

I think that 1080p 3d projectors will not come down to under $3000 for at least 12-18 months, do you agree?

Buying an Optoma HD67 £500 + the 3D-XL will set me back £250 ($400) = £750. The 3D-XL comes with a pair of their own wireless 3D active glasses - ZD201. So a total of £750 is pretty sweet. I think that's pretty awesome for a screen size of 100+ inches compared to a 60" 3DTV costing like £1400 here in the UK + the cost of 3D glasses. Okay the 3DTV's have a ton of features and are 1080p and have 2D to 3D conversion which the 3D-XL doesn't have, it should have at a price of £250. But the projector can scale a 1080p input into it's native 720p image of 3D glory. I think this would be a great setup till the 1080p 3D projectors become more affordable at some point in the future. Do you agree?

Now on the link I posted, if you go to the specs and gallery, you can see that the 3D-XL has a native input of 720p and a maximum of 1080p. It has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output. Out of the box can this be used to drive two 720p or 1080p projectors for a passive setup or would you need to buy 2 of these conversion boxes or would this box need a DIY mod?

Optoma say the projector has to be DLP based, couldn't you use 2 LCD projectors for a passive setup? You can get 1080p LCD projectors new and second hand for cheaper than one 1080p 3D or even some top end non 3d DLP projectors.

There are a lot of LCD and DLP 3d 720p and 1080p projectors that use the HDMI 1.3 spec which are 120hz, I wonder if you think they would work with the 3D-XL?

Instead of making another thread, could you also please answer some questions I have about the Optoma HD67 that I talk about in this thread.

The Optoma HD67 is now Nvidia 3D vision ready, but you have to use the Nvidia 3D vision glasses. Firstly with this projector and the nvidia 3D drivers do you get full resolution 3D or is it checkerboard? secondly, as there is now nvidia 3DTV play. Couldn't I just buy that and use my own glasses. I was thinking the ZD201 that comes with the 3D-XL or even the Xpand X102 glasses, is this possible?

It would be really great if I can have some answers, I think what Optoma have done is pretty awesome

Many thanks in advance

I have wondered if this 3D-XL could power dual-projectors, and there has been some rumors that it might, but its not clear how this could be possible. If you look at pictures of the box it clearly has only one HDMI output. I see that there is a switch that says "L R Dual 1080P Output" but how is this possible with only one HDMI port. It doesn't really make much sense to have 2 boxes, how would that work. Like you would have to split the signal coming off a PS3 (which would be easy enough) and then hook each HDMI cable to another 3D-XL box. Ok, that much will work. But where does it give you the option to choose either the left or right eye only? Maybe this is a menu option, I don't see any hardware switches for this. But if this doesn't work, then what does that button do? Even assuming this works, you would be spending $800 just for these adapter boxes alone. Thats more than the projector costs. Might be better off waiting for some modern projectors to come out.

Anyway, I think for the time being a 720P 3D projector is a nice setup. Its also a lot easier (and cheaper) then trying to build a dual passive rig. Plus 1080P 3D projectors are probably not going to be coming out until next year sometime (and at high prices). The most we can hope for is maybe to get a 1080P 3D PJ out for 4Q 2011 at around $2500 (and this is really optimistic). So getting a moderate priced 720P model today is not the worst decision. Personally I am waiting to get a good 1080P projectors, or when the 3D HDTVs come down in price a little bit. For the time being I can enjoy 3D Blu-Ray on my PC with my trusty Zalman Trimon. Although a projector would be nice.

I read about this device at AVS forums, it's mainly designed to convert hdmi1.4 signals into 720p 120Hz frame alternate for their DLP-link projectors. Apparently an Optoma rep said in an interview they were trying to make it work with dual projectors but was not working yet. It's not sure if a single box will be enough. My guess is that the L&R switch is only to display 2D out of a 3D input stream. For example if you are watching a show only being broadcasted in 3D and you want to watch it in 2D.

In theory, since it has only one output, if you want to use it for dual projectors you'd need two of these boxes and also an other device that could duplicate the hdmi1.4 stream across the two boxes.

As as is the norm unless you can wait it out until its out and proven you WILL get burnt buying on promises.

Many thanks for your replies guys,

I have been doing a ton of reading on this from avforums and avsforum

It looks really interesting but expensive for a passive setup as you need 2 of these 3d adapters and a HDMI 1.4a spliiter box like BlackShark pointed out. I wonder when we will start to see other companies offering these 3d adapters or when we will see a single projector 3d adapter for passive 3d. Also when we will see 2d to 3d conversion boxes for projectors.

Anyway enough of that, what's really important is some post made mention at avsforum that Optoma is coming out with a 3D projector that has 2 simultaneous HDMI inputs so you can do passive with 2 projectors without needing a 3d adapter or splitter box. There is nothing about this on Optoma's site and I wondered if you guys know anything more about this?

I don't think we are going to know anything solid till it comes out. That button is very interesting. Of course, you guys are missing the obvious solution to dual 1080p L+R and that is inputs and outputs get reversed. You could get a switch if you really need more than one input.
Warren.

Oh, I vaguely remember something about a projector that could be daisy chained to another for passive 3D.