I have two Z800s, want to sell one. But, need advice first!

[DewiMorgan]

Hi, newbie here. Ish. Well, I've not posted in forever, anyway. A good while back now, I bought a couple of Z800s; one new, one from ebay.

My idea was: I'd keep one, and rip the other apart to make an augmented reality rig. But I never got round to that.

And now I'm a lot poorer (not eMagin's fault, I swear!), so I want to sell the older one. But I've been out of the scene for an AGE, so there's tons I don't know, and I'd love some advice. I don't want to sell people a pig in a poke.

1) Like, a quick Google shows that people are saying that the Z800 only works with Windows XP, an Nvidia 7000-series card, and olde worlde drivers. Is that still the case? Why? Has NVidia stopped supporting 3D? This would suck if true, since it means I can't even use the one I don't want to sell, since I have an XP box with a 9000-series card, and a vista laptop with a 7000-series card. I admit I've not even tried for years, though. I just don't seem to find the time to pull those boxes out, plug everything in, and dick around with drivers.

2) The second one has about a dozen dead pixels. Now, when I bought it, I was happy enough: it's not something that affects gaming, and eMagin's OLEDs were infamous for dead pixels. But then, I'm just abnormally tolerant on a lot of stuff. How picky are normal 3D people about this stuff? How much would it affect the price?

3) I like to bundle stuff, so's people get everything they need without having to trawl the net. I got the eMagin SDK, and a virtual desktop someone wrote. Is there any other z800 software out there?

4) What else do I need to know, both to sell one, and to get my other one working? Are they, in fact, just unsellable, unworkable doorstops?

5) If the Z800's dead, what's today's bright star in the HMD world? Or are HMDs out of the limelight again, without a champion? I notice there's not even a section for them in the "3D Displays" of this forum.

Off-topically, I got the SDK because it seemed to me that traditional HMD software was broken in its basic concept: the HMD could emulate a mouse, or a joystick, with a head turn.

But in fact, it seemed to me, what it SHOULD emulate is a mouse within a comfortable (user-configurable) head-turning distance, and then emulate a joystick beyond those limits.

So within normal head movement, you'd just look around, as you do with a mouse. Looking slightly to the left... means you look over to the left a bit. As normal.

But beyond that, if you strained left, you'd move into joystick territory, so your character would continue to turn even if you held your position constant: the more you turned you head that way, the faster your character would turn. You'd naturally (it seemed to me) straighten up your head, and hence slow down the turning, as you came to focus on the direction you wanted to face. But I never got round to writing that driver.

I think the idea's sound, though it would require tuning for each individual user; the angle where the joystick emulation turns on, the amount by which the joystick ramps up as you turn, and the possibly different point at which the joystick emulation turns off: for comfort, I suspect it would need an angle closer to looking-straight-forward than the turn-on angle.

[Synexious]

These are potentially the first two consumer HD HMDs:
[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huPWOrNxpl0[/youtube-hd]
[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B75jsAGRtE4[/youtube-hd]

The Zeiss OLED is supposedly 720p and is scheduled for release this summer. The Sony HMD is 720p, but is just a prototype. Someone recently posted a DIY HD HMD build, and others have built or are planning to build their own HMDs.

[cybereality]

The VR and AR forum is the correct spot for HMD talk. You are correct that the Z800 has limited to no modern support. But there are collectors and tinkerers that will still buy it. Your idea for headtracking could work, but it would be limiting. They use similar schemes on the ps move for example. Please stick around. We need more people discussing VR.

[ancjob]

i have one from ebay ...

it takes exact 800x600 VGA only not up-scaling or down-scaling..signal at all - exact 800x600 VGA

i use z800 to watch the movies using the VGA converter but colors are not impressive..and all that wires.. .i prefer headplay..but again the headplay has highly reflective LCD which is a big bummer...you have to look right on into it requires frequent re-adjustments for better viewing..

there are NO HMDs really great! which is disappointing...hoping Wrap 1200 [852x480 resolution] 'd be a bit different let's see...

So in 800x600 not too many options galore except the [headplay , z800] .. with their attendant adv & disadv...

soon gonna try this one : http://www.oriscape.com.cn/en/products. ... 251&id=118" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which i believe is the same as http://www.vrealities.com/virtualviewer3d.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


as fov 28 'd NOT be all that straining i guess for long duration usage..

not too sure of cinemizer OLED or Sony HMD 'd ever be commercially available in US$500-800 range - ever!

even sceptical abt vuzix wrap 1200 let's see...

[Synexious]

So you don't think the Cinemizer OLED will be released for $515 this summer?

[ancjob]

So you don't think the Cinemizer OLED will be released for $515 this summer?

if there was a possibility the german site 'd have some news - but there is none....
too bad...great ideas get buried in the labs....

[PalmerTech]

The last official word of the Cinemizer OLED I have found is a response from the company on their Facebook page on March 4th:

Zeiss will die neue OLED Display Technologie nutzen, um die bestmögliche Bildqualität gemäß dem ZEISS-Markenversprechen für den Kunden zu realisieren. Da diese neue Technologie noch nicht voll marktreif ist, wird ZEISS mit Veranstaltungen, Messen und Nutzertests die Marktreife und Akzeptanz dieser neuen Technologie prüfen.
Die bisher gezeigten Modelle waren Prototypen. Ein exakter Termin lässt sich leider noch nicht absehen. Wir schätzen Ende 2011.

Google translate turns that into:

Zeiss will use the new OLED display technology to achieve the best possible picture quality under the ZEISS brand promise to customers. This new technology not yet ready for the market is, ZEISS will examine events, trade shows and user tests the viability and acceptance of this new technology.
The previous models were shown prototypes. An exact date can not yet foresee. We value end of 2011.

[chatakundi]

Hi DewiMorgan,

Are you still interested in selling your Z800 HMD ?

CK

[DewiMorgan]

Still interested, though I don't think I have the information I need to have any idea of a reasonable price.
A lot of the questions I asked are still open, and I don't feel happy selling it until I know what I'm getting the buyer into. I'd rather just strip them for parts, than sell a pig in a poke.

Lessee... based on the replies so far:

1a) [Is it true] that the Z800 only works with Windows XP, an Nvidia 7000-series card, and olde worlde drivers?

Half-answered: "the Z800 has limited to no modern support". There's a thread elsewhere on these forums suggesting Vista support, but I don't want to even claim that when selling it, unless I know how to get it working. I don't want to sell it, if I can't support the buyer getting it working, especially if the high bidder's a 3D newbie: I'd hate to give them a bad experience and scare them away from the scene.

I'd also really like to get it working on my current setup, if only to re-count the dead pixels. I want an exact number: I fear that it may have got worse while it's been boxed up. Hrm. Maybe I don't need driver support for that: plugging it in should power it up, at least, right? And then I can count from that.

Plus, I want to keep my other one, and *use* it! And then I can also walk people through getting the one they buy working, while seeing the exact same thing on my own screen, hopefully.

1b) Why?

No answer.

1c) Has NVidia stopped supporting 3D?

No answer.

2a) How picky are normal 3D people about [dead pixels]?

No answer.

2b) How much would [about a dozen] affect the price?

No answer.

3) Is there any other z800 software out there?

No answer.

4a) What else do I need to know, both to sell one, and to get my other one working?

No answer.

4b) Are they, in fact, just unsellable, unworkable doorstops?

"there are collectors and tinkerers that will still buy it."

5a) What's today's bright star in the HMD world? Or are HMDs out of the limelight again, without a champion?

"The Zeiss OLED is supposedly 720p and is scheduled for release this summer. The Sony HMD is 720p, but is just a prototype."

"not too many options galore except the [headplay , z800]"


If anyone can fill in any of my knowledge gaps, that'd really be helpful. Particularly if anyone has any experience at all with getting these to work with any modern OS or videocard.

I wanna play New Vegas in 3D

[cybereality]

If you really want to get rid of it just dump it on eBay and let the market decide. Put an honest description of dead pixels and dubious software support. Believe me, there will be buyers. Not sure how much you could get for it, but probably a couple hundred at least. Is it worth potentially burning a newbie, and/or getting negative feedback on eBay? Maybe not. But maybe there is someone out there that could use it (rather than it just sit in your closet). And you could use the money to get something that's actually functional like a 3D monitor or new HMD. I think the best thing that actually coming out (for real) is the Vuzix 1200VR. It supports up to 720P input (downscaled to native WVGA), has independent diopter and IPD adjustments. Intgrated 6DOF headtracking. Side-by-side 3D support with both IZ3D and DDD drivers on all types of modern systems. Still its only 35 degrees FOV (lower than Z800), but its really the only thing on the horizon. Should come out in the next month or two.