By Neil Schneider
Part two of three from CES!
Hyundai
Neil Schneider, President & CEO of Meant to be Seen (left),
Mike Kim, Sales Director (middle) and Kevin Lee, President of
Hyundai IT America Corp.
We had the privilege of meeting Mike Kim, Hyundai’s Sales Director, and Kevin Lee, President of Hyundai IT America Corporation. They are both very excited about the prospects that stereoscopic 3D has to offer in the home.
All the stereoscopic 3D solutions on display were polarized interlaced solutions. In their private CES suite, they demonstrated a wide range of 3D monitors and HDTVs based on this technology. While MTBS does not review hardware, we will say that we were very impressed with the picture clarity on the HDTV and 24″ and higher monitor units.
Hyundai has a strong business relationship with DDD, and they are very excited about their 2D/3D conversion algorithm that is implemented inside their 3D HDTV televisions. They demonstrated console footage for us with the conversion, and we are pleased to know that there are native and driver support options as well.
Hyundai 24″ W240S Monitor (middle)
Most memorable for us was their 24″ W240S 3D monitor. We found ourselves drawn to it because of its crystal clear image, its powerful built-in sound system, and its sharp color range. There is something positive to be said about a well implemented interlaced solution, and we are looking forward to Hyundai’s continued presence in the 3D market.
iZ3D had four different monitor configurations on display at CES. First, they had the highly coveted 26″ engineering sample. Remember these words: “Engineering Sample”. They were showing a scene from Journey to the Center of the Earth as their demo reel.
iZ3D 26″ Engineering Sample 3D Monitor
The specs of the monitor are very similar to the current 22″, except it displays a full 1920 X 1200 pixels and features HDMI inputs. There is no anticipated release or production date, but the iZ3D team is actively putting ideas together for their next product line.
Next up was their retail kit. Custom painted by Smooth Creations, this is what their retail display looks like in Microcenters and Frys. The monitor display also featured an instructional guide and a looping video of popular games in true 3D. Most of the attendees were impressed with what they saw.
Aaron Rapp, iZ3D Marketing Manager and Airline Pilot
The flight simulator model was very popular too. Three standard 22″ monitors were connected via a TripleHead2Go solution, and were running Microsoft Flight Simulator 10 complete with pilot control stick and thrust pedals. There were times when people were nudging each other to get a chance to sit at the simulator, and the potential of solutions like this grew very clear.
Talk of a stereoscopic 3D console market has been heating up rapidly, and as a proof of concept, iZ3D outfitted a 22″ monitor with a special conversion board to make their solution compatible with XBOX 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. The XBOX360 was playing a third person flight simulator, but what grabbed a lot of attention was the Wii running a simple customized Frisbee game in stereoscopic 3D. Why is this important? Until recently, it was thought that S-3D on Wii was impossible because it doesn’t have HDMI output – but iZ3D corrected this myth.
We must make it clear that everything displayed was customized. Console titles are not like PC games that can be played off the shelf with an S-3D driver. iZ3D had special programming done to make these demonstrations possible, as did Blitz Games Studios with their demonstration at the 3D Entertainment Summit late last year.
iZ3D Smooth Creations FarCry2 Edition
Finally, iZ3D demonstrated a Smooth Creations version of their monitor that featured a FaryCry2 motif. Left for Dead was a popular title on the show floor, so they had their demo set up with nasty zombies coming out of the screen. We think iZ3D is a little shy with the 3D settings their monitor is capable of – maybe they were scared the zombies would scare their customers away?
It Won’t Stay in Vegas Bloggers Party
We ended the day off with a relaxing evening…NOT! Sponsored by AMD and Sony PlayStation, the “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” party was a big success. While there was no 3D to be found, we enjoyed plenty of discussion, food and console gaming!
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