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Sony HMZ-T1 first Organic EL 3D head mounted display

I own an HMD. Part of the reason for not always having the block on was to reduce eye strain. I never really used it.

BlueTsunami said:
Wow, someones salty.
This is amusing considering... well it should be obvious.

Punisher said:
I just read a bit of the AVWatch Japan review. I won't translate it all, but here are some bits of info I learned:

*snip*
-The sound quality is not up to par with the video quality
A twenty five thousand dollar product that does not pay attention to detail. It's either comical or frustrating.
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.
Haha, wow. As much as I enjoy Tested on occasion, they are some of the most uninformed "experts" I have ever heard on a podcast.

When they aren't saying things that are completely wrong, they're fact checking stuff on their iPads ON THE PODCAST. If I'm looking for informed opinions I'll look at their reviews or hands-on videos, not a podcast where they can't remember what happened for the last week.
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.

LOL. Butthurt whiny baby are we?

Give your neck a scratch, the beard looks like it needs it.
 
CaLe said:
So anyone has any luck pre-ordering it in Canada ?

Sony's online store just has an email notification in place.

Still waiting impatiently for them to put it up. I've been contemplating calling to find out when they expect it to go up but I'm holding off until October hits.
 
I gave it a good test at IFA earlier this month. The visuals are really amazing, but the device itself just isn't comfortable enough for longer use. It's top heavy, the headband feels akward, and it didn't really 'fit' my nose. After only a few minutes I started to tilt my head downwards because of the weight. If they can make it lighter and fix the weight distribution, then I'd definitely consider buying one.
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.

Hahah... what a piece of shit.
 
Chalex said:
You do realize that the MSRP on this unit is $800 right?
No. I do not.

I do not understand why Sony would cut corners here. We are not in the mass market pricing range. I do not believe a ~15% price increase would dissuade a significant portion of the early adopting audience. On the other hand a complete "Home IMAX" experience would be a more attractive package to the enthusiast audience.
 
woeds said:
I gave it a good test at IFA earlier this month. The visuals are really amazing, but the device itself just isn't comfortable enough for longer use. It's top heavy, the headband feels akward, and it didn't really 'fit' my nose. After only a few minutes I started to tilt my head downwards because of the weight. If they can make it lighter and fix the weight distribution, then I'd definitely consider buying one.

Did you use it standing? Weight is definitely a concern but I'm wondering if you're sitting with a headrest if it really much matters.

Did you get a chance to adjust the fit at all? I hope they have enough possible adjustments built in to have it fit everyone's head.

Mindlog said:
No. I do not.

I do not understand why Sony would cut corners here. We are not in the mass market pricing range. I do not believe a ~15% price increase would dissuade a significant portion of the early adopting audience. On the other hand a complete "Home IMAX" experience would be a more attractive package to the enthusiast audience.

There are lots of people in this thread that are saying 799 is too high for them, bumping that to 920 would cut a lot more people out. Hopefully the headphones are removable or else I'd definitely consider that a design flaw.
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.

The guy who posted directly above you used it...
 
Mindlog said:
No. I do not.

I do not understand why Sony would cut corners here. We are not in the mass market pricing range. I do not believe a ~15% price increase would dissuade a significant portion of the early adopting audience. On the other hand a complete "Home IMAX" experience would be a more attractive package to the enthusiast audience.
It's just stereo speakers that would be trying to simulate surround. They would always sound terrible.
I think to the average user they'd be fine.

I'd probably just use my HT for sound, or do stereo only and use some quality headphones.
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.
Do you visit Tested.com? I hear they have amazing podcasts.
 
Mindlog said:
No. I do not.

I do not understand why Sony would cut corners here. We are not in the mass market pricing range. I do not believe a ~15% price increase would dissuade a significant portion of the early adopting audience. On the other hand a complete "Home IMAX" experience would be a more attractive package to the enthusiast audience.
25 thousand isn't a 15% increase it's 3125%

Even so expecting reference-grade audio from a HMD will leave you disappointed for a very, very long time.
 
dallow_bg said:
It's just stereo speakers that would be trying to simulate surround. They would always sound terrible.
I think to the average user they'd be fine.

I'd probably just use my HT for sound, or do stereo only and use some quality headphones.

Dolby Headphone is great.

If they use that tech and have high quality transducers, I have no issue with the design choice.
 
venne said:
Dolby Headphone is great.

If they use that tech and have high quality transducers, I have no issue with the design choice.
I've used that before on my receiver, and also have a JVC SU-DH1 but for me, it's not quite good enough, though the illusion is sometimes good.
 
dallow_bg said:
I've used that before on my receiver, and also have a JVC SU-DH1 but for me, it's not quite good enough, though the illusion is sometimes good.

I had no issues with the Pioneer SE DIR800C I owned for a couple years, nor with my receiver with HD-650s. The only thing I miss is the deep bass provided by my True Subwoofer Signature.

/productnamedropping
 
Fixed1979 said:
Hopefully the headphones are removable or else I'd definitely consider that a design flaw.

\/\/

David Susilo - AVS said:
The diopter setting was available on the CES version. The one I tried at IFA and Sony Store, I don't see diopter setting. Regardless, it's more comfortable wearing the HMZ-T1 over my prescription glasses when compared to the regular active shutter 3D glasses from any manufacturer.

In terms of sound quality, considering how loud the surrounding environment was at CES and IFA, I can't judge at all. All I know is that the sound is NOT fatiguing unlike headphones below the $50 MSRP range. At the Sony Store, the headphone was disabled. The headphone itself is moveable but NOT removeable. Obviously you will be able to remove it by unscrewing the headphone (I don't know whether the screws will be exposed in the final product) but if the end product doesn't have exposed screws then you may just void your warranty if you removed the headset.
 
Chalex said:
25 thousand isn't a 15% increase it's 3125%

Even so expecting reference-grade audio from a HMD will leave you disappointed for a very, very long time.
The unit itself costs twenty five thousand dollars.
A fifteen percent increase would leave ~thirty eight hundred dollars towards the audio.

Sony could easily offer a value version MDR-R10 with that kind of budget.
 
Fixed1979 said:
Still waiting impatiently for them to put it up. I've been contemplating calling to find out when they expect it to go up but I'm holding off until October hits.

Same.

I sent them an email, I'll let you know if I hear anything, please do so too :)
 
1-D_FTW said:

Well that's disappointing. I assumed there would be some sort of workaround to take them off but on the off chance of voiding the warranty of a first gen product it's not worth it.

I guess I'll need to hear it to see if I'll be happy with it, I'm probably not as picky as some of the people who complained about it but it does make me a little nervous to just make the plunge...but I probably still will.

CaLe said:
Same.

I sent them an email, I'll let you know if I hear anything, please do so too :)

Sounds good!
 
Mindlog said:
The unit itself costs twenty five thousand dollars.
A fifteen percent increase would leave ~thirty eight hundred dollars towards the audio.

Sony could easily offer a value version MDR-R10 with that kind of budget.

what costs $25k?
 
Is there any realistic expectation of this unit getting smaller/more wearable? I guess the big limitation is the optics. Is there any chance that those could get reduced in size? Would it take something like the optics being customized on a per user basis a la eyeglasses for it to work?
 
Mindlog said:
The unit itself costs twenty five thousand dollars.
A fifteen percent increase would leave ~thirty eight hundred dollars towards the audio.

Sony could easily offer a value version MDR-R10 with that kind of budget.


I'm not sure who's confused...

The HMZ-T1 is $799, a 15% increase is $918.85. You're talking about adding a $4000 pair of headphones onto the headset.

The only time $25,000 was brought up in this thread was in reference to something completely different.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
Is there any realistic expectation of this unit getting smaller/more wearable? I guess the big limitation is the optics. Is there any chance that those could get reduced in size? Would it take something like the optics being customized on a per user basis a la eyeglasses for it to work?

as much as I read, they are actually adjustable. This is probably why you see some that tried it on trade show floor saying how they are not that comfortable, while others say they are.

edit: here is youtube video from sony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmIzu3MA5U
 
Mindlog said:
The unit itself costs twenty five thousand dollars.
A fifteen percent increase would leave ~thirty eight hundred dollars towards the audio.

Sony could easily offer a value version MDR-R10 with that kind of budget.

WTF are you even talking about?
 
Fixed1979 said:
Well that's disappointing. I assumed there would be some sort of workaround to take them off but on the off chance of voiding the warranty of a first gen product it's not worth it.

I guess I'll need to hear it to see if I'll be happy with it, I'm probably not as picky as some of the people who complained about it but it does make me a little nervous to just make the plunge...but I probably still will.


Sounds good!

From the press shots, it looks like you would need to do a significant tear down to remove the phones. The armature appears to run into the actual head unit (never mind the cabling). This just doesn't sound like a practical solution. Only hope is that they shift completely up into the headset and well off the ears. If they do, and there's no kind of mechanism where they lock into and out of place, you should be able to tie wrap them or something. Regardless, this is a boneheaded oversight on Sony's part. Nobody wants to pay $800 to use a $30 pair of on-ear muffs with shitty simulated surround.
 
spwolf said:
as much as I read, they are actually adjustable. This is probably why you see some that tried it on trade show floor saying how they are not that comfortable, while others say they are.

edit: here is youtube video from sony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmIzu3MA5U

Right, that is as I am understanding it. But from what I can tell, part of the reason the unit is so bulky is because of the adjustable optics. You need several lenses to make the optics adjustable, as I understand it, whereas if the optics were customized on a per user basis, perhaps they could be reduced to a single lens which would allow it to be made more compact?

I guess I am thinking further along the way, into more of an augmented reality type of thing where you could wear a head mounted display like this daily/in public.
 
Reallink said:
From the press shots, it looks like you would need to do a significant tear down to remove the phones. The armature appears to run into the actual head unit (never mind the cabling). This just doesn't sound like a practical solution. Only hope is that they shift completely up into the headset and well off the ears. If they do, and there's no kind of mechanism where they lock into and out of place, you should be able to tie wrap them or something. Regardless, this is a boneheaded oversight on Sony's part. Nobody wants to pay $800 to use a $30 pair of on-ear muffs with shitty simulated surround.

What makes you think they suck?

Sony makes some good headphones, such as the MDR-SA5000. I doubt these would be as good, but I don't think they are going to be garbage.

Also, simulated surround can sound just as good as real surround (except the deep bass). It all depends on the quality of algorithm and headphones.
 
thuway said:
A- HMD's that are in the same realm of this product cost twenty five THOUSAND dollars.
I was wrong to assume my throwaway joke would be understood.

It was a harmless jab. I thought including the youtube link in my original comment would explain the joke without explaining the joke.

I apologize for having baffled so many.
I further apologize for the comparison misunderstanding. For those that did not understand: 15% of $800 can still be in the realm of decent Sony brand quality.

No more jokes.

It is illogical to invest so much into the video tech without properly pairing the audio presentation.

jett said:
LOL at mindlog. The HMZ-T1 costs $800.
I know, right.
 
Reallink said:
Regardless, this is a boneheaded oversight on Sony's part. Nobody wants to pay $800 to use a $30 pair of on-ear muffs with shitty simulated surround.

The post above mentioned they are better than the $50 earphones. Sony sells some good headsets, so I don't think they'd be rubbish for a premium product.

I do think the HMZ family should be a platform since virtual reality and natural interfaces are very personal experience. Everyone would want something different.
 
Mindlog said:
I was wrong to assume my throwaway joke would be understood.

It was a harmless jab. I thought including the youtube link in my original comment would explain the joke without explaining the joke.

I apologize for having baffled so many.
I further apologize for the comparison misunderstanding. For those that did not understand: 15% of $800 can still be in the realm of decent Sony brand quality.

No more jokes.

It is illogical to invest so much into the video tech without properly pairing the audio presentation.
i don't think hating cross talk makes me an audiophile. i don't care nearly as much about audio quality as i do video quality. i think DD5.1 is good enough even though i can hear the differences between the new lossless formats and the old formats, i don't miss that difference.

hell i prefer virtual headset surround to multiple drivers. i have some decent cans in the Triton 720s, but i know that an audiophile would sniff at them.

it has nothing to do with me wanting the best 3D visuals currently available.

judging from TV sets with built in speakers, and home theatre in a box, and what have you, it seems that most people care more about the visuals than the sounds too. hopefully a higher end set will come into existance for audiophiles, but i don't think it's illogical to provide 'good enough' sound with a high end video experience.
 
And if it really mattered, the box is just an HDMI pass-through so people can also watch on the television. Run the pass through HDMI cable into a receiver, slide the headphone pads off the ear, and hook up a pair of expensive earplugs from the receiver.

This isn't the answer for someone who just wants to use his Grado SR80s, but if you're truly a major audiophile, you could solve the issue by throwing money at it.
 
Quaz51 said:
Wipeout photo through the HMZ-T1
*image*

The comparison looked a bit off IMO. This is how I did it:
pRMt5m.jpg


1 EUR diameter: 23.25mm
0.7 inch: 17.78mm
 
renitou said:
People jealous they can't run a website about tech with any level of success from their moms' basements. On NeoGAF?

Surprise, surprise.

This gadget looks cute. Not a one of you have used it. Keep your uninformed traps shut until you do. You come off as hip-shooting bafoons elsewise.
This is just too much.
 
1-D_FTW said:
And if it really mattered, the box is just an HDMI pass-through so people can also watch on the television.

The pass-through doesn't work like that. It toggles the video instead of duplicating it to the television.

HDMI® Pass-through

Keep the unit connected all the time. When the HMZ-T1is turned on, the image is switched from your TV to the unit. Turn off the HMZ-T1, and the image is sent back to the TV.

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...151&langId=-1&partNumber=HMZT1#specifications

Since my receiver is only HDMI 1.3, I will probably get a new dual HDMI Blu-ray player as a workaround if I end up buying one of these units.
 
MrJames said:
The pass-through doesn't work like that. It toggles the video instead of duplicating it to the television.

Positive? I could have sworn in one of the videos a Sony guy mentioned it was there so others in the room could also watch. And in other, so that you could take off the glasses and still see the action.
 
plagiarize said:
it has nothing to do with me wanting the best 3D visuals currently available.
I'd say that high-quality 3-DLP projectors can top this (you can reduce the cross-talk to zero if the projector is powerful enough to compensate for a pretty short opening of the LCD glasses). Probably best 3D/image you can get.

But that's nowhere near the $800 price range.

(and 3-dlp have some motion-tearing issues that a headset don't have)

1-D_FTW said:
And if it really mattered, the box is just an HDMI pass-through so people can also watch on the television. Run the pass through HDMI cable into a receiver, slide the headphone pads off the ear, and hook up a pair of expensive earplugs from the receiver.
It would be good to know that it's working as a pass-through like this. But is it confirmed or just a guess?

Still, I don't think that It'll be easy to use a pair of headphones with those. The earpads on most (if not all) HiFi headphones are probably too big to avoid problems with the headset.
 
Koren said:
It would be good to know that it's working as a pass-through like this. But is it confirmed or just a guess?

Still, I don't think that It'll be easy to use a pair of headphones with those. The earpads on most (if not all) HiFi headphones are probably too big to avoid problems with the headset.

Maybe the Sony guy was wrong, but in one of the videos they explicitly mentioned other people in the room being able to watch the same content on the TV.

I don't mean headphones. I mean expensive earplugs. You're right. I can't imagine any pads being small enough to work that way.
 
1-D_FTW said:
Positive? I could have sworn in one of the videos a Sony guy mentioned it was there so others in the room could also watch. And in other, so that you could take off the glasses and still see the action.

I'm basing that off the Sony website. Looking at the footnote perhaps it only toggles for 3D content? I agree that this product would be much more usable if it could display on a television and the viewer at the same time.
 
MrJames said:
I'm basing that off the Sony website. Looking at the footnote perhaps it only toggles for 3D content? I agree that this product would be much more usable if it could display on a television and the viewer at the same time.
well, i have a 3DTV so i'm still hoping it'll pass through. reduces the usability of these a bit if people can't 'spectate' or watch the same 3d movie or what have you.
 
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