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The Official VEFXi 3D-Bee Owners' Thread

50K views 293 replies 61 participants last post by  Haisook 
#1 ·
OK - so I just got my 3D-Bee professional last week and jumped on here to report my thoughts and found no owners' thread yet.


So, here goes...


The 3D-Bee is a really nifty gadget that converts 2D input, such as your favourite 2D Bluray, or your favourite football game or car race, into some VERY impressive 3D. More on this below, but this device performed much better than I expected.


As some of you may know, my theater configuration is a dual-projector passive polarised system, so for Bluray 3D, I am using Optoma 3DXL boxes to split the signals into the left and right.


In a similar manner, my 3D Bee configuration requires a Dual-unit "Professional" version of the 3D-Bee SKU. This allows the unit to output a full 1080p60 or 1080p24 for each projector, left and right.


If you are using a regular "active" 3D TV or projector, then you would only need a single 3D-Bee device - such as their base model, the "Home", or their mid-range "Trainer" model.


The difference between these two units is that the "Home" model outputs two "flavours" of 3D style, the "innie" (Z-) style (where objects appear behind the screen), and the "outtie" (Z+) style (where objects can appear in front of the screen).


The "Trainer" model does the same 3D creation, but you can exaggerate the Z- or Z+ modes (called Z-- and Z++).


The "Home" and "Trainer" models are limited by the HDMI format, in that they can only output 3D at the bandwidths/resolutions supported in HDMI. These are 720p at 120hz (60p per eye) or 1080p60 where the frame is cut in half and shared for each eye.


To acheive true 1080p60 per eye, requires the "Pro" version that I purchased, which is actually two of the "Trainer" models, which have been preset to be the Left and the Right output.
 
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#177 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3d-bee /forum/post/21501913


hi pvega,


you don't need the 3d-xl. You need 3d-bee::trainer and it will output 3d video signal in 120hz frame-sequential format, which is directly compatible with the projector input.


Hope that helps!

thx!



What´s the best way to order it in Europe with shipping to Portugal? Do you already have or are planning in the short turn a distributor in Europe? Amazon.co.uk maybe?
 
#178 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by wildchild22 /forum/post/21500774


I have tried forcing a 3d disc though the bee and you all you get is a black screen. The 3d bee CANNOT pass a 3d bluray and needs to be bypassed.

+1. The 'bee doesn't pass frame-packed, which is what a 3D Blu-Ray signal is by default.
 
#183 ·
I'm planning on building a dual projector setup and I know they have a dual projector full HD 1080p version, which looks great, except I don't know if I can justify paying that much for it.


The home and platinum editions both output SBS video. Since a 3D-XL can input SBS video, couldn't a pair of them split the video to 2 projectors just like any other 3D source? I realize that would not be 1080p, but I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work, unless I am missing something, can anyone shed some light on this?
 
#186 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by virtualpaul /forum/post/21708168


I read a post that says that the internal 2D to 3D converter of the Samsung TV is better than the 3D bee. The guy both one and was very disappointed to see his TV was already doing it better.

Nope... I've seen the built-in 3D on all of the TVs, including the Samsung. No comparison. Everyone is entitled to opinions, of course
 
#187 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rdjam /forum/post/21713970


Nope... I've seen the built-in 3D on all of the TVs, including the Samsung. No comparison. Everyone is entitled to opinions, of course

Thanks for the reply.


For a 3D projector, which 3D-bee model would you recommend?


I have read your other thread about dual projector system but after reading about the 'straight head' requirement, I have decided to buy an active eye glass 3D projector while waiting for some passive ~realD compatible projectors to come out at reasonable prices. Would you recommend one in the $3k price range (Panasonic PT-AE7000, Epson 6010, ...)?
 
#188 ·
^^^


other than a bit of playing around, i don't use the "extra modes"...


that doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't... or that someday i might not...


if you are the kind of person who wonders "what if?", then spend the differential...
 
#189 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by virtualpaul /forum/post/21714403


Thanks for the reply.


For a 3D projector, which 3D-bee model would you recommend?


I have read your other thread about dual projector system but after reading about the 'straight head' requirement, I have decided to buy an active eye glass 3D projector while waiting for some passive ~realD compatible projectors to come out at reasonable prices. Would you recommend one in the $3k price range (Panasonic PT-AE7000, Epson 6010, ...)?

Because I'm using the dual projector setup, I haven't had enough interest in the single projector 3D solutions to look at the newer ones, so I don't know if I could comment.


What I can say is that since you would be using a single projector, you can use any version of the 3D Bee. The top Pro version is only needed for the dual projector solution.


I would recommend the Trainer version for the extra $100, since it gives you some flexibility to play with different modes. But the default "-" mode is what I use most of the time myself, so either is good.
 
#190 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rdjam /forum/post/21714582


I would recommend the Trainer version for the extra $100, since it gives you some flexibility to play with different modes. But the default "-" mode is what I use most of the time myself, so either is good.

Thanks for the reply.


Does the unit allow moving the depth from behind the TV/Projector to in front of it?
 
#191 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by virtualpaul /forum/post/21716288


Thanks for the reply.


Does the unit allow moving the depth from behind the TV/Projector to in front of it?

Yes, the Trainer, the mid-range unit, does 3D "-" settings (behind the screen) and "+" (in front of the screen)


I like the former, some like the latter
 
#193 ·
The Plus settings don't really create a "pop-out" effect like many viewers may be expecting. Rather, it looks to me more like the screen is bowed outwards, which is a very weird and distracting experience. The Minus settings are more effective.


In the time I had with a trainer model, I alternated between - and --. The first created a minimal 3D depth effect on my screen, but didn't suffer any artifacts. The -- setting is more aggressive and (at its best) created a more impressive depth effect, but was sometimes too exaggerated and caused crosstalk artifacts. I kind of wish there were a setting about halfway between them.


--- was was too exaggerated and artifacty to be usable.
 
#194 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Z /forum/post/21719517


The Plus settings don't really create a "pop-out" effect like many viewers may be expecting. Rather, it looks to me more like the screen is bowed outwards, which is a very weird and distracting experience. The Minus settings are more effective.


In the time I had with a trainer model, I alternated between - and --. The first created a minimal 3D depth effect on my screen, but didn't suffer any artifacts. The -- setting is more aggressive and (at its best) created a more impressive depth effect, but was sometimes too exaggerated and caused crosstalk artifacts. I kind of wish there were a setting about halfway between them.


--- was was too exaggerated and artifacty to be usable.

Ok thanks for clarifying that. It's a bit disappointing to read this.
Ever saw another unit that did a better job or had better adjustment range?
 
#195 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by virtualpaul /forum/post/21721571


Ok thanks for clarifying that. It's a bit disappointing to read this.

Based on responses from other uses, it seems to me that you may get different results on a different screen.
 
#196 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Z /forum/post/21723826


Based on responses from other uses, it seems to me that you may get different results on a different screen.

It would be nice if the unit had an option to cut some of the horizontal width instead of 'bowing' the sides. I read that the powerdvd12 is doing that. My old Sony projector allowed me to clip horizontally so maybe this could be used?
 
#197 ·
Can anyone help?


If I were to buy a 3D-Bee Trainer and use the unit's HDMI input ports to attach a Blu Ray player and a DirecTV HD-DVR, would I still need to buy a 3DXL to hook up to a cheap DLP 720P '3D ready' projector to get the 2D to 3D conversion?


The 3D-Bee does appear to output a 720P frame-sequencial signal that the projector is able to process. It would be nice to by pass a 3DXL purchase.
 
#198 ·
Well this product is great when 3D stuffs was new to the market, but now with technology built in TV/Projector does amazing job to be honest. I own a 55" 3D TV using 3D-Bee, it was great conversion back in the day compare to my TV. Now I own Epson 5010 3D projector and using it built in 3D conversion and compare with the 3D-Bee box, The depth and 3D perspective is same or better than the 3D-Bee to be honest, but the Epson picture quality is way better than the 3D-Bee, must be due to it built in HQV Reon–VX.
 
#199 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by charlievoviii /forum/post/21735817


Well this product is great when 3D stuffs was new to the market, but now with technology built in TV/Projector does amazing job to be honest. I own a 55" 3D TV using 3D-Bee, it was great conversion back in the day compare to my TV. Now I own Epson 5010 3D projector and using it built in 3D conversion and compare with the 3D-Bee box, The depth and 3D perspective is same or better than the 3D-Bee to be honest, but the Epson picture quality is way better than the 3D-Bee, must be due to it built in HQV Reon-VX.

Thanks. I was almost convinced to buy it. I guess I'll wait to see the conversion on my next projector. Also everybody seems to agree that only the Z- is a good setting for the unit. It feels a bit 'boring' that there is no other 'useful' adjustments.
 
#200 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by virtualpaul /forum/post/21739338


Thanks. I was almost convinced to buy it. I guess I'll wait to see the conversion on my next projector. Also everybody seems to agree that only the Z- is a good setting for the unit. It feels a bit 'boring' that there is no other 'useful' adjustments.

yeah like built in video procession would be nice. Anyway 3D-Bee is a little false advertise, full 1080P 3D content convert from 1080P 2D content. ROFL it's not possible. You have to crop the picture or else it will have like a weird picture ratio. Imagine taking two 1920x1080 and move them away from each "Side by Side" this is how 3D work, the more you move away from each other the more depth. Also the more you move the more the two side corners have to be crop to have the video fit back in to 1920 pixels. Make sense?
 
#201 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by charlievoviii /forum/post/21741340


yeah like built in video procession would be nice. Anyway 3D-Bee is a little false advertise, full 1080P 3D content convert from 1080P 2D content. ROFL it's not possible. You have to crop the picture or else it will have like a weird picture ratio. Imagine taking two 1920x1080 and move them away from each "Side by Side" this is how 3D work, the more you move away from each other the more depth. Also the more you move the more the two side corners have to be crop to have the video fit back in to 1920 pixels. Make sense?

Yes I guess there is no way to invent pixels that are not there so cropping is the only solution.
 
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