Originally Posted by
thebard 
Hi all,
I received my rf emitter & glasses a few days ago, & I've had some time to run them through their paces. I did the majority of my testing on my Optoma HD70 (non-3D) dlp projector at 60hz. I thought I would post my initial impressions:
Packaging: All items received in good working condition. I was hoping that the glasses would come in a nice pouch like the ir version, however!
Setup: A bit confusing at first. Unlike Jazar's experience, my unit wouldn't get power from the sync cable (as the ir emitter did), so I had to plug in via usb adapter. I downloaded the MAX manual from the Monster site, but if if I didn't know the emitter was the same form factor I would have been lost as to the controls; the fine-tuning operations were needed for me, as the picture was not ideal out of the box. Since I received the unit, Jonathan has sent out a more in-depth pdf manual for users, which is very helpful.
Operation: Now this is where this system really shines! The fine-tuning options, once I got the hang of them, allow for a much more rewarding 3d experience than the ir equivalent. Key points:
- Sync: With the ir emitter, I had to press the polarity button probably 50% of the time on startup; while it's too soon to tell for sure, initial sync doesn't seem to be an issue with the rf emitter. So far the polarity with the rf system has been reversed only once or twice, and I have fired up 3d blu-ray & cable dozens of times already... The instances of pseudo-stereo seem to be limited to times I resumed a previously played disc... I have had no problems on a newly loaded disc, or pausing, fast forward, etc. The software control utility for the rf emitter, which hooks up via usb, isn't any more or less convenient than the joystick, but it lets me take note of the settings.
- Signal & range: This aspect alone will probably keep me from going back to ir. I no longer have to deal with the lenses fluttering every time I reach over to pick up my drink, or lift my hand to adjust them... the glasses will keep plugging away, even if I turn my back.
- Delay & duty cycle settings: These are the adjustments which directly effect image quality. With the ir emitter, I had two choices - vga or dvi. Vga was too dark, and dvi had too much flicker at 60hz. The rf emitter gives me a good number of settings along that spectrum. Flicker is not eliminated completely, mind you, but I can choose a setting that minimizes it (by sacrificing some brightness). For adjusting this I used source material that had exhibited lots of flicker for me ("Despicable Me" - plenty of bright scenes). As for ghosting, the worst title on my system was "Monster House" (a good number of scenes with fast animation). "Under the Sea" also lent itself well for adjusting, because it had plenty of slow-moving sea creatures sharply delineated against a smooth blue background, which provided time & crisp imagery for tweaking settings.
Fine-tuning the adjustments will be a matter of preference, and viewing environment. There are seemingly HUNDREDS of steps along the delay/duty cycle spectrum (down to 100th of a millisecond I'm told). As you move down the scale away from flicker, you head first into a slightly dimmer image, and then into some "banding" across the gradients, and finally into a very dark "solarized" image. So you can eliminate flicker on a 60hz system completely, it just depends on what you consider unwatchable as far as image quality. For me, I was able to find settings with more than acceptable viewing. I found that opening up the duty cycle setting, then setting the delay to minimize ghosting, then pulling back on the duty cycle setting again, gave me good results. Using a variety of source material helps, & I made sure to test both bright and dark scenes. A duty cycle setting of 50-70 with a delay in the 20000 range seemed good for my HD70 dlp projecting an 80" screen in a darkened room.
The adjustments give me ZERO ghosting on blu-ray titles; I occasionally see a double-image on some low-end cable content, but I believe these are convergence issues, as they don't "bleed" from eye to eye. The glasses have good range and don't require line of sight, and I would imagine the emitter can probably eliminate the color cast issues some people have reported with dlp-link. So down the line, if I find a 3d-ready projector that meets my needs, this is equipment I can see carrying over to a new system.
So overall, I will have to say that the rf system is a keeper. Is it perfect? No, but no way am I going back to the ir glasses.
I have not thoroughly tested the emitter with my Samsung LCD tv, but preliminary results seemed to indicate that at the very least a completely different settings profile would be needed to address the ghosting & flicker specific to the different display type. This isn't to say that improved results won't be achievable, but with only one emitter I'll probably leave it optimized for the projector, since that's what I'll be using for viewing 99% of the time.
Anyway, in summary, I am happy with the improvement the rf setup offers over the ir. I hope the comments above are in some way helpful to others.
but it does work with the 4k but looks like a lot of tweaking is needed. Boy I have a head ache!
