3d Monitors

Just a few years ago a 3D monitor would cost you over $10,000.00.  Only major movie and game studios used these super expensive 3d monitors.  But a new breed of 3d monitor has emerged especially designed for use in the home for 3D games.  The three most popular of these new monitors are all 22 inch LCD displays.  They use polarized 3d glasses (not red and blue anaglyph, or shutter glasses) and come with special 3d drivers that turn all (or nearly all) of your 3d games into immersive real 3d.

I have recently got access to all three of these popular models to test them on some popular 3d games and applications.  I tested using two systems, one PC running Vista Ultimate 64-bit with a Nvidia Geforce GTX 260 graphics card, and one PC running Vista Ultimate 32-bit with an ATI Radeon HD 4650.  I eventually had luck getting all 3 to produce 3D video, but there are definitely pros and cons with each of these 3d monitors.  Read below for my full review:

The Best Gaming 3d Monitor:

IZ3D H220z1

Not only is the IZ3D a great looking monitor rendering some of the most beautiful and realistic 3d images of the group, it also has the best drivers, the best support, and one of the lowest price tags.  It is no wonder that IZ3D, a startup company, has surpassed the larger manufacturers in sales of 3d monitors.

On both of the test systems I was able to get the drivers working fairly easily.  I had a little more trouble on the 64-bit system, but I was able to contact support and get good information from the support tech.  (I had to plug in only one of the DVI cables, install, restart, then plug in the other cable.)  After only a brief hassle on that driver, I was able to immediately start playing games in 3d.  The settings were able to be easily tweaked in the software to provide the right level of 3d effect.  The 3d effects are pretty amazing on this monitor.  Batman Arkham Asylum has to be seen to be believed.  World of Warcraft looked pretty good too, as well as Counter Strike,  Sims 2, and a few others I tested.  3D movies I played off of the Blu-Ray drive were converted to 3D by the software and looked pretty good (although not quite as good as in a 3D equipped theater.)  Overall this is a great 3d monitor for the money.

PROS – Best drivers and game support on both ATI and Nvidia based cards.  On-screen settings are easy to tweak (such as convergence).  Colors and brightness look very good, in both 2d and 3d.  3D images really pop-out (or “pop-into” the screen depending on settings).  Price – $399.99 includes 3 pairs of polarized lenses, DVI cables, drivers and all. (UPDATE:  Buy it at the official IZ3D webstore and use the coupon code 6f4c6593 for 20% off.  This makes the final price $319.99, which is a pretty great deal.  Not sure how long this will last, so you may want to snap this up quick.)

CONS – Inputs are a little hard to get to.  Does not work with multiple graphics cards in “Crossfire” type configurations. Because of the “stacked-panel” design of the monitor, you have to use a graphics card with dual output. The only hardware setting you can change is brightness. I would have liked to change the color balance on the monitor, but I was able to tweak the settings in the graphics card control panels and get it right.  Drivers can be a little tricky to install, especially on a 64-bit system.

Runner Up:

Hyundai W220S

While the IZ3D monitor uses a “stacked-panel design” to produce the 3d-effect, this Hyundai 3d monitor uses horizontal interlacing on a single LCD panel to produce the 3D effect.  The effect it produces is still pretty good but it is less clear, as only half of the pixels are rendered for each eye.  This can be a little bit of a problem when trying to read small text in a 3d game. 
The driver experience on this monitor is my real sore spot.  The drivers that come with it are called “triple-def” and are made by a third party called “DDD.”  They only work with 32-bit versions of Windows, so I had to scrap plans to test on the Vista 64 box.  Getting the 3d effect to work in games once the drivers were installed was a bit tricky, and even a call to a rather un-helpful support technician didn’t produce satisfactory results. 

I eventually downloaded a 30 day trial of the IZ3D interlaced driver and used it with this monitor and I finally had decent results. I think that if you buy this monitor, upgrading to the IZ3D drivers will be a must, and that is going to cost you an extra $49.99.  (I didn’t attempt to use this monitor on the 64-bit machine using the IZ3D drivers, though I plan to give this a try in the future.)     
The 3D quality, overall, while okay, did not display the same sharpness I saw on the IZ3D.  For instance, a white line looked sort of like a white/purple/orange/pink line through the polarized glasses.  On top of this, small text was sometimes impossible to read on a 3d screen.  I could tweak the settings until I got a strong 3D effect, but it never looked as good as it did on the IZ3D. 

PROS – The contrast ratio is good at 1000:1, which is slightly higher than the IZ3d’s 700:1.  This is not really that noticeable though. No need for a dual output graphics card as it uses a single LCD panel.  3D effects had noticeable pop-out or pop-in depending on settings.  Nice looking glossy black and white finish on the case.  Cables and 1 pair of glasses included.  Glasses are good looking and less dorky than the other brands.  Color settings and contrast can be adjusted on the monitor.  Best overall 2d quality.

CONS – Lower visual resolution in 3d mode because of interlacing.  Abysmal drivers that only work with 32-bit windows.  Only one pair of 3d glasses included.  Price is very high at $679.00 and you will need to spend another $49.99 for drivers that actually work well. 

Also Ran:

Zalman ZM-M220W

The Zalman 22 inch 3d monitor uses the same type of interlaced display as the Hyundai, but doesn’t do it as well as Hyundai does.  All of the colors look somehow muted, even when tweaked and the contrast looks worse than both the IZ3D and the Hyundai (even though it claims to have a better contrast ratio than the IZ3D.)  The response time also seemed slower and when playing in 3D, I was able to notice some of the horizontal banding that was not visible with the Hyundai.

On top of that, the driver situation with the monitor is even worse than the Hyundai one.  The only drivers you get with this monitor are the free stereoscopic drivers from Nvidia which only work on a smattering of games, and which render many 3d games completely unplayable.  There is also the issue of the drivers only working on Nvidia graphics boards.  The DDD Tri-Def drivers and the IZ3D drivers both work with this monitor, but you will need to purchase a license.  I can highly recommend that if you buy this monitor, you should also plan on buying a $49.99 license for the IZ3D drivers.

The best results I achieved with this monitor were with the 32-bit system with the ATI card using the IZ3D drivers.  Here I finally was able to get all of the test games working with similar results to those I saw on the Hyundai.  The resolution was negatively impacted due to the interlacing and small text and lines were again a bit blurry.  The 3d effects did work to an acceptable level, but the color washout was a little disappointing.  Overall I felt that this monitor performed below expectations.

PROS – The price has come way down on this monitor from $700.00 to $299.99. (Probably due to its mediocre performance.)  However, you should plan on spending another $49.99 on the IZ3D drivers if you purchase this monitor.  Built-in speakers on the monitor can free up some desk space.  Swivel stand is very nice. 

CONS – No commercial quality drivers included.  Interlaced design has a lower visual resolution as only half the image is rendered for each eye.  Colors look very washed out, especially against a white background.  Some banding was noticeable while playing 3d games.  Built-in speakers are not good enough for any serious gamer.

Conclusion

It seems that none of the 3d monitors reviewed has everything quite right, but the IZ3D is the closest of the pack.  The “stacked panel” design provides the highest resolution and clearest image in 3d mode.  However it needs to have more adjustment capabilities on the color temperature and contrast settings.  Without adjustment the colors tended to look a little on the blue side.  IZ3D does have, by far, the best drivers and playing games on this monitor can be pretty amazing.

If you are using your monitor primarily for 2D office applications and may only want to occasionally delve into 3d gaming, you may want to consider the Hyundai W220S.  The 2D picture produced by this monitor is very similar to that produced by the best of breed 2d monitors.  Using the IZ3D drivers, this monitor looks pretty good most of the time in 3d.  The biggest issue with this monitor is the price tag, which is roughly double that of the other two monitors I reviewed.

The Zalman, I feel, is not quite ready for primetime.  I suspect that, as this is their first foray into the 3d monitor market, they will correct the image quality problems in a future model.  Although you can get this monitor working in 3d with the IZ3D drivers, I would suggest going with one of the other brands.