gaming witha FRESNEL LENS..

[crashdome 3]

I held the lens up to the sun and began burning the cardboard it came in... it was fun probably more fun than than it should have been.....

Focal point was 550mm (roughly 22").

The lens itself is the size of a 17" LCD (or 18" CRT) with a diagonal of 17.6" .....It is also 4:3 ratio which makes the sides the primary problem of my 5:4 ratio screen (i.e. top and bottom can be adjusted into view but sides still expand beyond the viewable area)

Conclusion: This lens is made for a 17" or 18" monitor with a 4:3 ratio.

nubbin, it's not a bad lens... although I do think they say it can accomodate 17" to 26" monitors but I don't see how.

[nubbin77 0]

LOL, I am watching Brazil ( a 1985 Monty Python movie) and every computer has like a 5 inch screen with a giant fresnal lens in front. Apparently this idea has been around for quite a while.

[Sosna 0]

I got my lens today, the F550 from 3Dlens.

It took about 8 days to get here with air mail option.

Well, this is incredible after 1.5h of making a mount (cardboard box ) I finally fired up OFP and I really felt like I was inside the game. Just awesome.

I also tried Total Annihilation (a top view quasi-3D strategy game) and it was like watching the action from the sky, i really got the feeling of depth.

I tried the original Doom (with Zdoom) too, I really got the sense of immersion (and fear! ) . It's cool how now you can see things in the corner of your eyes.

PROS

-waaay bigger field of vision

-sense of depth, eyes focus far.

-very slight blurring, I like it since it looks like anti-aliasing

-no problem with reading text.

CONS

-can't have a lot of light in the room or it glares

-strange effect when there's alot of contrast (black and white) and moving objects.

-Hard for me to see keyboard ( I'll probably be able to figure something out though...)

I think it was totally worth $50 (CAD, + shipping)

Well, thanks GAU-8 for posting this

I don't think I would have ever found out about this if you hadn't.

[chipper 0]

I want to get one of these soon.

[GAU-8 0]

my brother came stopped by today. he was real curious about the set up. so i let him play MSFS 2004, both without/with the lens in place.

he has never heard/seen this before. so for him being a licensed private pilot, i had to see what he thought.

he was really shocked! after setting the lens in place, he never moved it, and sat the rest of the evening playing with the simulator. and just kept saying "i just cant get over this !" .. i noticed his simulator time jumped up a few more hours more than normal at my house for the evenening:P

[Journeyman 0]

What lens are you using now GAU-8? Did you try the F550 or are you still using the F330? Personally I find the F330 too difficult to use although it has a good depth of view.  

[GAU-8 0]

im still on 330 lens.. as of yet. i keepe meaning to order the the 550 i just forget to do it :P ..just like i will, in the next 5 minutes

:P

[Journeyman 0]

im still on 330 lens.. as of yet.  i keepe meaning to order the the 550 i just forget to do it :P ..just like i will,  in the next 5 minutes

:P

I'll give you a hand and link you strait to the ordering page of 3D Lens.com. Save you looking it up!    Incidentally they pack those lenses well too! Takes me about 5 minutes to get to them! I guess it must be that Chinese attention to detail!  

[Rg 0]

You work for them don't you?

It might be a little while, but I think I will definitely try one out eventually.

I probably will consider getting trackIR, so are there any cons to using it with a lens (I know you have one GAU)? When using 6DOF do you run into problems of moving outside of the lens frame making part of the monitor get cut of from view? Any cons of using both that I can't think of?

[Journeyman 0]

I probably will consider getting trackIR, so are there any cons to using it with a lens?

..Non whatsoever! Track ir works well with a lens, but you might have to reposition it so it can see your head over the lens!

...I don't work for them, but I think I should be getting some commission from all the referrals that I’ve made!  

[GAU-8 0]

lol..thank you sir!

550 on its way

yeah same here for teh referals ...

[andersson 285]

As I`m planning on buying "THE computer" I`m thinking about what monitor(s) to buy.

It would be reaally nice to have 3 screens to get a nice view, but as monitors/flatscreens are`nt that cheap I came up with this idea:

Buy 3 17" and 3 fresnellenses. As 17" are alot cheaper than bigger screens it would be possible to cut down the cost and the fresnel lenses would make the view bigger. I have also read that the fresnel lenses are alittle to small for 19" and up?? How big is the view with a 550 fresnel and a 17"?

What do you think?

Then there is the question: flatscreen VS monitor. As I want to use my 3d-goggles I need a good refreshrate... Monitors are also alot cheaper but they are so big...

A z800 or similar VR-goggle would solve everything, too bad there isnt anything good yet....

[Rg 0]

Are you planning on buying a TripleHead2Go to use with the 3 monitors?

Let's say you have the 3 monitor setup using the TH2G, it acts as a super wide screen resolution and doesn't compensate for the monitor frames, so the images are separated by a gap. The gaps are pretty small if you have 3 lcd's. Now the problem is, will the fresnel lens work with that 3 monitor setup? In theory, that kind of setup sounds amazing, but my first reaction is no, it won't work very well since you would have to have the monitors pretty far apart.

TH2G w/lens's (don't mind the dots)

....__....

/.........\

The monitors would have to have a lot of space in between each other instead of touching each other, because the lens's have to stick out 6-12+ inch's. Now, if all the lens's touch each other, it might give an accurate picture without gaps, but since the lens enlarges the picture you might get a weird effect when looking at the 2 connecting pictures, but who knows. Wait for other responses, but I would say if your going to be spending that much money on a 3 monitor setup, it shouldn't hurt to spend $120 in testing the 3 lens setup. It would also help others that might be thinking the same thing.

.............a 3 monitor setup, all with lens's and trackIR........god damn, I just spuged.

[Journeyman 0]

If you've got an hour to spare there's a little bit of reading on wide view collimated displays here courtesy of Rick Lee.

I don't know of anyone who has tried the simple set-up above, so I would like to hear of someone’s experience with such a set-up.  

A 17" monitor will still give you a large view with an F550 lens. Work on about a 40-50% general size increase from my experience with this lens.

EDIT: Just one thing I've found with using a 17" monitor and an F550 lens though, if I use this lens on my old 17" (16" viewable) I have to have the lens at 11" from the monitor and I need to be 30" from the lens in order that the entire view of the monitor fills out the area of the lens.  

If you are going to try a multiple display like the above diagram, you will need to have the image totally fill out the lens area or you will have those gaps in the display that you are trying to avoid.

However, with my lens set-up like this my old 17" is currently looking like a massive 30" display positioned right back on my shelving wall!    

[Rg 0]

I'm an idiot for not posting that picture. I wrote my reply with that article in mind, lol. Instead I try to create that picture with my keyboard.

[andersson 285]

Thank you for interesting replies!

Yeah, it was a setup like that in the picture I had in mind.

I have read about the TripleHead2Go and it seems like a good device. I dont know what I will end up with but I`m doing some research, in the end its the money that is the limiting factor (but arma scares my wallet...)

[crashdome 3]

I wonder if I am doing something really wrong with this lens I got....

I made a stand and everything for it so it matches my monitor and is height adjustable.. this allows me to move it forward/backwards as needed but I am finding that I need the lens about 6 inches from the monitor maybe less to get good focus...

Anything more than that is blurry and hard to look at (my eyes start to hurt).

While I am sitting the recommended 30 inches from the lens, it seems the screen is awfully close to the monitor.

When I do move it the recommended 17 inches from the monitor it is extremely blurry and I can only see about 75% of the monitor screen.

Note: yes I do have it facing the right way :P

Maybe I will fork over the cash for the one from 3d lens. The specs are supposedly better on the one I got but compared to everyone else I am way off on my setup.

Anyone else using a 19" LCD display?

@Sosna:

That strange effect you see is this: http://www.mathematik.com/Moire/

(Warning! Epyleptic seizure inducing site! )

Nothing you can do about it unfortunately....

[nubbin77 0]

Crash, I'm having the exact same issue and I got mine from the same place... But I would really really feel bad if I said go get the one from 3d lens and the same issues existed. But your description is exactly my problem as well. I actually stopped using it recently.

[Journeyman 0]

Hmm, I think you guys should ease up on the Vodka then maybe things will come back into focus!    Seriously though I'm not sure what isn't right with your set-ups. 17" sounds quite a lot of distance from the monitor to me, I usually have mine about 9 or 10", although I get the best effect if I have it around 11" with my 19" LCD then I am usually about 24" from the lens to see all of my screen area. It starts to get a bit blurry beyond this distance so I never go much more than that, in any case this would be difficult as my lens suspending arm won't reach much further anyhow!

You will lose some focus as you move the lens away but it never becomes unbearable with my F550 and I am currently typing this post with it set at 11" right now so it is still OK for text at this distance.

I don't wanna say you should have got the F550 from 3DLens.com because I don't really have anything else to compare it with, but from the problems you guys seem to be having with your lenses it seems they must be somewhat different from my F550.

[crashdome 3]

Well, to be honest Red, I am not sure if it's the lens or me...

If I move it into your range it is about what you describe.

It's all very confusing the different places telling different dimensions for what seems to be similar products. The dimensions I got were straight from the manufacturer on their supplied instructions.

They said distance from monitor to lens should be about 16.5" and they said you could sit back as far as 30" and furhtermore that larger monitors (i.e. 19" and up) benefit better but the ironic thing is I have both a 17" and 19" and I would say that the 17" fits more visibly into the fov than the 19" ....which contradicts what they say.

It's not a huge deal, I just don't see how they arrived at that spec. It very well could be that the 3D Lens is slightly bigger and thus is the same lens only with a bit more screen viewing area. It's cheaper at 3D Lens and my friend was talking about how he kinda likes it, so I think after I get paid I'm going to order another one from 3D Lens and compare them face to face (or is it lens to lens?? )

Nubbin, I'll let you know how it goes..

Then I'll sell the worse one to my friend for a discount!

[Journeyman 0]

Don't forget to post the results of your comparison here Crash!

Me wants to know how these lenses compare!  

[crashdome 3]

OK! Got my lens from 3DLens.com today! (F550)

It took forever, but now seeing that it comes from Taiwan I can see why!

My Comparison between Icetek and 3DLens:

1) Packaging

Both were packaged very well although the 3DLens I would say was excessively packaged

2) Cost/Shipping

Cost is pretty much the same at the end of the day(around $45 US), but I believe 3DLens is abut $7 cheaper for me.

Shipping was good and there was no damage from either.

3) Size

The 3DLens is definately much larger! about 2 inches wider AND taller!!! The Icetek lens has about 1cm (or 1/8") of non-lens space around the edge which is good if mounting to something, but bad because it makes the lens that much smaller.

4) Focal capability/Distortion

The 3DLens one definately allows full vision of my 19" LCD Flatpanel. The Icetek has more bowl-vision, too. [EDIT] I think this is because the 3DLens one needs to be so close in order to focus properly. Both at roughly 6" shows equal "bowl-vision". [/EDIT]

It is definately a toss-up here. If you have a 17" monitor, the Icetek might be better suited as it is far more forgiving where you put it and has better range in which to focus on the screen. However, it becomes uncomfortable trying to position your head to see the whole screen on anything larger.

The 3DLens one looks far better but must be closer to the actual display (like 6") whereas the Icetek can be from about 6" to 12" without any focus problems.

However, at 6" on a 19" display the 3DLens definately wins due to being able to fit the full screen. If I had 17" monitor I would probably either change my mind or consider them both equal overall.

Quick Pics:

You can see here that Icetek looks good but has FOV issues

http://www.sinewsofwar.com/zStuff/icetek.JPG

You can see here despite my lovely gf is holding it in the air, off-center, I can still get the whole screen and then some!!!

http://www.sinewsofwar.com/zStuff/3dlens.JPG

Final Verdict:

3DLens wins due to sheer size. There are more strict rules regarding placement than the Icetek, but being able to have full FOV is very important in a game/sim.

Had Icetek's lens been the same size or larger, it would be far more difficult to choose.

[Journeyman 0]

Thanks for that report Crash! It was an interesting comparison.   + I agree with the over packaging of 3Dlens! However, better that than the other way round!  

Can you tell me what is the deal with this 'anti reflection' thing that Icetek boasts and does it make any difference compared to the F550? I can see some reflection in both those screenshots.

[crashdome 3]

Thanks for that report Crash! It was an interesting comparison.   + I agree with the over packaging of 3Dlens! However, better that than the other way round!  

Can you tell me what is the deal with this 'anti reflection' thing that Icetek boasts and does it make any difference compared to the F550? I can see some reflection in both those screenshots.

Good question.

One thing I noticed once I actually began to play using this new lens is the overwhelming amount of reflections I get compared to the icetek one.

I see far more circular patterns and star-like effects (expanding cones originating at center) with the 3DLens. The only time I saw much of that with the Icetek one was when the screen was black and the words were white.

You can see reflections in the pics of both obviuosly, but it really is less visible on the Icetek one when the lights are dimmed and you are gaming.

[Ukraineboy 0]

I really think this thread has gone offtopic...I mean it's not even about Armed Assault anymore but hawking some giant magnifying lens.