Okay, here is the setup. About two months ago I received a top-of-the-line Alienware Area-51 7500 for a review. It is an excellent PC and I highly recommend one if it falls within your budget. About that same time, Bill Detwiler and I came across a company selling a 3D monitor. The folks at IZ3D claim to have produced the world’s first 3D monitor for gamers.
We thought this would be a great thing to hook up with the Alienware. One of the fastest and most powerful personal computers available paired up with a state of the art, bleeding-edge 3D monitor — now that’s geek in spades.
Unfortunately, we come to find that IZ3D has neglected to test their drivers with Windows Vista. As Aaron, one of the technical people at IZ3D put it, “it wasn’t a priority.” Getting the monitor working with specific showcase games was the priority (read World of Warcraft).
IZ3D wanted me to note that I am dealing with a pre-production model of the monitor and I am operating under the assumption that they are working on updating the drivers for Vista.
So here I am with this powerful PC and a 3D monitor that cannot be run in 3D. But all is not lost; I’m taking the 3D monitor home with me this weekend to see how it works with my Windows XP running Alienware. Look for an update next week.
The trip from Asia must have a rough one judging by the state of the shipping box.
Compatible with these games unless you are using Windows Vista.
Inside the box was the monitor, several pairs of glasses, three video cables, and the monitor stand. IZ3D also sent along some flyers and brochures for me to hand out to my friends.
To run the IZ3D monitor in 3D you need to have a video card with two video out ports. Therefore you need two DVI cables or one DVI cable and a VGA cable, depending on your video card.
The monitor itself seems to be fine, although it is awful light for a 22 in LCD. Bill and I speculate that it may have a small LCD and that the image is projected to the front screen.
TechRepublic Content Manager Bill Detwiler models one of the polarized 3D glasses.
You need to hook up both cables or you get no image at all. (Actually, if you were wearing the glasses you could see what was on the screen.)
The IZ3D monitor looks good paired with the Alienware Area-51 7500.
The rendering of 2D is adequate, although IZ3D told me they are working to make that mode even better. World of Warcraft looks great, but without Vista drivers there is no 3D.
Well, while getting the IZ3D monitor was relatively easy, we still haven’t experienced 3D yet. Therefore, the monitor is going home for more testing. Check back later for more information.
Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the information technology industry, software, hardware, gaming, finance, accounting, and technology geekdom for more than 30 years.
