Good evening friends:Hoping you all had a great weekend and are ready for a new week. The reason I am writing you tonight is to ask to please give the most sincere and honest opinion about the ED 3D Glasses. For all you guys who have them: Are these real good? Is it worth the money? Does it really give the 3-D sensation on Flight Simulator when you wear them? if so, up to what extend? Do you get dizzy or the sensation of being suspended in air? Are they easy to install? Do they eat a lot of memory? Do they affect frame rates? Please, give me your opinions so I can make a decision to get them or not.Thank you very much and you all have a great week... now stop flying and spend some time with the fam.. !!!Regards,Juliet Lima

Hello Juliet,In a single word, YES the E-Dimensional glasses are well worth having.I have had mine since September of 2001, and have been very happy with them. The, "as real as you get", is ratcheted up several notches with them.There is a learning curve using them. As usual you will have to learn to tweak the settings and all of that. Also you will be somewhat limited to the drivers you are able to use with the glasses. They seem to work the best with Nvidia video boards, although E-D has recentley put out drivers that will work with non Nvidia boards. It takes two drivers to use the glasses, the regular drivers for the video card and then a set of 3D Stero drivers that correspond to the regular drivers, as an example I currently use the 4523 3D Stero drivers, so I use the 4523 regular drivers. The glasses work better when you use the same series of regular and Stero drivers together. At least that is what works best for me. The 4523 3D Stero drivers are the latest drivers out,(the last time I checked, which was a few weeks ago).I am able to use the 3D at 100% with out any problems, they do not make me dizzy, or ill, or headaches. The longest flight I have done with them on is about 5 hours a few times. I normally don't fly that long, that much, but once in a while I go long. Most of the time it is a couple of hours flight, and I have never had a problem. I have heard other people on this forum complain of all the things that E-D warns you about, but I have never been plagued with any ill effects, not even eyestrain. I should say I fly GA, single engine land nerarly exclusively.The glasses will decrease your framerate. One way around this is to run in a lower resolution. The 3D Stero effect overcomes the lower resolution. Another thing, your monitor must be able to sustain a vertical frequency of at least a 100 hertz. Anything slower than 100 hertz will make the screen flicker. 120 is better, but for me 100 hertz will be ok. At a frequency rate of 85, which on my monitor is 1280x960, I can see a bit of flicker. At 1024x768, my monitor will do a 100 hz and the screen is flicker free. At 800x600 the vertical frequency is 140 hz, at 1600x1200 the vertical frequency is 60 hz My computer is an Intel 1.4Ghz machine and at 1024x768 using the glasses I get an average FPS of around 17 to 20. Most of the sliders are 75% or more to the right or, however I do not use AI. I fly by myself. If I go to 800x600 resolution my moniter will do 140 hz and I get a FPS of 24 to 27, the 3D effect is good enough to make one think you are at a resolution above 1024x760. I can unabashedly recommend the E-Dimensional 3D stero glasses. But be prepared to work with them, experiment and keep asking questions, there are a few here that use them well.

You said:"Another thing, your monitor must be able to sustain a vertical frequency of at least a 100 hertz. Anything slower than 100 hertz will make the screen flicker. 120 is better, but for me 100 hertz will be ok. At a frequency rate of 85, which on my monitor is 1280x960, I can see a bit of flicker. At 1024x768, my monitor will do a 100 hz and the screen is flicker free. At 800x600 the vertical frequency is 140 hz, at 1600x1200 the vertical frequency is 60 hz"*************************Hi,I often wondered what these glasses did, and if they would have an adverse effect on my simming.It is My experience that a lot of Monitors do not run at least 100hz at higher resolutions.I just checked my settings. I have a Compaq MV940 19" Monitor, and usually run MSFS at 1600x1200, which also runs at 60hz. Sometimes I drop down to 1280x1024, which is what I am running Now. I have experimented with different hz to adjust to the flickers I occasionally get, like I experienced in MSFS2002. I now run MSFS2004.If I move down to 1280x1024, the highest I can go is 75 hz. In case anyone needs to know how to check their hz, here is how. 1) Go to your desktop and RIGHT Click in an empty spot, choose PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS, Then ADVANCED.2) Then Click on Monitor and choose SCREEN REFRESH RATE in the dropdown box, and look at the settings.3) If you change screen resolution, you will find that at different resolutions, you will have different frequency choices.I had to drop all the way down to 1280x768 to get 100hz.I can only get 120hz running at 800x600. (That is the highest hz my monitor allows, and I am not willing to shell out for a new monitor just yet)I am afraid that with the above post about flickers, My system just might not be up to date enough to meet my expectations, with these glasses.**********QUESTIONS:**********1)As I understand you, you are stating that it will decrease framerates, so we should lower our resolution right?2)And then, we should FLY with at least 100hz if using these glasses, right?3)Specifically what Kind of Monitor(s) are you running that allows a 140 hz setting?4)And are you stating that this program unless running at least 100hz will cause more flickers than say mine at 100hz or 75hz without the program?Thanks,Joe http://aboutpolitics.net/images/bannerav.gif.About Politics.net - FORUMShttp://pub162.ezboard.com/baboutpolitics.Contribute to the Richard Harvey Scholarship Fund.http://www.avsim.com/pages/scholarship.shtml

I have had the E-D glasses for over a year now, and I have used them three times total. I am disgusted with them. I just cannot get acceptable frame rate reading with the drivers, and also get a quality image. They are just not worth it to me, but I am just one opinion among many.

I simply can't fly without them. I combine them with LA Megascenery for unbelievable realism. I have mentioned this many times before, and I will relate it here again: I have slam-dunked several buddies of mine in front of my 22" monitor with the goggles on and Megascenery cranked up. Some were so startled they actually yelled expletives in disbelief. And these bums are not into aviation or computers ! Yes, they are a hassle to get optimized. gamma, convergence, separation, backplane, and some other settings will have to be set to suit your eyes. some of the keyboard shortcuts to change these parameters will have to be changed so as not to interfere with FS (Alt key for example can't be used. You will need an above average system as well to maintain good frame rates in Stereo. As an example, I like many others in this forum (face it, all of us non-pilots) have entertained the scenario of whether or not we could land a jet in a real life terror attack scenario that incapacitates both pilots. This has been discussed in many threads. Well, I was confident I could do it until my first 737 landing with stereo optimized and looking great. -I was embarrassed. My landing or lack thereof was a disgrace. I can regularly nail landings in the 737 without the goggles, but first time with the goggles the ground seemed to rush up toward me. The new perspective really confused me. Now of course after practice, I am comfortable in stereo, and it is FAR more realistic. However in the above terrorist scenario, you only have one chance. As far as the goggles, I would recommend the wired version (I noticed much less ghosting). I am in the process of upgrading to a monster system for FS, Megescenery, and the Edimensional goggles. My current system is now mediocre for FS2004, besides, it crashed over a month ago. Best of luck if you decide to go with the goggles.John M.P.S. Imagine flying in stereo thru the area of these screenshots: http://www.beyondthefringe.com/simfotos/

Howdy Joe,I cannot detect flicker at 100 hz frequency, I can detect flicker at 85 hz. The E-D glasses will decrease your framerates. One may increase the framerates by lowering the resolution. Sounds not to good, however by using the 3D Stero, it looks as if you didn't lower your resolution, i.e. at 800x600 it looks as if I am running 1024x768 or a bit better. Without the 3D Stero 800x600 resolution is not acceptable. Without stero I usually run in 1280x960.My monitor is a HP Pavilion v90 19" monitor, at 800x600 I can force a refresh rate of 140 hz, (120 hz is all one needs). at 1024x768 I get 100 hz refresh rate. My old eyes cannot see flicker at this rate. At 1280x960,(which is what I normally keep my monitor at), I get a refresh rate of 85 hz. At this rate I can detect flicker, so I run in either 1024x768, or 800x600. Of course I have a now, lower end machine, 1.4 Ghz CPU, so I tend to run with the lower resolutions to get the better framerates, and still keep my sliders further to the right, (not all the way right however). I spend nearly all my time in the cockpit, very seldom do I jump out and look at the outside of the plane, so I do not run anti-aliasing, another framerate killer for me.Allow me to again stress, Joe, the 3D glasses overcome to a large extent the visual appearence of running the flight simulator at a lower resolution than we normally do. The resolution at 1024x768 is quite good, nearly on the order of running at 1280x960 without 3D Stero. 1280x960 is what I normally use without 3D stero. I can hardly tell the difference between that and 1600x1200, however I am aware that young eyes can often see more than old eyes can :)In the final anaylsis one has to decide for oneself if something is good or not. For me 3D Stero is an amazing acomplishment and brings to me a great deal of satisfaction. It does take a bit more work to realize this satisfaction. There is a learning curve. E-Dimensional has been a good company from my standpoint, and the few times I have had problems, they were quick to give suggestions via e-mail. All in all I am more than satisfied with them as a company.I have no ties with this company, I'm just a good old boy here in the wilds of Oklahoma. LOL :D If you decide to try 3D stero, good luck, and I hope you have as much fun with this as I have.One other thing I should explain about flicker. Flicker in the 3D stero image is different than say flicker at a low refresh rate, we sometimes see at rates below 60 hz, (some people can detect flicker above 60 hz,). The 3D flicker comes about below 100 hz, because the screen is being redrawn then blanked rapidly, so at 120 hz refresh rate you are seeing actually a 60 hz picture. The flicker is a bit different though.

Good evening !Thank you so much guys for your extensive explanitions and help. I really appreciate the tremendous help. I have decided to go ahead and get the glasses and see for myself to see if they're worth it or not. I am more confident now knowing that at least these goggles work.Thank you again and I will keep you posted.regards,Juliet Lima

Good luck Juliet,I hope they work well for you, if you have an Nvidia card try the 4523 Stero drivers and the 4523 regular drivers. They can both be downloaded from E-Dimensional web site, or 3D Guru either one. These are the drivers that currently work the best for me. Hoping that nVidia puts out the 50xx series of Stero drivers soon.Have patience work with the glasses and I think they will do you well.You will either, LOVE them, or HATE them, there seems to be no middle ground. :)

Yes, I would give them a try since they're not all that expensive. I used them a little with FS2002 and found they made things too dark for my taste. I noticed no one mentioned the darkness and I wonder if no one else experienced that.

You are right about the darkness.I pretty well overcame that problem by turning the panel lights on. In a lot of planes it really helps, the C177 Cardinal from Dreamfleet for one, and the Real Air SF260 for another. Of course not all planes have as simple a fix. Also it seems to me that FS9 is not nearly so dark as was FS2000 and 2002, or perhaps I am simply used to it. That is why I forgot to mention it in all liklihood.It is true the screen does darken somewhat, but I have not personaly found it objectionable. I realize that some would however.Turn on the panel lights and increase the gamma slightly and it should go well. Be careful with the gamma however not too much or the screen will wash out.