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Archive for April, 2010

Problem with BatchPCB Board

April 25th, 2010 3 comments

Hi.
Today I finally recieved the PCB I ordered from BatchPCB about 1�½ month ago.
Unfortunately PCB isn’t going to work as there is alot of planes being mistakenly ‘poured’ onto a trace!

EDIT
Today I got the full amount returned from Batch-PCB, including the shipping. Nice guys over there!

Here is some images about the problems…

BatchPCB - Plane 'pouring'


BatchPCB - Plane 'pouring'


BatchPCB - Plane 'pouring'


BatchPCB - Plane 'pouring'

Categories: TKJ Electronics Tags:

eDimensional 3D Glasses review

April 14th, 2010 7 comments

Before you start reading this review, please have my current setup in your mind:

  • Intel i5 750 – 3.1GHz
  • ATI Readeon HD 4890 – two DVI outputs
  • 4gb RAM
  • Samsung P2450 60Hz LCD – with VGA and DVI input

EDIT
Today I got the full amount returned, but that was after I shipped the glasses back to them, and waited in 14 days… I kept calling them, and they just told me that I should write a mail to them, and wait for a response. They always told me: “I asure you that it will be done tomorrow!”

When I bought the glasses I got an email telling me that the software in the package that I was going to receive was outdated, and then there was a download link to a zip file. That zip file included the TriDef Experience setup file, and eDimensionals own 3D shutter glass executable.

So while waiting on the package to arrive, I installed the TriDef Experience. That’s a very neat piece of software, as it did support Anaglyph 3D, and it has a picture and video 2D to 3D converter included. So I was able to watch my 2D movies in 3D, and see my pictures taken with a normal digital camera in 3D!

After 3 business days I received the package, and what was found inside was:

  • The 3D Shutter glasses
  • A VGA dongle, which the screen and glasses plugs into
  • An outdated CD with drivers and software

But the DVI to VGA adapter that I was told was included was missing! 1. bad experience!
Anyways, I had a DVI to VGA adapter laying around so I connected the things quickly and started eDimensionals Shutter Glass program (E-D.exe) as told in the instructions. First I choosed, LCD Mode, then I choosed, Stereo – Normal. Now the shutter glasses started to flicker, and it was heavy flickering. On the screen some darker lines (pixel separation) has appeared, and it didn’t look to well.

Darker lines

When I took the glasses on, the first thing I noticed was that I was being dizzy. My LCD is running 60Hz, so the flickering must be 30Hz, anyways, it was pretty annoying. 2. bad experience, as I was told in the telephone before I bought it, that it would run fine on a 60Hz LCD!

Then I started the TriDef Experience software, and a screen with 4 options came up:

  • Play 3D games
  • Experience Google Earth in 3D
  • View movies and photos in 3D
  • Get 3D movies online

The points (like the black dots here) were small images that should be 3D, but only the bottom one (the fourth) was. The other images were blurry, as both eyes could see both images, after some research I found out that this is called Ghosting. But this wasn’t a normal ghosting thing, as both right and left eyes images were completely visible in each eye, not only slightly visible, like the left eye should see the left eye image clearly, and the right eye image might slightly visible if Ghosting occurs. Therefore there wasn’t any 3D! 3. bad experience!

I thought it might be a problem with the Experience application, so I tried the 2D to 3D application. The same problem occurred there, the top half of the LCD screen wasn’t 3D, while the bottom half was 3D.
Last but not least I tried running Counter-Strike: Source, which is one of the many games supported. In there the same thing occurred, and it wasn’t even playable, as you saw everything double!

I was able to minimize the flickering by messing around with the ATI Catalyst center, but it was a pain in the neck to get the refresh rate changed, especially when the computer recognizes the screen and sets the maximum refresh rate to 60Hz, even when the screen can do 75Hz. But finally I could set the refresh rate to 75Hz, but only at 1600×1200, and then the flickering was only slightly noticeable. The 3D still didn’t work, but now it was the middle part of the screen which didn’t work (the two middle buttons as I told about earlier), and the 25% of the top and 25% of the bottom was working.

Here is four pictures showing what I mean with the 3D not working and the buttons:

Top button (working) - without glasses

Top button (working) - with glasses

As you can see in the first image, which is the screen without the glasses infront, then you are able to see both left and right eyes images. Then when you put the glasses infront, you are only able to see the corrosponding image.

Middle button (not working) - without glasses

Middle button (not working) - with glasses

But then if you take a look at the middle button, then you can see both images (right and left eye) without glasses but also with glasses, which is a problem!

The problem with this kind of ghosting (both images seen clearly in both eyes) sounds much like a syncing problem, and I can’t play with seeing everything double. So if you think about buying this product, I would mind you to be aware of these problems, as they can occur. But there are also people having great success with this product, but that’s mostly people with CRT screens.
So be aware, this kind of shutter-glass technology is not well developed for LCD’s yet!

Here is some pictures of the glasses:

The eDimensional 3D Shutter Glasses

The shutter-glasses from the back

Wierd black line in the shutter lens

Categories: TKJ Electronics Tags: