Vuzix Wrap 920

Step into any vision of the future and you’ll be hit with one cool invention: TV glasses. While the dream of face-mounted video content has been around since early science fiction movies, few companies have been able to invest in the research and development required to make it a reality. Vuzix, a technology company based out of New York, have released a range of video-enabled sunglasses and display units.

How do they stack up? Let’s just say they’re not quite what science fiction geeks might have been expecting. While a range of wraparound display glasses are available, few offer the level of video quality that users might be comfortable with. Nevertheless, we’ve tracked down the best set on the market – the Vuzix Wrap 920 – to test, review, and analyse.

Despite looking similar to a pair of designer shades, the Vuzix Wrap 920s aren’t exactly lightweight. At almost 90 grams, the relatively solid weight is definitely noticeable during extended viewings and on-the-go movie watching. However, while not particularly lightweight or neck-friendly, the Wrap 920 sunglasses are quite ergonomically designed and comfortable.

Vuzix offer several models of display glasses, each covering a different screen resolution and display mode. The Wrap 920s are their high-end option, delivering video content across two 640×460 LCD screens, each assigned to a different eye. For users with vision difficulties and differing levels of focus, a manual focus control is available for each screen.

A pair of earbud-style headphones is included with the Wrap 920s, providing adequate sound quality and immersive surround-style audio. While quality could be boosted with a better headset, Vuzix’s standard headphones are more than enough for most films and TV shows.

Unfortunately, the video quality isn’t quite on par with the sound. The 640×480 displays would have been welcome technology in the late 1990s, but modern audiences have grown to expect HD whenever possible, and two low-resolution displays simply isn’t enough to deliver it. Video footage appears slightly fuzzy and pixelated, especially when rich in colour.

Vuzix do offer a widescreen model – an addition which would certainly make the Wrap 920s more appealing – although they’re again limited to a very low screen resolution. At just 428×240 pixels resolution, content delivered on the iWear AV310 headset is even lower quality than the Wrap 920. It appears that despite their high-tech appearance, the Wrap 920 glasses end up giving viewers the worst of both worlds – ugly 4:3 video, and even uglier low-resolution image quality.

As a taste of the future, it’s hard to be disappointed with Vuzix’s cool range of virtual reality headsets. Innovation is something that we all love to see in technology, and with other companies busy pumping out touchscreen phones and HDTVs it’s very cool to see someone innovating and trying something different.

However, it’s also quite difficult to be pleased with the Vuzix Wrap 920 display. As novel and exciting as video glasses may seem, it’s clear that they’re not quite a realistic prospect yet. When micro-HD displays are possible and the weight issues can be eliminated, the Vuzix Wrap 920 could be a worthwhile buy. Until then, it’s not worth giving up your HDTV.

Related posts: