3D Video Wizard Console with 2 Pack of 3D Adult Glasses

PROS: THIS THING IS SO MUCH FUN! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!We've had it hooked up between a Sony BD 3D player and a 52in. 2D LG Plasma for 2 days now and I T W O R K S!What we've learned so far:1. 2D to 3D conversion gives a LOT of depth perception. The kids and I watched Gojira (1954) Friday night (2/28) and even for an older film it was neat. When Godzilla tore down the power lines; sparks seemed to fly off the screen, tank fire flashed out at us and Godzilla's atomic breath ignited flames that seemed to lash out at us and building debris rolling across the screen with such depth.1a. I watched Pink Floyd: The Wall in 2 to 3 conversion and the surreal animations had so much depth to them, I felt like I might freak out again for the first time in over 20 years! and the explosion of the Wall at the end? Debris seemed to hit the screen( I thought at one moment to check the screen for damage, lol.) 1b. Beavis and Butthead do America is hiiarious in the conversion. I used it to demo animation when I first hooked up. Beavis and Butthead almost come out at ya! 1c. Star Wars: A New Hope BD(I'm sure you want to know.) The opening scene with the Tantive IV and the Star Destroyer? COOL! The firefight with stormtroopers? Laser bolts are intense and trying to pop out of the screen at you! Depth, depth, DEPTH! is the key and so cool!2. If you have movies that were made or released in theatres in 3D but are 2D on DVD/BD; the 3D effects are better with these movies in the 2D to 3D conversion then standard flat movies are. I sampled the 2D version of the 2009 release of Friday the 13th Part III; and it was way BETTER than the inferior blue/red 3D disc (wonder what the BD looks like). PIRAHNA looked really great too! I assume it has something to do with foreground/background object placement used in these movies. They look a little funny in the flat format but really POP with the 2D to 3D conversion.3. We've sampled several 3D demos and trailers on VUDU and SONY 3D Experience on the 3D Blu Ray players internet apps and so far: Life of Pi, Tron: Legacy, Toy Story 3, even the converted Jurassic Park and Finding Nemo were dazzling! We also watched an amazing video of a polar bear swimming in a zoo and it looked like the only thing keeping him from us was the glass of his tank! We haven't gotten any 3D Blu Ray discs yet; but we WILL!4. We don't have a PS 3 or and XBOX 360 but we did sample some gaming videos in 2 to 3D on YouTube and they looked good! We also don't know about 3D TV broadcast as we don't have cable or satellite. We just watch what we want on Netflix(which works) and internet streams from our PC and BD player (which we're still setting up).So far the conclusion is: This thing DOES what it's advertised to do: It works! The blue/amber glasses even seem to give effect to blue/yellow videos on the internet on our PC.4 minor cons:1. It was a little difficult to get started (this was my fault) and adjusted (unit and tv fault).2. You have to leave it on to bypass for 2D viewing ALL the time unless you want to get a seperate player to watch 2D content, or pull the HDMI from the unit and connect it to the T.V. (I wonder if there's some kind of splitter for this issue).3. It seems to have some issue with format "handshaking" between internet viewing and DVD/BD viewing and we've had to reboot the unit a few times as we get an "Invalid Format" message before we reboot. This is the BIGGEST issue we've had.4. The remote is too small and tempremental (repeat button pressing to get it to function, and I wonder if its just a battery issue) and a little difficult to use and I am TERRIFIED of losing it.BOTTOM LINE: THIS THING WORKS! I think alot of it is subjective. But if it works for my 2 kids, myself and my fiancee who has vision issues; I think it will work for most people then as most 3D IS subjective and I've heard people at movie theatres say that it does or doesn't work for themA few tips:1.I've used anaglyph blue/red and green/purple 3D conversion software for a couple of years(we'll be experimenting withTAB and SBS 3D next) and they were ok but mostly caused eye strain and that weird effect after you take them off with seeing the colors used on the glasses. This unit barely does that and the glasses are very comfy on our faces. We all wear glasses and the provided glasses fit perfectly over them.2. Be sure to download the upgrade and upload it to the unit before setting up. You MUST have a flash drive to do this. We tried using a USB cable from the PC to the unit and it does NOT work! The upgrade helps with set up and provides an additional unit adjustment for brightness and 3D intensity (we have it set on 3D Max).3. Tweak, tweak, TWEAK your settings. DVD/BD player, TV and unit settings. Especially brightness, contrast, and color. Eventually you will find the PERFECT setting. This is of course subjective. Try to nearly max out the brightness on the unit settings, Vivid settings on your connected device(s) and try to raise your brightness level on your tv to a level where its not blinding you or washing everyone out. There WILL be a noticeable difference in the brightness when you switch on the unit for 3D viewing; This IS normal and will not be as noticed once you put on the glasses. Raising your color up a few notches helps as well and it will compensate for the loss that people complain about. I STILL have tweaking to do, but it's pretty darn good where its at right now.4. And finally. as I mentioned earlier; 3D IS subjective; not everyone sees the same things. My lady has vision issues, so she didn't see all the things that the kids and I saw; but she saw a lot. Relax your eyes! Don't strain to see 3D! Just relax your eyes. It'll come to you and you'll be pleasantly suprised by what happens with this fun little toy. This is a GREAT alternative to spending an arm and a leg for a 3D TV for yourself or the kids. I fully intend to buy a back up unit in case anything happens to this one.An A+ product! Absolute fun for you and your family!

This 3D wizard has pluses and minuses. It does bring 3D to certain applications but at a loss of color saturation and brightness. There is no way to compensate for this. Yes, you can increase brightness in both the wizard and also in your computer monitor/TV screen. The picture will still be darker. I have brightness set at 100 percent in the wizard, then there is only so much brightness you can adjust in a monitor because you reach a point where any further brightness washes out the picture.I want to point this out early in the review as it is a serious thing to consider if your going to use the 3D wizard with a computer/monitor setup. Even though my monitor supports 60Hz at 1080P, the 3D wizard will only support 30Hz at 1080p. This causes no problems when playing games, but in certain applications and web sites, the lower 30Hz causes flickering of some text and html links. The task bar itself has some flickering. The 3D wizard will support 60HZ only at 780P resolution. I considered dropping this review down to 2 stars because of this. With the remote control, you can set the device to 2D bypass. Yet the fact of the matter is, the cabling still routes through the 3D wizard, so even while in 2D mode the 30HZ limit applies. Disconnecting the monitor cable from the 3D box to go directly into the computer every time you want 2D with 60HZ at 1080p would be a bit rediculous. Because of this issue, I see this 3D wizard better suited to playing movies only using a 3D bluray player. I have heard that there is software that can be used for 3D bluray players, if so this 3D wizard may not be necessary for that use.Adding more contrast makes things darker again. I have tested it on a 23" computer monitor playing movies and video games. There appears to be more color loss in video games than in movies. It works much better for games that are 3D ready. Like Tomb Raider 2013, or Metro Last Light were both designed as 3D games and the 3D wizard has more success in these 3D ready applications.I think it has to do with those games being designed with 3D filmed perspectives and angles already in place. Older games such as Silent Hunter 4 or Crysis (the original) get virtually no 3D boost and just look washed out and dim.I don't have a 3D blueray player or any 3D movies to test out.I think its worth it for the newer games. There is a loss of color but enough of a 3D effect on newer game titles to give a different feel to the game. Works best for games with a darker feel to them as the dimmer lighting adds to this type of game setting.I'm keeping mine as it is worth it for a couple of the games I play. The 3d is not dramatic. Nothing appears to be popping out of the screen. Certain things do stand out quite well. Like in video games where there is finger prints on a camcorder screen perspective, Also for fog and smoke in the foreground.A word of caution, it does add to eye strain. Particularly your left eye as the right lens seems to block more light. Reading any game menus is extra straining on the eyes. Because of this, I only play 3D for perhaps 30 minutes here and there.

Received the "3D Video Wizard" in a timely manner.That was the only pleasant part of the experience. The remote didn't work at all. I checked the battery, made sure it was installed correctly. So I tried to get the console set up with controls on it's front. Finally got it set to 3D.The Sony Blu Ray player I have is rated for 3D as is the Sony receiver I was running itthrough. Put in a new 3D disc of Avatar. Got a message on screen that the "device" didn't support 3D format. So I hooked up a new Samsung 3D player that I had on hand. By now I'm still getting sound but an all white screen. Took the receiver out of the loop and went with HDMI directly to TV. (Phillips 47" 1080 120) Same results.In conclusion; very frustrating experience, the remote was defective out of the box, the console MIGHT have worked for 5 minutes or less, the supplied 3D glasses are too dark and too heavy and the supplied HDMI cable is a POS.This order was fulfilled by Amazon, described as "used, new condition" Some one dropped the ball big time on this one!I'm not a whiner or chronic complainer. I've purchased a lot of stuff through Amazon. I'm not even going to send this back. More trouble than the small amount is worth.I'm gonna save my money and get a passive 3D TV. Will probably get it through Amazon as I think it's a great site with great service and good prices!I WON'T be buying any more "magic black boxes" :-}