Icuiti M920 HMD report

[j_kookboy]

I just bought a set of these M920's.

Going to test it out on the weekend and report here.

I haven't found a single review on it, so I jumped the gun and ordered one.

I am hopeful that they will be a good alternative the MicroOptical CV-1's except these output 640x480 which should be easier on the eye.

http://www.icuiti.net/m920.html

http://www.icuiti.net/images/main-bottom2.jpg

[miami6]

I would like to see the S video connection can you please post a picture of it , please let us know how they work on a sunny day outside


thanks
andres

[j_kookboy]

Will do.

Most likely Saturday afternoon I'll have pictures up and a video clip if I can get it.

Jesse

[j_kookboy]

I finally received them and was able to test them out the last couple of days.

Here's my initial report:

Icuiti M920 (VGA: 640 X 480 2D at 60Hz)

Product description

It comes bundled in a standard box with 2 layers (flat cardboard separating the two). There is a one-piece foam that is outlined with the headset/cable/battery cradle. On the bottom, there is a 5V AC/DC adapter, RCA (R/W/Y) bundled cable for a/v input, USB to power plug (you can power it from any USB source), standard computer VGA to digital a/v input cable, a pair of AA batteries (non-rechargeable),a nice nylon pouch to carry the cradle /equipment in, a manual and warranty card.

Upon initial inspection, the headset and cradle (attached to each other) look like it will last a long time. Well put together.

It weighs about 90 grams, so it's very light.

The headset has many adjustments that can accommodate any sized head or hat/cap. The contact points are just above your ears and they are foam padded and move in all directions.

The gimbal that holds the eyepiece can rotate 360* left, right and angled. There is a 2" flexible extension that helps when positioning the eyepiece to line up with your eye. The headset can flip either way so it looks and feels identical both on your left and right hand side.

The cradle is feather light. The AA's (if you use them) will be all the weight you will feel. It is approx. 2 x .5 x 3 inches. There is a power button (on/off), audio volume (up/down), brightness control (up/down) and a left/right hand side selection which flips the LCD screen. AUX input (digital from VGA or palmpilot source), A/V input (standard mini headphone jack), 5VDC jack and a headphone jack for audio.

The eyepiece is about 1.5" x 1" x .5". The lens is about 1" X .5" and inside it's about .5" away from the LCD. There is a focus knob where you can adjust the focus of the screen inside the eyepiece.

Testing it out :

Indoor test

VGA (laptop to digital AV cable).

As it displays 640/480, I had to adjust my 2nd screen settings in the display properties of my laptop.

Once done, I opened up IE and google. Browsed the net quite easily.

It takes a while to figure out exactly how to adjust the headset/eyepiece to your liking. At least it did for me. Since it's monocular, even staring at the screen, if 'appears' as if the screen is transparent because your other eye obviously sees everything in front of you.

This aspect is nice for me because I plan on using this as a tool to line up picture/shots while moving my heli from one place to another.

I walked around the house with this on and after a few mins, it felt comfortable. This will vary from one person to another, however because it is so light and can conform to any sized head, it just felt like wearing a headband of some sort.

LCD screen is very sharp and the display never flickered at all.

Having the eyepiece roughly 2-3 inches away and a bit below my left eye, it looks like your looking at a 20-22" LCD screen about 2 feet in from of you. This is an optical illusion but serves it's purpose nicely.

I walked around in a pitch black room and an extremely lit bright bathroom and the screen looked identical.

I believe this has to do with the internal position of the LCD screen in the eyepiece.

Looking into the eyepiece, you look through a small, flat plastic piece. On the left and right, there are little mirrors and directly in front of your viewing hole is the LCD screen which sits back inside the eyepiece about .5-1 inch. It looks like they did it this way to shield out light and they did a good job.

Indoor test

RCA Video cable

Same as above. Screen was crystal clear.

I used a Range video 900mhz downlink tx/rx inside my living room hooked up to a little cheap wireless camera.

Video quality was clear and zero flickering.


Outdoor test

RCA Video cable

Same as above. Screen was crystal clear.

I used a Range video 900mhz downlink tx/rx inside my living room hooked up to a little cheap wireless camera.

** BRIGHT SUNLIGHT **

I wore the M920's only and put the same setup (900mhz tx/rx/wireless cam) on the heli and tried it out.

No problems at all.

Screen was clear and crisp just like inside my living room.

The only time when it was difficult to see the lcd screen was when I was either facing the sun or when the sun was directly behind me and from a certain angle the sun was shining directly on the eyepiece.

Throughout everything, I could always see the picture.

All in all, I am happy with it and will be keeping it.

I ordered a second one for my wife to use (camera woman :) ) as she doesn't mind :rolleyes: the looks of it.

She tried it and liked it. I think she'll probable go the standard route (5" LCD on a tripod with sun shade) and have these sitting on her head as well to alternate between the two. (she doesn't like being glued to the sun shade).

I apologize for not posting picture yet. I will be soon. Just bear with me. (no CF cards for the Nikon and the S2 is being serviced - defective optical sensor).

Any questions, just let me know and I will try and answer as clear as I can.

Jesse

[j_kookboy]

Price and where to buy:

It looks like the price went up.

I'm not sure as to why.

Icuiti has them for $999 USD (hasn't changed)

http://www.icuiti.net/m920.html

Tekgear 'had' them for $799 USD (which is where I bought mine) but now lists them at $999 USD as well.:confused:

http://www.tekgear.com/index.cfm?pageID=90&prodid=224

Before you plunk down the cash (unless you have deep pockets), give me a few days to post some pictures of the unit and examples while flying and using different video sources in both sun and cloudy (weather permitting).

Jesse

[j_kookboy]

I need some more time outside when it's sunny.

While looking into a monocular display while flying, I find I have to close my other eye to focus on the eyepiece, however I'm getting better at not doing that. I think the comfort level will definitely vary from person to person.

Here are the pictures.

Sorry about the quality. 2mg phone camera.

There is a little plastic cap (you can pop it off to clean the lens) that holds the lens and a filter on. I popped that off to take a look inside. You can see in the pictures that there is a small 1/8" or so image that is projected onto a 45* mirror. That is what you see inside.

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433069.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067302)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433178.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067303)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433257.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067304)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433216.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067305)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433340.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067306)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433373.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067307)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433437.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067308)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433480.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067309)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433523.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067310)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433543.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067311)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433633.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067312)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433686.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067313)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433765.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067314)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433738.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067315)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433774.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067316)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433874.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067317)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433864.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067318)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433963.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067319)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/8319433926.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5067320)

To be honest, I got lucky on the first set I bought on ebay for 1/2 the cost of a new one.

The second set we bought was $200 less than what they advertise now.

Depending on what the woman thinks while using it, we'll see whether we keep the 2nd set.

I did some more fun work this afternoon (very sunny outside for a change).

I have one qualm (?) with this set.

While wearing a baseball cap, I can see the screen without any problems when it's very bright outside.

If I'm just wearing the headset/eyepiece, there are some angles where the screen appears to be very washed out.

I found the best results when the sun is directly behind me. If facing the sun (above me), then I can barely see the screen.

What I would love is to compare this set side-by-side with a pair of MicroOptical CV-1/3's. Unfortunately, I don't have a set to compare with.

If you're on a budget (which I am), I can't see justifying these for the price.

If the MicroOptical's were still on the market, then I would have probably gone with those as both seem to be in the same price point.

Hope this helps you guys.

Any q's, just ask.

Jesse

[miami6]

jesse thanks for the great review and the pictures of the product let us know if you want to sell the second set ? LOL seriously


Andres

[j_kookboy]

jesse thanks for the great review and the pictures of the product let us know if you want to sell the second set ? LOL seriously


Andres

Thanks Andres.

I won't know whether we'll keep both sets until Maryna tries them out this weekend.

We'll be up in Whistler doing some AP around Cougar mtn near the old growth loop (snowmobilin' trails).

She'll either like them or not. If not, then I'll post it up here.

Regardless, I'm keeping my set.

It's not the best in direct sunlight, but I've compromised by wearing a cap and that does it for me. I'm getting used to the monocular view now.

Was weird at first but it got better.

I took the rx downlink, 9v battery, the m920's and just parked the camera on the kitchen table.

I walked around the block with just the headset and had some fun with it. A lot of double takes from people I walked past. :mrgreen:

[MLaBoyteaux]

I have a pair of CV-1's mounted to a hardhat. Like the Icuiti, it's designed for the left eye. I'm very right-handed and also "right-eyed". I found that I sometimes have to close my right eye to get my mind to focus on the image from my left eye. I also found it helps to look away from the heli by a few degrees to a clear part of the sky and then start composing the shot, with the heli off to the side.

I use them for solo shots and when I'm using a camera person. It really helps when I'm using my 12 year old son for a camerman, he's easily distracted and I can see how he's framing the shot and give him feedback and guidance.

The only time I don't use them is if the flight is very technical and I really need to be concentrating totally on the heli because of close proximity to structure or obstacles.

[j_kookboy]

I have a pair of CV-1's mounted to a hardhat. Like the Icuiti, it's designed for the left eye.

I was actually quite impressed with the ergonomics of the Icuiti's.

It is literally a bi-directional headset with corresponding eyepiece.

The headset can flip either way and every part is reversible including the eyepiece. There is a button on the cradle that flips the image inside the eyepiece to accommodate either left or right eye (whichever is your most dominant).

That is one very big plus with this set.

I really need to try a set of CV-1's to compare them to.

Jesse

[miami6]

we need to have an AP Gatehring of funfly or and Clinics and everyone can bring their own gear so others can see what it is like before buying it and share tips


something where maybe we have participation from heli manufaturers and camera mount manufaturer video experts photo experts etc maybe it will happen one of these days

[j_kookboy]

AP Gathering.

Now that would be a sight to see. 100 AP heli's in the air. :)

[j_kookboy]

We did some testing at Cougar mountain this weekend and Maryna decided to stick with her trusty little 7" LCD. She doesn't like wearing the headset :roll:

Here is another fellow who's tried them and reviewed them :

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4161106/tm.htm

Draganfly/RCtoys has them for $799 which is somewhat better than Icuiti and Tekgear.

http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-parts/DF-EE-GLASSES/RC-PARTS-WIRELESS-VIDEO-VIEWERS.html