3D Glasses review RF

kenshingintoki

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So, I've been through most 3D glasses now so I thought I'd do a thread just detailing my thoughts and impressions on them. This is more a thread maybe someone will search for in a couple of years or sporadically and will help with purchasing decisions.

XPAND X105
HiSHOCK Scarlet Heaven
HiSHOCK Black Diamond
Panasonic RF ER3
Sony TDG-BT500
Samsung SSG 3050s

So, Samsung have the worst lens coverage and build quality with user replacable batteries which drain quickly. They are difficult to store as the arms don't move and remain open. They're very cheap and I found they're very versatile and easy to fit on a head as they kind of wrap around your head. Good budget option but otherwise, no.

Panasonic 3D glases are good build quality, poor lens coverage, bulky, a nice on and off switch, the 3D picture seems a little darker than HiSHOCK and XPAND. Overall, I think the low lens coverage (surface area) despite the bulk makes them a bit of a difficult pill to swallow if paying full RRP. However if you can get them for a good price which is common with anything Panasonic second hand, they're difficult to beat value wise.

Sony 3D glasses are really just slightly superior versions of the Panasonics generally. I'd say they're slightly more bulky but I think the angle of the glasses is superor. Overall, I'd say given they've held their value on the second hand market, difficult to reccomend.

HiSHOCK Black Diamonds are overall very good lens coverage and 3D quality wise with some good colours and picture. I'd say they're brighter marginally (and margins matter in 3D) than the 3 above. However the build quality and cheap plastic is really, really bad and I'd say lower than that of Panasonic and Sony. Not impressive given its a later generation product.

HiSHOCK Scarlets have phenomenal build quality with a texturised rubber finish on the arms which make them feel like normal glasses. The PQ and crosstalk performance is similar to the Black Diamonds, as in slightly better than everyone else. The lens coverage is better than all 4 of the above. The only negative for these glasses are due to their more sexier normal design, it doesn't block the periphery of your vision which some might not like as it can make content less immersive. Build quality wise, my only issue is that one arm is way looser than the other on every pair I've handled. Still miles ahead of everyone else. Button to sync is in the perfect position with texturised rubber which is easy to click on whilst wearing them.

Finally we have the XPANDs. I've only demoed them today and have always heard good things about them. Build quality wise, I'm not entirely sold. They're built well but have this hinge which fixes them into place and snapping them back to normal doesn't feel right. The plastic feels much better than the Black Diamonds and comparable to the old Sony & Panasonic glasses but more rigid (not in a good way). The button to turn the glasses on and sync is in the inside of the glasses which is also irritating design wise compared to the super implimentation of HiSHOCK. The XPANDs are brighter than the Scarlets, have better lens coverage by a slight margin horizontally and they mask the peripheral vision very well.





So.... Overall, I'd say the winners are clearly the Scarlets and XPANDs. The scarlets have a comfortable, almost beautiful rubber textured experience with a very impressive vertical lens coverage and better than last generations 3D glasses with the best ergonomics. The XPANDs have the brightest performance, with the better immersion and a more natural feeling lens coverage.

Comparing the XPANDs vs the Scarlets, I feel as if the colours on the XPANDs are simply better. And the Scarlets & Black Diamond are better than everyone else. This is probably due to the brightness. The advantage of the dimmer picture of the scarlets are they are much more forgiving and mask Crosstalk better whilst the XPANDs show it a little more obviously.


To rate on parameters the XPANDs and Scarlets:

XPANDs:
Colours (shift): 10
Lens coverage: 10
Side panels to eliminate periphery vision: 10
Crosstalk: 8
Build quality: 8
Button Ergonomics: 5
Brightness: 10

HiSHOCK:
Colours (shift): 8
Lens coverage: 9
Side panels to eliminate peripheral vision: 1
Crosstalk: 9.5
Build quality: 9.5
Button ergonomics: 10
Brightness 8


Some people will prefer the build quality, low cross talk, excellent ergonomics and beautiful textured finish of the Scarlets in their seemingly normal form factor.
Others might prefer XPANDs best in class colours & brightness.

I PERSONALLY prefer the XPANDs because their colour shift is very mild compared to every other pair of 3D glasses and brightness is very important. The Crosstalk can be eliminated by playing with PJ 3D settings most of the time and its fairly marginal. The side pieces to eliminate peripheral vision is also really really appreciated and welcome.
 
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good comparison for doing, and appreciate the effort in doing and pulling together. folks are really going to be very appreciative of this if buying,

i have the jvc and expand, i'm almost sure the JVC ones are made by expand and are the oem for JVC.

quite happy with both. the jvc one, i damaged one and paid an arm and leg back in the day to replace... but gee i wouldn't even think for second now if needing a 3D glasses and get the xpand to replace.
 
Over the years I've tried

Sony 'Playstation' Glasses
Whatever the official Sony ones were from the HW era
Xpand 104 and Xpand 105's

For the best balance of comfort and performance my absolute favorite where the 104.

Comfort is obviously subjective but they look and fit exactly like a pair of RayBand Wayfarers

The 105's also work really well - and clearly there is a reason that JVC chose them for their own 3D models.
 
good comparison for doing, and appreciate the effort in doing and pulling together. folks are really going to be very appreciative of this if buying,

i have the jvc and expand, i'm almost sure the JVC ones are made by expand and are the oem for JVC.

quite happy with both. the jvc one, i damaged one and paid an arm and leg back in the day to replace... but gee i wouldn't even think for second now if needing a 3D glasses and get the xpand to replace.
Yes the JVC glasses are identical to the Xpands, I also have an identical pair with ’Sim’ as the brand name!. The only downside to these X105 is build quality though 🤔, out of the 5 pairs I now have only 1 pair isn’t broken... The plastic on the legs break around the hinge pins. I’m still trying to source spare legs.
My wife uses Samsung’s first gen glasses, the SSG3100, they never seem to break and the batteries last for ages.
 
Yes the JVC glasses are identical to the Xpands, I also have an identical pair with ’Sim’ as the brand name!. The only downside to these X105 is build quality though 🤔, out of the 5 pairs I now have only 1 pair isn’t broken... The plastic on the legs break around the hinge pins. I’m still trying to source spare legs.
My wife uses Samsung’s first gen glasses, the SSG3100, they never seem to break and the batteries last for ages.

I agree. I will likely just keep the xpands in 'open' mode rather than even close them due to this issue. You can just tell when closing them it feels like you're almost snapping them. Weird mechanism they've decided to use. The hishocks feel indestructible.

however the expand colour shift is sooooooo mild that its amazing imo.
 
I’ve only used JVC glasses and Xpand 103s.

I find the JVC ones to be a bit better, more comfortable and lighter and of course easier to use - no fiddling to sync. Also the JVC seem more immersive - probably the shape of the side of the glasses.

I have two pairs of each but in practice we use the JVC 99% of the time and I use an Xpand when there’s more than two of us watching.

Not had any of my 4 pairs break in any way in the 8 or so years I’ve had them (when my just released X3 arrived).
 
My xpand’s won’t connect to either my TV or projector. They just switch on and then instantly off 🙄
 
My xpand’s won’t connect to either my TV or projector. They just switch on and then instantly off 🙄
You had them working though ?, have you tried repairing ?, press once then quickly press and hold until red flashing led.
 
I’ve only used JVC glasses and Xpand 103s.

I find the JVC ones to be a bit better, more comfortable and lighter and of course easier to use - no fiddling to sync. Also the JVC seem more immersive - probably the shape of the side of the glasses.

I have two pairs of each but in practice we use the JVC 99% of the time and I use an Xpand when there’s more than two of us watching.

Not had any of my 4 pairs break in any way in the 8 or so years I’ve had them (when my just released X3 arrived).
Damn your very lucky, so no broken legs where the hinge pins go through or hairline cracks in the nose bridge ?.
 
Just out of curiosity I noticed some of my xpand 105’s are made in Malaysia but the pair I purchased recently on here are made in China.
 
Damn your very lucky, so no broken legs where the hinge pins go through or hairline cracks in the nose bridge ?.

Nope, but then they are only taken out of the drawer put on, used and then put back.
I love my 3D, but maybe yours have had a lot more use.
 
At a guess I’d say head size has something to do with it due to the wrap around style.

My wife loves the 105s, I find them great but can ‘feel’ I’ve been wearing them after 2 hours which is why I prefer the 104’s.

we’ve had 3 pairs of 105s and none have broken.

I can image someone with a larger head than myself, might find them uncomfortable and
 
You had them working though ?, have you tried repairing ?, press once then quickly press and hold until red flashing led.
Nope, never had them working, they arrived and wouldn’t connect.
 
Nope, never had them working, they arrived and wouldn’t connect.
Strange, faulty pair maybe ?, I’ve used them with Panasonic, Sony, Epson and JVC ok.
 
Nope, but then they are only taken out of the drawer put on, used and then put back.
I love my 3D, but maybe yours have had a lot more use.
That’s all I do with mine, maybe one 3D film per week if that.
 
Nope, never had them working, they arrived and wouldn’t connect.
If you hold down the power pair button so they flash red?

try some hishock scarlets mate. They are good for reliability and build.
 
At a guess I’d say head size has something to do with it due to the wrap around style.

My wife loves the 105s, I find them great but can ‘feel’ I’ve been wearing them after 2 hours which is why I prefer the 104’s.

we’ve had 3 pairs of 105s and none have broken.

I can image someone with a larger head than myself, might find them uncomfortable and
Have you done the leg widening trick ?, they are very comfy then and don’t pinch the sides of your head plus less stress on the frames.

Edit, not that that has stopped mine from breaking ...🤣🤣
 
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If you hold down the power pair button so they flash red?

try some hishock scarlets mate. They are good for reliability and build.
I got some xpand ones because of you!! 🤣🤣🤣
 
I just picked up a pair of Xpand 105 from amazon to try before committing to buy more for the rest of the family. I'm only comparing them against the Epson elpgs03 which I use with my TW9400. For comfort, the epsons are better. Less clamping force around the back of the head and sits better on the bridge of my nose. I have only tried them for 30mins but visually the Xpands looks better. Brighter and better colours.

There does seem to be one negative which could be down to them being brighter. I am seeing some light reflection from my face back to the rear of the glasses which is slightly distracting. The epsons doesnt seem to have this problem. I will have to spend more time with the xpands to see if I can live with that. Anyone else have that problem?
 
I have the Hischock Blaclk diamonds, the epsons and the samsungs.

My favourite are the Black Diamonds. Build quality is fine for me (as long as they fit comfortably I'm happy), but the real advantage is the blocking out periphery light which makes 3D viewing far more immersive. The Epsons are also good but periphery light is an issue. The Samsungs perform fine, but I've had the arms snap off 2 of them, ....too easy to break and too hard to store as the arms don't fold.

One other advantage of the Black Diamonds is that I can put them into 2D mode, while everyone else is watching 3D. So my wife can;t watch 3D but she could wear those in 2D mode while the rest of us wear the Epsons and watch in 3D.....cool !!
 

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