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The I-theater, by BMG, is a new head mounted display that utilizes older technology, to give you the most compact, simplistic
HMD for an affordable price. The I-theater boasts about 210,000 pixels in its display, making it ideal for watching
movies on, but not for reading small text.
When you hook up the I-theater for the first time, what you're amazed and thrilled by is the breakthrough design!
The I-theater is a most compact product that folds up like a pair of glasses with two earbuds that clip to the stems.
The earphones are not that great in quality, which is a drawback, and what's more they're not detachable. So if they
go bad, you have to get special repairs done for this unit and God only knows where you'll go for THAT!
Overall, I'd have to say that if you're looking for a gaming experience on an HMD, you better steer clear of the I-theater.
Although, for a portable headset, games on 16-bit and previous consoles look great on it, because they're much brighter and
colorful in nature, and bright and colorful looks good on these, which is why they're ideal for movies and such.
And the battery pack that powers the unit is unbelievably small and lasts upwards of 8-10 hours! Plus, you can
also hook these up to your Ipod video, which is quite an awesome concept for completely portable, high quality viewing on
the road. The only concern I have is how close your I-pod would have to sit to the battery pack, seeing as how
the cord between the two is only two inches long!! Oh well, I'm sure you'll keep both in a little carry case or something.
OVERALL SCORE: 7
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The I-theater has some downsides. First of all, the screen is going to strike you as quite small, especially if
you've never used an HMD in your life and don't know what you're getting into. Playing your next-gen video game machine
is going to be very frustrating on these. For one thing, since the visuals are not super-bright, and have no pictures
settings you can adjust whatsoever, you're going to be fidgeting the unit around on your nose to be able to clearly see the
whole picture. The images in a dark first-person-shooter, for example, are going to be a strain to see clearly, as there
will be some unsightly glare inside the I-theater. This is mainly due to the prism lens that is very shine-inducing.
The comfort of the unit is also a bit of a mixed bag. The unit is very light, but still when a unit rests primarily
on your nose, even a little weight can feel a bit cumbersome. The unit will definitely be just heavy enough to leave
an imprint on your nose, but not before moving it all around on your face to get to that comfort level you're looking for.
The most frustrating thing is you'll never find it! The unit comes with two nose-pieces. One soft rubber one that
simply sits on your nose with a tiny groove, and larger much more contour-curved nosepiece that looks like a swimmer's nose
plug. It's hardly comfortable at all, and even if you think it's much better, you'll ultimately say, "Screw it!" and
go back to the first one.
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Bad for immersive gaming, but great for movies!
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