IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor finally hits the B&M scene

It's mildly amusing that up until now, your only option when buying IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor was to buy it on a decidedly 2D website. At long last, the recently cheapened (now $399) display has hit the brick and mortar realm, with both Fry's Electronics and Micro Center agreeing to carry it. The move is just one more in the inevitable push to get 3D in the home, and we have all ideas that it'll be joined by a number of others after CES '09 is all wrapped up. Feel free to drop by one of the aforesaid retailers to check this thing out in person, but we'll warn you, those frightened by 3D glasses need not apply. Full release (including specs) is after the break.

World's First 3D Monitor for Gamers Now Available in Retail Stores

New Deals through Retailers Set Stage to Make iZ3D the Hottest 3D Solution Available; Visit iZ3D at the Upcoming CES show in Meeting Room #25118M located in the Gaming Showcase in South Hall 2 of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

San Diego, Calif., December 18, 2008 -- iZ3D Inc., designer, developer and pioneer of advanced stereoscopic 3D visualization systems, is pleased to announce that it's popular 22-inch 3D monitor display system has leapt off the screens of online e-tailers into the real world of brick and mortar retail stores.

iZ3D's gaming display products are now being offered nationwide in Fry's Electronics Incorporated® and Micro Center® stores, specialty retail superstores renowned for merchandising innovative consumer electronics products and technology breakthroughs. In addition to the physical store locations, both retail chains are offering the iZ3D monitor through online store destinations, joining Staples Online, NewEgg, Amazon, Critical Buy, and other e-tailers.

"The move to retail is another milestone in our pursuit of bringing 3D to the home market," stated Thomas Striegler, CEO of iZ3D Inc. "Seeing games displayed with our 3D monitor startles the imagination and shatters memories of bad 3D from 1950's theatrical effects and headache prone shutter glasses," he adds.

In the past year, iZ3D has had growing success selling its monitor exclusively online. Since consumers lack experience with this new technology, seeing it proves a critical part of the purchasing decision. iZ3D faces the same challenges as the television industry as it educated consumers to shift from black and white to color, or standard to high definition. "You have to see it to understand it the first time, and selling our 3D monitor though retail represents an inflection point for the emerging 3D industry," said Striegler.

Store locations in California, Arizona, and Nevada began offering the product in mid-December. The monitor solution will be available at all store locations by January 9, 2009, after which iZ3D will begin sponsoring in-store try-and-buy demo days. Consumers can easily find a listing of store locations and get information on iZ3D's products and special offers at www.3drulez.com.

In recent month's iZ3D has made headlines as it introduced the first 3D monitors with custom painted designs from Smooth Creations®, released its new industry-standard-setting 3D display driver, announced channel distribution partnerships with Ingram Micro and D&H Distributing Company, made 3D monitors significantly more affordable, and announced a partnership with AMD which included an ATI 3DLP driver and $50 rebate offer for ATI Radeon™ graphics card customers.

The iZ3D 3D monitor solution includes:
- 22-inch wide screen 3D/2D keyboard switchable LCD monitor
- 3 pairs of passive polarized 3D glasses (5 other models are available online)
- iZ3D Stereoscopic 3D and Anaglyph 3D software drivers (other drivers are available online)
- Power and video cables
- Quick-start guide
- Free membership into iZ3D's upcoming 3D gaming network

Monitor specifications are:
- 22-inch wide screen LCD
- 1680 x 1050 resolution
- Up to 170-degree 3D viewing angle
- 5ms response time
- 700:1 contrast ratio
- 16.7-million colors
- 300 nits

The solution is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Vista operating systems, games written for DirectX 8, 9, (and soon 10), and requires a graphics card with 2 video outputs (VGA, DVI, or HDMI). Most games written in the last six years are already designed for 3D, but have lacked, until now, a way of displaying them properly. Games that have been tested by iZ3D, MTBS, and customer testers can be found at www.3drulez.com.


Availability and Pricing
The iZ3D 22-inch monitor has a new manufacturers suggested resale price of $399.00 and is currently available at Fry's and Micro Centers as well as online stores including www.staples.com, www.newegg.com, www.amazon.com, www.pcmall.com, www.criticalbuy.com, www.iz3d.com, and other online shopping sites.
The iZ3D Version 1.09 Driver is available at www.iz3d.com. The standard iZ3D S-3D output and anaglyph output are included with the purchase of an iZ3D monitor. The exclusive ATI 3D DLP output is free to AMD customers. All other drivers can be purchased at $49.99 per output.

[Verythrax @ Dec 19th 2008 7:26AM]

5ms = fail

not because 5ms is not acceptable for gaming, but c'mon, even the entry level samsung models had hit the 2ms line already...

[loocas @ Dec 19th 2008 7:35AM]

Are those recent Samsung models capable of displaying 3D content in 3D?

[David @ Dec 19th 2008 11:51AM]

lets see if i got this right...5ms refresh, and there are 1000ms in one second. so 1000/5 = 200 frames per second? who needs more than 200fps??

[Gad Get @ Dec 19th 2008 7:27AM]

"...Those frightened by 3D glasses need not apply. Full release (including specs) is after the break."

Anyone else catch the (presumably) unintentional pun there?

[loocas @ Dec 19th 2008 7:37AM]

:D nice

Btw: cool avatar, is it your design or one of Carlos Huante's?

[Gad Get @ Dec 19th 2008 8:06AM]

"Btw: cool avatar, is it your design or one of Carlos Huante's?"

Thanks! It's my own design, but I'm flattered that someone might think it was one of his works! I threw it together in GIMP using a public domain MRI image. It could use some refinements, but you can't tell by looking at this low-res version of it.

[rita hainsworth @ Dec 19th 2008 7:43AM]

ummm....men in 3d....and uniforms!

[Chubaka @ Dec 19th 2008 8:44AM]

ummm....girls in 3d.....and boobs! :D

[Mic2000 @ Dec 19th 2008 9:01AM]

Too bad we need 3d glasses, if it would work without the glasses, you are selling gold!

[Verythrax @ Dec 19th 2008 12:04PM]

Dunno why my reply to my threads doesn't work...

well, it have nothing to do with framerate, resp time and frame rate are 2 different things (google it). A crt or plasma have 1ms of less of resp time, with means no ghosting effect at all.

Scroll fast between menus and you will notice it, as example.

[TopaZ @ Dec 19th 2008 2:24PM]

This tech is pretty great -- it was my favorite 3D experience at CES 2008. Bring it in at $249 and I'm there!

[Choco_Taco @ Dec 19th 2008 5:42PM]

Why is this cool and new tech? Sure the monitor does not require special drivers to do 3d with glasses but all it would require is some developers to make special drivers for their video card. I remember playing quake with 3d glasses back in 1997. why is this all catching on now. This stuff seems like a gimmick to me.

[Sabbanides @ Feb 19th 2009 2:50PM]

yay

[kitti_mom @ Feb 19th 2009 4:25PM]

i SO want!!!!

[Ivan @ Feb 20th 2009 12:10PM]

yes!