Video glasses or goggles are a great way to get totally immersed into your flight. With some mods like ski goggles and paint you can block out 100% of all sunlight, but I prefer some dark tinted lenses so that I can still look down to my RC sticks or equipment if needed. Glasses are not required, you can use just a 7″ LCD monitor but glasses make the experience much better.
Video glasses basic requirements for FPV use:
- 640×480 or greater resolution.
- No blue screen when static occurs.
- Diopter if you use corrective lenses, otherwise not required.
Good brands and models to consider
Fatshark – The standard FPV glasses. They are the standard for a reason, they are purpose built for FPV and work. Fatshark is an ImmersionRC company which has a great rep. The Dominators, Predators and the Base are all good. Diopter lenses available separately. 640×480 resolution, but an HD model is due out Q4 2013. $250-350
Fatshark HD – A new 800×600? resolution headset that will be out Fall 2013.
Vuzix Wrap 1200 or 920 – Semi-Blue screen’s upon static, statics a bit then blue screens. Requires a ski goggle mod to block sunlight. Has diopter. 852×480 and 640×480 respectively. $400 & $350. Amazon 1200 link. and link for the 920.
Zeiss Cinemizer Plus – Requires a ski goggle mod to block sunlight. 640 x 480 pixel per eye. Has diopter. No blue screen. Discontinued. $200-300 eBay.
Zeiss Cinemizer OLED – Expensive. Requires a ski goggle mod to block sunlight. 870 x 500 per eye. Has diopter. No blue screen. $750. Amazon.
Headplay – Features 800×600 resolution in each eye which is one of the highest available, but it’s a moot point because our SD cameras are only capable of 640×480. The Headplay has a “Liberator” box, which moves most of the electronics off the head unit, but it can be a boat anchor too which is a major issue. Has diopter. No blue screen. Headplay is out of business…so no warranty or support. $320
MyVu Crystal – An inexpensive high quality 640×480 resolution glasses that can be snatched up for $100 used on eBay. These are not plug and play, but electrical mods are required to fix blue screen and white haze and dead batteries. See my page here for the fixes. I love these Crystals because they are cheap, tiny and lightweight and have a sharp screen. But no diopter adjustment. Requires a ski goggle mod to block sunlight. Do not get the MyVu “personal / solo / 1003i or Shades” models, they are low resolution. Also, MyVu is out of business…so no warranty or support. When they went out of business Google bought the patents and created Google Glass, its good tech. Don’t forget to get a compatible RCA cable set. There is also a rare EV model that has a 30% wider field of view, it’s the one to get if you can find one otherwise the regular Crystal is still great. Amazon Link, but really just get ’em on eBay as they are much cheaper.
These are my MyVu Crystals fitted into some ESS tactical goggles:
