I've been playing around with the Glyph by MOPS for a few days and here are my first impressions:
The picture quality is impressive. I've read reports that people can't read text because it's too small or blurry. That's bogus or they are not calibrating their headset correctly -- I was able to read entire articles in my browser through the Glyph connected to my laptop. TIP: To get the best picture quality out of your Glyph, follow these steps:
Press the forward button on the right earcup to toggle the test image.
Adjust the left and right IPD sliders above the lens until you can comfortably see all four corners of the test image (you may have to adjust where the headset sits on your nose as well to vertically align the image). I would start with both sliders at their widest position and gradually move inwards. If it starts to feel like you're looking through binoculars, then you've set the IPD sliders too close together. Don't worry about the focus for now; we'll get to it in the next step. The main goal in this step is to frame the test image so that you can see all four corners, it's centered vertically and horizontally, and most importantly, it feels natural to you (i.e., you are comfortable looking at the image for a long time without straining your eyes).
You should focus each lens individually. Cover your left eye and focus the right lens until you can see the jagged edges in the circle; then cover your right eye and focus the left lens until you can see the jaggies. Once properly calibrated, the test image should look pin sharp when you have both eyes opened. Now you're ready to enjoy your personal cinema!
Some reviewers on popular tech sites said they had to spend 20-30 minutes readjusting their headset every time they put it back on. That's totally exaggerated, or the unit they were reviewing either had loose parts (probably a demo unit that was passed around a lot) or was not the final production model. Once I adjusted everything so that the test image is pin sharp (see tip above), I rarely had to bother with the adjustments again. If I accidently defocus a lens, which can happen if you rotate it a bit when you push the lens back in, it takes all of three seconds to turn it back to the proper position.
Even when the Glyph is optimally calibrated, there will always be at least one corner of the image that is occluded or not in focus, but only when you move your pupil to focus on it. When you're looking straight on like you typically do when you watch a movie, it seems like the entire picture is in view (bottom line: don't try to look at a corner for too long when you're watching a movie). I guess this is where you feel the limitation of the Glyph's 40-degree field of view (FOV).
The FOV is less than a VR headset, but that is not so bad since this product's main purpose is to watch movies, not play VR games. Being able to see through your peripheral vision can also be practical for a gadget like this; for example, it allows me to connect the headset to my laptop and type on the keyboard without removing the headset. TIP: to improve the _perceived_ FOV, watch movies in complete darkness, like on your bed with the lights turned off at night. When I do this, sometimes it can really feel like I'm sitting in the middle row inside a cinema ^^.
I can watch a two-hour movie without getting a headache or eye fatigue. I can't say the same thing about Google Cardboard headsets (I own one of those).
The audio quality is surprisingly good through the built-in headphones. The sound is very clear and has weight to it, that's all I can say since I can't speak in audiophile lingo.
The headset can start to feel heavy real fast, so I would advise wearing the head strap at all times, along with the rubber nosepiece insert that feels most comfortable for you.
One thing that bugged me was seeing a few dust particles behind the lens. They're most visible when you look at something with a bright background such as the test image; once the movie starts, they're hardly noticeable unless you look for them. I have returned my unit for a replacement and will give an update on the dust issue when my new Glyph arrives.
I can confirm that the unit distributed by MOPS is the official product, not a cheap Chinese knock-off. Although it comes with a Chinese manual, you can download an English one from the Avegant website.
All in all, I would give this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for a good first effort.
