Sony reveals new head-mounted display

Sony has gone public with an updated head-mounted display at CES, revealing the sleek HMZ-T3W during a presentation fronted by Michael Fasulo.

The headset, sporting a fairly typical visor design, is surprisingly small for a device which promises to give users the experience of sitting in front of a 750 inch screen, as provided by a twin OLED HD display set-up. 3D is also supported, whilst virtual 7.1 surround sound, 24p True Cinema display mode, wireless connection and motion detection complete the feature set.

"The head-mounted display is a theater on your head," said Fasulo, Sony Electronic's president and COO.

Connecting the device via wireless gives the user up to three hours of viewing on a single charge, whilst using the wired HDMI socket will extend that to seven hours. Wireless data will be streamed at 60GHZ in an attempt to eliminate lag - a positive message for the device's gaming applications. A 'Game' mode is also included on the device which will presumably reduce post-processing in order to reduce lag even further.

Further to that, the headset is already available to buy, with a UK price of £1,299 landing the HMZ-T3W in customers' hands as early as tomorrow. Whilst no mention of PS4 connectivity is made on the HMZ's product page, connection to mobile was explicitly suggested during the presentation at CES.

It's not Sony's first foray into the head-mounted 'personal viewer' market - the HMZ-T1 has been available for some time. However, this does represent a significant step forward for the company's technology, with the timing of the release drawing obvious comparisons with Oculus' Rift headset.