Jon Peddie Research - a technically oriented marketing, research, and management consulting firm in the graphics industry.

The DoubleSight Smart USB Monitor

Posted by Ted Pollak on October 28th 2009 | Comments Closed
Categories: Hardware Review
Tags: gaming usb voip monitor

With the rapid expansion of VOIP services for video games things can get confusing. Gamers talk to other players within the game via the in-game voice system, which gives an on screen graphical display of who is yapping. However many gamers also communicate outside of the in-game voice system via Teamspeak, Ventrilo, or other VOIP applications. It’s really a testament to the brain training and multi-tasking elements of modern video games when gamers not only have to manage multiple voice channels but also determine who is speaking, which channels they are in, and whether they have muted certain channels.

My Logitech G-15 keyboard (an excellent device) has a small data screen which is very useful for displaying stats about your system such as temperatures, fan speeds, and frames per second, however I found that using it to monitor Teamspeak chat was difficult because one must look down to see who is talking or whether you are muted or not.

Enter DoubleSight with their new USB mini LCD monitors. DoubleSight sent over their 7 incher, which runs at 800 x 480, plugs into the USB port, and does not need a separate video card. The monitor swivels to portrait from landscape and is just perfect for gamers to monitor VOIP apps. Content creation people will also love the ability to use it as their tool palette and I’m sure there are hundreds of more applications. It is extremely small and light and comes with a cover. Travelers will find it takes about the same space in their baggage as three checkbooks. 800 x 480 is actually a decent resolution for these applications and can display a lot of data as you can see in the screen shot on the next page.

The retail price for the 7 incher is about $120; however I have seen them for $107 brand new on eBay. DoubleSight also has a 9-incher for $140 that runs at 1024 x 600 as well as one with a webcam for $160.

I am pleased with this monitor and think that it is a great device for gamers. It takes advantage of DisplayLink technology giving it the ability to run from a single USB port. The USB plug has a secondary plug that can be used, if necessary, for older or diluted USB ports, which are pushing less power.