Is VR dead?

[Spinelli]

Fully agree.
It should not be rocket science to realise that their main (or only) strong point is the FOV.
But its rather obvious that for the Pimax devs and marketing it IS rocket science to realise.

Pimax's strong point isn't just the h.FOV. In my experience and opinion, Pimax is the only VR headset company that can actually claim it produces what can even begin to be called a "VR headset". With every other consumer VR headset - and I mean every single one - it's like you're looking through a key-hole and, I'm sorry but, that's not VR. VR is supposed to make you feel like you're actually there, inside the videogame world. It's not supposed to make you feel like you're looking through a key-hole and spying on someone else's VR experience.

Apart from h.FOV, I'd say Pimax's other stand-out suits are refresh rate and PPD.

With the 5K Super, you can go up to 180 Hz and up to 160 Hz with the 2nd largest FOV - the "normal" setting which is about 140 degrees h.FOV. You also have lower refresh rate options (144, 120, 90).

With the 8K X, you get the 2nd highest PPD of any headset (or 3rd if including the Crystal @ 42 PPD) - about tied with the Reverb G2. However, the PPD on the G2 is more of just an "on paper" value due to it's sweet spot being tiny - basically a little circle in the middle of the screen - while the 8K X's sweet spot is probably like 5-10 times bigger. Then there's the Crystal @ 35 & 42 PPD.

A non-Pimax headset is like looking at a tiny 3D monitor moved closer to your eyes with the surrounding lights in your room turned off. You're not "in" in the game. You just have a 3D screen in front of you with head-tracking. A Pimax headset, on the other hand, is like being transported into the video game's world - you're actually there.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Enjoy your new Crystal !

 

[BrunoBæ]

Pimax's strong point isn't just the h.FOV. In my experience and opinion, Pimax is the only VR headset company that can actually claim it produces what can even begin to be called a "VR headset".

You are right.
But that is exactly the reason its a shame that such a lousy company (my oppinion) has the key to a possible winner.
And then does handle development and direction - AND user service so idiotic.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Be glad there are options that people can be so passionate about!

If we all wanted the same thing there would be no diversity in the VR headset offerings.

Despite my feeling Pimax made a mistake, I hope I'm completely wrong.

At least Pimax is getting lots of discussion and attention. Meanwhile companies like HTC are mostly being ignored.

 

[gamma123152]

 

[Deleted member 197115]

If you are a sim racers and you are wondering, okay is this better than the G2 or Aero, the clear answer is yes, it smokes them.

 

[gamma123152]

View attachment 647962

And he has the Aero and the G2 at home, so that says something.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Hope they they nail inside out at least for sitting/standing experience.

 

[Spinelli]

For those who didn't watch the video, here are comments from just the 1st minute :
- Oh ya!
- This...Looks...So freaking amazing
- This looks unbelievable
- Wow
- I never had this kind of experience in a VR headset before for racing games
- This looks soooo real
- Ohhh...My goodness
- Incredible, just incredible

Later in the video:
- This is truly the best racing experience that I've ever had in VR, period
- Oh my goodness
- If the racing community is watching this, you want this in your life. Probably you're using now the HP Reverb G2 or probably the Aero. I can tell you, here right now, this is SO much better than anything you've seen before
- This is crazy, this is absolutely crazy
- The colours, the clarity, the FOV compared to what you're using right now [maybe referring to G2 & Aero?]...this is ABSOLUTELY, freaking amazing
- If you're a sim racer and if you're wondering 'OK, is this better than the Reverb G2 or the Aero', the clear answer is yes. It smokes them.

And he has the Aero and the G2 at home, so that says something.

Yup, and along with the Pimax 8K X, the Aero and G2 (as long as you look in the G2's tiny sweet spot) are the highest image quality headsets available so the IQ of the Crystal must really be something.

 

[gamma123152]

Hope they they nail inside out at least for sitting/standing experience.

I probably still go for the lighthouse/base stations version.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Good luck! Hope you enjoy them!

 

[RCHeliguy]

OpenXR Toolkit 1.3.0 was just put out and has a red shift tester for those experiencing issues with the Aero and has a correction factor that appears to correct red shift issues. That appears to be an issue with people with an IPD around 66 and above. Based on comments it appears this correction tool works beautifully. The Aero measured my IPD at 64.5 and I haven't noticed these issues. Aspheric lenses seem to have their own special needs that vary by IPD.

I noticed there are some Pimax specific fixes in there as well.

I suspect with the Crystal there will be more activity in this space to help correct CA etc..

The Varjo 3:1 and 2:1 motion smoothing features have been well received in the ACC community and the flight community and seem to allow a 4090 to actually drive those titles smoothly with a perceived 90fps.

Hopefully Pimax will have something equivalent that helps make the Crystal usable in some titles. I look forward to hearing how that goes. Realistically I expect that Pimax will be making improvements over the next year that will make it work better than it does when it is first shipped. Not throwing darts about this. Varjo has been busily making improvements to their base software since it was first released a couple years back. Varjo is still working on local dimming, but don't have anything working well enough to release yet.

When VR Flight Sim Guy gets his Aero, he is going to do a direct Aero to Crystal comparison and also include a FPS comparison between them. That should provide some useful data. My "guess" is that the Crystal will be a chunk slower when it is first released and over time will become better optimized, but Pimax has also been at this a while and could surprise me.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Hehe at least the thrustworty guy from MRTV is completely blown away by the Crystal.
Interesting

 

[RCHeliguy]

Hehe at least the thrustworty guy from MRTV is completely blown away by the Crystal.
Interesting

Well he has to ride the train that gets the views and sometimes that means the channel has videos all over the place. He has 4 Pimax videos in the last 6 days.

5 days ago he had the "Is it really worth it Pimax Video.

9 videos and counting.

The Varjo Aero playlist has mixed messages as well across 13 videos. Although he had someone else do the 5 reasons the Aero is not worth the price.

 

[gamma123152]

Well he has to ride the train that gets the views and sometimes that means the channel has videos all over the place. He has 4 Pimax videos in the last 6 days.

5 days ago he had the "Is it really worth it Pimax Video.

View attachment 648097

The Varjo Aero got mix messages as well. Although he had someone else do the 5 reasons the Aero is not worth the price.

View attachment 648102

He has an Aero at home and all other HMD's. He was very critic about the Crystal and Pimax. He first said that the Crystal was flawed because of an issue with the lens. Pimax fixed that after his comments(took a month or something), now he's critic about the local dimming. They are writing a improved firmware after his comments. He's always posting many videos about all headsets, including PSVR2 etc. It's a VR channel.

With all due respect; I've read your comments here the last few week weeks but somehow you try to defend your Aero purchase by telling that Pimax made a huge mistakes. I don't agree, I think that currently Pimax is the only brand left that focusses on image quality over form factor together with Varjo (maybe other brands have something coming up, but nothing is officially announced) and Pimax clearly seem to have the advantage at this moment. If they manage to fix the software bugs and they probably will then the difference will be huge compared to the Aero/G2/8kx etc.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Fair enough about the Pimax, but I'm not defending my purchase. It's a stop gap. I picked something that worked for me based on my priorities and you will do the same.

I sincerely hope that your ownership experience with the Crystal is a good one.

And the fact is that despite my poor opinion of Pimax in general, the Crystal will work with AMD GPU's where the Aero does not. This is a point that upsets some people. The Crystal has other features that the Aero does not and additional features coming.

The replaceable lenses may actually be a saving grace on the Crystal since they appear to be what they have working for "now", with the plan to have both wider FOV and narrower FOV versions in the future. So in that sense it is upgradable in the future where the Aero is not.

My initial take that the swappable lenses are a gimmick was out of line. What they did was produce a lens they can deliver now that is acceptable and they gave themselves the ability to add value over time with improvements. Ideally this is a good thing. The downside is that with multiple lenses and the complexities of distortion profiles with Aspheric lenses, each will need to have CA and distortion sorted individually.

So like everything else time will tell.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Well he has to ride the train that gets the views and sometimes that means the channel has videos all over the place. He has 4 Pimax videos in the last 6 days.

Ok. But taken from the way he until now have worded and assessed different VR kits in his videos I personally consider him reasonable objective/unbiased.

Hehe and something I personally like is when he gets carried away about something he is not afraid of showing it.
Something that is slightly seldom when we are talking about germans

 

[BrunoBæ]

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: Am I completely wrong when I think that the integrated interchangeable lenses in the Crystal is an advantage when you have to use prescription glasses/lenses?

 

[RCHeliguy]

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: Am I completely wrong when I think that the integrated interchangeable lenses in the Crystal is an advantage when you have to use prescription glasses/lenses?

That entirely depends. I don't see it being highly likely that they would offer low production aspheric lenses with prescriptions.

In addition what I've learned from the aero site is that the various corrective lenses combined with different IPD's impacts CA and other things in aspheric lenses.

If they have multiple lenses that might actually make corrective inserts more espensive.

But for most of this we will just need to wait and see.

But it is something that could be done if they could find a way to do it cost effectively.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Am I completely wrong when I think that the integrated interchangeable lenses in the Crystal is an advantage when you have to use prescription glasses/lenses?

Sorry I didnt word my question clear enough.
Could the complete integrated interchangeable lenses in the Crystal be replaced by prescription lenses - that include both Pimax PPD thing AND the personal prescription thing?
I mean from the same 3rd party prescription store.