Possible image clarity improvement for Odyssey+ owners

  • I am enjoying my Samsung Odyssey+ with AFS2 but would have to admit that the clarity could stand improvement. I would run up the SuperSampling value but it seemed to limit at about 1.5 or so in improvement and I couldn't easily read some instruments (but I really like the antiSDE). I just happened to come across this forum "conversation" ( somewhat of an argument ) on the Steam thread - go to the very last entries https://steamcommunity.com/app/719950/dis…15073552/?ctp=2


    The summary of the idea is to try it for yourself - make a simple change to the file "STEAM\steamapps\common\MixedRealityVRDriver\resources\settings\default.vrsettings"

    "driver_Holographic" : {

    "renderTargetScale" : 2.0

    },

    instead of 1.0 and see if you don't notice an improvement (restart WMR+SteamVrbeta ) - but it is possibly a placebo (I don't think so). If you are using motionReprojection with the variable color square indicator, it will be harder to see since it is now half the size it was. I feel that difficult to read instrument values like a smaller "0" are easier to read and the out the window scene has less shimmer. I am using SS set to somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0. Just try it and report back - I'm willing to take any negative responses because our perception of clarity varies with the individual and CPU/GPU configuration.

    Dave W.

  • Testing this in and out of the game 6 times, I have come to the conclusion changing "renderTargetScale" from 1.0 to 2.0 does infact reduce "out of the window" shimmering (a bit more pleasant of a view).

    Also I was able to read this instrument in the R22 with a bit better clarity. Thanks for the suggestion Dave!

  • @ZoSoChile,

    Yes, I used the new R22 especially since I have a hard time reading the airspeed gauge (somewhat "far" away and small fonts). I also tried both the Q400 and the A320 since they have hard to read values for airspeed and altitude on the Primary Flight Display. If anyone can do so, let's try to see how much FPS we lose if we change nothing else than the renderTargetScale from 1.0 to 2.0. Maybe as a separate test, we can try increasing SS and change other items like Antialiasing and Anisotropic values... Maybe there is another value than 2.0??

    I would have been nice if Samsung could have provided an "EyeExam" application that just writes a pattern to their screen(s) without any WMR/Steam/... applications between us and the display - then we could see how clear it is natively. I think maybe some folks turned their Odyssey+ HMDs back without giving it time to see what really can be done.

    Dave W.

    Further comments on Steam Forum

    Edited once, last by whitav8 (December 9, 2018 at 6:04 AM).

  • I have yet to start testing my Odyssey. One thing I don't understand yet is whether Odyssey uses all the steamVR features such as the new motion smoothing stuff. Rift has completely different processing. Will we at some point have a 'launch in windows MR mode' do you think for more efficiency?

  • OK, so the latest combination that was recommended for image crispness for the WMR world (not just Odyssey+ but it has the "softest" image) and those with a substantial video card (I just installed an RTX 2070 on my 9700K@5Ghz ) is the combination of the following for Aerofly FS2:

    1) Set WMR Portal Headset Display Visuals to "Very high (beta)"

    2) default.vrsettings to "renderTargetScale" : 2.0

    3) SteamVR Supersampling to 200%

    4) AFS2 RenderFactor to 1.8

    Experiment with anti-aliasing/anisotropic settings

    No one knows if all these are really required - but the image is definitely better. I am starting at this condition and working back to see where it begins to fall off in clarity but gives back some FPS. Flying the Q400 in Innsbruck sure looks good - easy to read the airspeed on the PFD. What interests me is that our VR HMDs may actually have better image quality than we think - it's up to the graphic card and all these settings to produce the best pixels.

  • Dave, I also got good results with my original Odyssey. I used the same settings for 1), 2), and 3) and then tested various FS2 RenderFactor settings and found the transition point between crisp airspeed numbers and slightly fuzzy airspeed numbers in the King-Air to be with an RF of 1.20 going to 1.10 - I also tried the higher values like 1.50, 1.80, and 2.00 and the entire left MFD really started to look nice! Even the center throttle column area was looking crisp.

    I was using the FS2 ULTRA graphics settings. Unfortunately, my GTX1080 struggles at those high RF settings so I'll keep it at 1.20 for awhile (testing in the Denver area).

    I'm now in your camp that we haven't been getting the best from these Odyssey headsets - we just needed better settings and a better graphics card.

    UPDATE: I just realized I had MOTION REPROJECTION disabled - I switched it to AUTO and was able to bump up RF to 1.50 now!

  • Dave, I also got good results with my original Odyssey. I used the same settings for 1), 2), and 3) and then tested various FS2 RenderFactor settings and found the transition point between crisp airspeed numbers and slightly fuzzy airspeed numbers in the King-Air to be with an RF of 1.20 going to 1.10 - I also tried the higher values like 1.50, 1.80, and 2.00 and the entire left MFD really started to look nice! Even the center throttle column area was looking crisp.

    I was using the FS2 ULTRA graphics settings. Unfortunately, my GTX1080 struggles at those high RF settings so I'll keep it at 1.20 for awhile (testing in the Denver area).

    I'm now in your camp that we haven't been getting the best from these Odyssey headsets - we just needed better settings and a better graphics card.

    UPDATE: I just realized I had MOTION REPROJECTION disabled - I switched it to AUTO and was able to bump up RF to 1.50 now!

    it would be great to know how each of 1-4 interacted with each other

  • Big improvement over Rift

    I finally got round to setting up my Odyssey today. After a few niggles (I don't have Bluetooth on my PC, but managed to use an Xbox controller as the control device) I am very pleased with the difference in image quality. The image seems to be more vivid as well as more detailed. I have WMR renderscalefactor at 2.0 but can only manage steam super sampling of 150% and AFS2 super sampling at 1.5. Normal scenery is pretty reasonable with that but I struggle in Netherlands TrueEarth. I switched on the steam frame rate display and the 11.1 ms (=90hz) target was being missed constantly. Flying around Rotterdam I was often around 17 to 18 ms with a fair bit of jitter. I am not sure if I have motion reprojection or any of the other alternate frame pseudo generation wizardry tools enabled. Where do i check this?

    I'm tempted to switch to 60hz and see if it will hold that.

  • Very glad to hear you are impressed with the improved image quality. I have yet to try the motion reproduction ( I want to). I usually turn everything besides shadow quality to medium/high when I fly in major cities just for improved fps. A question I've asked other VR forums in the past but no response. Do shadows lag when turning or shaking head while flying dark night environments? This isn't Aerofly, this is all VR games that have dark night environments. I'm thinking this is due to the Odyssey using true black.

  • Jake, you're correct, the lagging shadows are due to the OLED display technology where the true black is because the LED pixels are switched completely off. There's a tiny lag when the LED pixels are switched back on to make any other color than true black.

  • I see the odyssey is still selling for only fractionally more than the rift. With this extra resolution it really ought to be the #1 choice for any flight sim fans choosing to go VR for the first time. I also like the fact you don't need to mess around with base stations. Sure the tracking might not be as good as rift/vive but i'm not bothered about gaming and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

  • You could also just use this, which allows you to change Steam SS on the fly within any running app/game. https://store.steampowered.com/app/908520/fpsVR/

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  • I'm having quite a lot of trouble with the controllers for my Odyssey. They keep dropping out. I read its probably a bluetooth issue but not fixed yet. Also pressing the thumbsticks to launch steam is a bit clunky. I can't find a way to remap that though. One thing i tried was to map a joystick button to shift-tab which is the keyboard method of launching steam. No luck there either- it just ignores any keyboard method of launching steam.

    All this so i can run ovr drop or find a way to see some flight notes i prepare in advance. What a shame that all this had just become so very easy in my Rift.

  • Sorry to hear that. I only use the headset for flying so i'm in a different scenario. Here's to hoping for in game VR Flight Notes and Moving Map. I didn't test with AF2 but with my regular Odyssey I had no trouble with the controllers dropping out perhaps due to the fact I used a PCIe Bluetooth adapter? On a positive note, how bout them visuals?? ^^

  • I'm having quite a lot of trouble with the controllers for my Odyssey. They keep dropping out. I read its probably a bluetooth issue but not fixed yet. Also pressing the thumbsticks to launch steam is a bit clunky. I can't find a way to remap that though. One thing i tried was to map a joystick button to shift-tab which is the keyboard method of launching steam. No luck there either- it just ignores any keyboard method of launching steam.

    All this so i can run ovr drop or find a way to see some flight notes i prepare in advance. What a shame that all this had just become so very easy in my Rift.

    A new year brought inspiration. I went to device manager, clicked on bluetooth and tried "update driver" - controllers are now working reliably.

  • Well gentlemen, it appears I've been living a lie for the past half of year since this discussion. When flying in VR I noticed I would stutter in some dense areas. Kind of just figured that was part of the normal. I decided to dig deeper and sure enough, turns out I never successfully activated Motion Re projection. Long story short, it's activated now and I feel like I fell in love again <3. I can finally say I now have AF2 running super buttery smooth in VR. I was even able to up the SS and quality settings a bit. However I backed off and went back to my normal quality settings for performance. Kind of gives me positive hope for HP Reverb performance. :thumbup: