Hi-Res VR headsets

  • Hi All,

    I'm one of the unlucky (or perhaps lucky) people who have ordered an HP Reverb but not received it because of HPs production issues.

    So now several weeks down the line I still have the option to cancel my order and walk away. I just wondered what the general consensus is about whether the HP Reverb is still the most promising way to go.

    It would be great to hear from those that have the Reverb and find out how you are getting on. Also would be good to hear from those like me who are in the market for a higher res headset and whether you think Reverb is worth the wait or maybe something else.

  • I was super excited about the Reverb but am now leaning to Index. I think optics are important and I think Valve have done a better job there. Also I'm a bit frustrated by WMR on my Odyssey now. I just wish there was an outside in tracking option as for flight sim we don't need the quality and hassle and price of lighthouse tracking.

  • As of right now The Reverb is the highest resolution headset out right now. I would stick with it and keep waiting. I would like one as well, but like you said they are fixing the big issue right now and of course no other company is offering that high of resolution yet. I am a big fan of OLED though. Night and Day color difference compared to LCD panels, and well I believe Reverb is LCD?

  • I'm in the market for a higher res headset, but keep holding out. (Still somewhat in hope of a proper Rift v2)

    Seems like it's between the Reverb and the Index right now. Pros and cons for each. I could see the Reverb being better for flight sims where resolution is more important than tracking. It depends how bad the WMR tracking is on the Reverb. For a general purpose headset I'd lean towards the Index, but external tracking seems a bit outdated now too.

    It you do get the Reverb, be sure to post about your experience with Aerofly here.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • I'm in the market for a higher res headset, but keep holding out. (Still somewhat in hope of a proper Rift v2)

    Seems like it's between the Reverb and the Index right now. Pros and cons for each. I could see the Reverb being better for flight sims where resolution is more important than tracking. It depends how bad the WMR tracking is on the Reverb. For a general purpose headset I'd lean towards the Index, but external tracking seems a bit outdated now too.

    It you do get the Reverb, be sure to post about your experience with Aerofly here.

    I don't find WMR tracking an issue but I'm less and less happy with the limited sweetspot on my Odyssey (and niggles with the mixed reality software). The reviews seem to say that Valve have invested in much better optics to make the most of the pixels rendered.

  • The best thing about the Index (I don't have one) is that you can adjust the eye-lens distance. In my Acer WMR headset, even with no padding at all, the lenses are too far away and I only see the central 75 degrees or so. It's annoying that hi-tech electronics are so limited by poor mechanical design. I created a simple FOV test if anyone is interested, I'd love to hear some results:

    https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/vr-t…7b7ca492c1971bd

    I'm hoping that future headsets will follow the Index (hoping for something a bit more affordable and with inside-out tracking).

  • I agree that the mechanical design of these multi hundred $ devices is poor. I'm hoping that Valve use the 2 cameras on the Index to make some basic (WMR quality) inside out tracking as an entry level option.

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  • I got an Index not long ago and I love it. It provides good views with the Index scale factor (If that's what it is called, I forget) all the way down at 1.1 or 1.2. At that level I can still read all of the writing in the Just Flight 152, and frame rates are great. I don't really notice the field of view being much wider, but they say it is. Plus it is the most comfortable headset I have worn.

  • I got an Index not long ago and I love it. It provides good views with the Index scale factor (If that's what it is called, I forget) all the way down at 1.1 or 1.2. At that level I can still read all of the writing in the Just Flight 152, and frame rates are great. I don't really notice the field of view being much wider, but they say it is. Plus it is the most comfortable headset I have worn.

    How's the sweet spot ? Can you glance your eyes to the side much without moving your head and still see things fairly sharply?

  • I am wavering again. Maybe the Reverb is the better option. The DCS guys seem to prefer it.

    https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=246702&page=5

    And this guy actually has both.

    https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3998517&postcount=40

  • I am wavering again. Maybe the Reverb is the better option. The DCS guys seem to prefer it.

    https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=246702&page=5

    1st world problems eh? ^^

    This shows just how many more pixels the Reverb is packing compared to other headsets

    https://i.imgur.com/nTa97hn.png

    Should stock ever be available for the Reverb, and should it really come in at £450, it'll be an attractive proposition to try, that is for sure.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • I've recently been flying XPlane 11 in VR and I did all the setting adjustments and tweaks to boost performance. At first it was nice to fly with different lighting, clouds, moving traffic, etc. But the moment I got to anywhere populated my computer was struggling to achieving just 20-25 fps. You can just forget flying Downtown London because that was around 8 to 10 fps <X. This to me is a 1st world problem :D

    It really makes me appreciate that Aerofly can actually provide a quality VR experience. I honestly don't want go back to anything else (VR wise)

    If other sims can't perform with current headsets, then they might not stand a chance with Higher Resolution headsets in the future. Here's to hoping other sims can optimize and improve to the Aerofly standard.

  • ZoSoChile

    +1

    The older rendering engines of Prepar3D (FSX/ESP ) and DCS just need a serious code review so as to speed up the rendering by at least a factor of 2. But don't hold your breath - they are committed to legacy code that someone else wrote a long time ago. I have noticed that Combat Air Patrol 2 ( still under development Mission-wise ) has great framerates like FS2 - it can be done.

  • I've recently been flying XPlane 11 in VR and I did all the setting adjustments and tweaks to boost performance. At first it was nice to fly with different lighting, clouds, moving traffic, etc. But the moment I got to anywhere populated my computer was struggling to achieving just 20-25 fps. You can just forget flying Downtown London because that was around 8 to 10 fps <X. This to me is a 1st world problem :D

    It really makes me appreciate that Aerofly can actually provide a quality VR experience. I honestly don't want go back to anything else (VR wise)

    If other sims can't perform with current headsets, then they might not stand a chance with Higher Resolution headsets in the future. Here's to hoping other sims can optimize and improve to the Aerofly standard.

    That's exactly what I think when I occasionally fire up Prepar3d V4 sometimes. Although it's got many features that I sorely miss in AFS2, like real weather, dynamic water AI traffic and much more, VR performance is terrible. After half an hour of screen tearing, micro stutters and frequent reload pauses for 15 seconds I always think "Even though I have all those great features I can't enjoy them because of the performance issues" and go back to Aerofly despite it's many shortcomings. I still use P3D for Bush flying and float plane operations in remote areas because there performance is still okay, with fps between 30 and 45 which is not great but acceptable. But as soon as I visit a complex airport or urban area it's a sideshow. For the same reason I never got into Xplane, I tried the demo but VR performance was not better than P3D and one badly performing tweak requiring simulator is enough for me.