2nd gen VR headsets

[DarrenM]

Looks like 2nd gen PC based headsets will start coming out this year. Rift S, Vive Cosmos, Pimax and whatever Valve are working on.

HP's Reverb WMR headset was announced today. 2160x2160 RGB panels. Similar fov to Rift/Vive. $600USD in late April.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/19/1827 ... lease-date
https://www.roadtovr.com/hp-reverb-vr-h ... ease-date/

I'd be interested to know how far below native res you can run without it looking blurry. Would take a beast of a system to run it at 1:1 pixel res.

[DarrenM]

Rift S announced. Single 2560×1440 80Hz LCD panel. Inside out tracking with 5 cameras. $399USD.

Notably, same hardware requirements as the current Rift. I assume there is less lens correction warping so the render resolution is about the same, plus it runs at 80fps instead of 90. Looks like it's the same panel as the Go with the lenses and tracking from the Quest.

Seems more like an incremental upgrade akin to the Odyssey than a 2nd gen headset, but should be a decent upgrade.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/03/ ... etter-fit/
https://uploadvr.com/oculus-rift-s-official/

[norbs]

Will it get rid of the screen door business?

[DarrenM]

Both should be a lot better in that regard and not just from the increased resolution. They've also moved to full rgb LCD panels instead of pentile OLED's which means less gaps between the sub pixels. People say the Pimax 5K looks better than the 8K due to this.

[Cursed]

Reports are that the screen door effect is noticeably better.

I'm going to wait until we see some reviews before jumping on this when it's released. The improved lenses would probably be enough for me in itself, but I do need to hear about how it handles my wide IPD (I run the Rift at the 70mm maximum) when the Rift-S is using a software solution, as well as how it handles glasses. Also reported is that this is a half-upgrade and not a CV-2.

My biggest complaint about the old Rift is the smeary/greasy appearance you get from the fresnel lenses when you have contrasty scenes like in Elite: Dangerous or while night driving in various games.

I don't think I'm likely to jump to a WMR headset like the HP one.

[Sarsippius]

It looks like it could be a good upgrade to the CV1, although I would like more FOV and it seems this is about equal as there's no mention at all of FOV in either of those articles. I've been considering the Pimax 5k+ but it is quite expensive once you factor in buying a lighthouse, I am also wary of switching to steam vr, rightly or wrongly. It just seems there's more issues with it and with iRacing the CV1 and original Vive have full support, all other headsets at this point seem a bit touch and go as to how well they work, presumably this Rift S will work out of the box. The Pimax 5k+ also seems like it has some issues but I've been away a few weeks and haven't been following that closely, the FOV is the real seller though, even on the middle setting it would be a game changer for iRacing.

[Cursed]

Well, this is an interesting position I find myself in.

Just yesterday while pulling the Rift on for some Elite: Dangerous, my left headphone ceased to function. This is apparently a well known mode of failure, down to an internal ribbon cable fatiguing. It's been a good three years. For now I'm opting to remove the built-in rift headphones and will use my own set. More cables and things, but I'm only doing seated stuff for the time being.

So this puts forward an extra point for considering a new Rift. On top of that, my boy is interested in getting into VR and I may be able to pass down the CV1 to him.

[DarrenM]

Palmer will send you an audio fix kit for free if you can't get any help from Oculus support

https://palmerluckey.com/fix-your-oculu ... epair-kit/

the first step for any user with this problem should be to contact Oculus Customer Support and see what they can do. In some cases, you might just need to clean some contacts, tighten the connection between your headphones and straps, or fix your PC’s sound settings. If you are unsuccessful in resolving your problem, please forward your ticket and a mailing address to RiftRepairOne@gmail.com, and I will send you an RR1 repair kit free of charge

Reminds me that I should tape up the head band to stop mine from failing. My first headset failed due to this problem but it was still under warranty and I was able to get it replaced.

[Cursed]

Thanks. I might give it a go.

[Sarsippius]

I keep forgetting to check in my Rift but does anyone know off the top of their heads if the Oculus software reports your IPD setting?

[Cursed]

Yes, it reports when you move the slider. It should pop up in the HMD when you change it

[Sarsippius]

Thanks, I had to go into the calibration. Stupidly I started playing with it before checking my setting but it would have been either 66 or 67. I read the Rift S is 64, 66 is about the lowest I can use and still be sharp, ideal is probably 67 but anything up to about 70, which seems the max on mine is ok. It seems too low is harder to deal with than too high.

There's not much in it if Palmer says 70 is not doable but I think I should be ok at 66-67, I don't think I'd want to be any higher than that though. Interestingly I measured with a ruler against the mirror at work and came to 67

[Dr. Pain]

I got my eye's tested for free and got my pupal distance measured. I am short sighted and never get my eye's tested that much. But I used that test to get contacts and Widmo lenses for my Rift.

Specsavers did the test for free with no obligation to buy.

[Cursed]

It's pretty easy to measure it yourself. It's as easy as holding a ruler in front of your eyes and reading the measurements one eye at a time in a mirror. I just had a go at it myself and what I found agrees with the Rift software (70mm).

I've tried my rift down as far as 66mm and I could cope with it.

[Dr. Pain]

66 mm is my IPD and 66 always felt right in the rift even before I got my eye's tested.

[Cursed]

On my headphone issue; Oculus support has offered me a refurb CV1 unit for $299USD. I think I'll pass.

[pixelboy]

That's criminal..

[DarrenM]

Valve just put up a page for their headset. For US users it says "May 2019". Not for me though and it's not listed in the steam client, so I'm guessing we'll have to wait like we did for the steam link and controller.

Looks like it'll have hardware IPD adjustment at least.

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/valve_index/

[DarrenM]

Valve Index specs and price have been released.

Dual 1440 x 1600 LCDs, full RGB per pixel, ultra-low persistence global backlight illumination (0.330ms at 144Hz)
Displays can run at 80/90/120/144Hz refresh rate
130 degree field of view
58mm - 70mm range physical IPD adjustment
Eye relief adjustment to fit glasses etc
SteamVR 2.0 sensors, compatible with SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations
Built-in: 37.5mm off-ear Balanced Mode Radiators (BMR), frequency response: 40Hz - 24KHz, impedance: 6 Ohm, SPL: 98.96 dBSPL at 1cm.
Aux Headphone Out 3.5mm
Dual Microphone Array, Frequency response: 20Hz – 24kHz, Sensitivity: -25dBFS/Pa @ 1kHz
Stereo 960 x 960 pixel front cameras

$999USD for the full kit. $499USD for just the HMD.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/ ... worth-999/

[Sarsippius]

It looks good but not available to us Aussies, Valve doesn't seem to sell anything here directly so it seems the only way to buy it locally is if a retailer decides to sell it here. I saw someone speculate Amazon might sell it, we'll see I guess.

It's a bit expensive but it seems to tick all the right boxes aside from resolution vs something like the HP Reverb, physical ipd, bigger fov, low persistence screens, lots of adjustability for fit and comfort.

Amazon sell the Pimax 5k+ now but it's nearly $1,200 and you still need a base station. That's a lot for something that's hardware quality seems a bit iffy and it's software is still immature. The fov would be great and the picture quality seems to be as good or better than anything else at the moment but it's a pretty hard sell for me.

The Index price is getting up there towards Pimax territory but something tells me the hardware quality won't be an issue.

The Rift S might just end up being an incremental upgrade for me to hold out a for a little while or maybe even a couple years. I suspect Pimax will eventually drop their price and/or release a v1.1 refresh of their 5k+ fixing their quality issues, we also could be waiting 6-12 months for the Index to come out here by which time it's price may have come down some. Just a bit of speculation on my part, The Rift S being about half the price of other options makes it tempting vs sticking with the CV1 for another year or two.

[Cursed]

I like the sounds of that Valve Index spec wise, but I'd have to get the USD1k set for the Valve headset and all the bits. And frankly, I don't want to have to set up their lighthouses. Mentally I'm already in the Rift-S camp, but I think it would be prudent to see what people are going to say about 70mm IPDs and how they cope, how good the Widmo lens inserts work on it and whatever else comes up.

With my CV1 developing the headphone issue, I feel like the Rift-S would be an okay option to get me to whatever the next release/generation has to offer. The AUD price is $650. I like the sound of the stereoscopic pass-through cameras as well, as long as it isn't inconvenient to activate.

[Cursed]

Okay, so I've pre-ordered the Rift-S. I decided that I needed to update my now 3 yr old Rift, that I wanted to stay in the Oculus eco-system and the price point of alternatives (Valve Index, HP Evolve) and the related work-arounds I'd have to deal with negated their advantages in my mind.

The only gamble I think that I'm taking is related to IPD and that is something that I'll have to evaluate for myself anyway. I'm not going to buy into the eternal hand-wringing that goes on in places like reddit, where nothing new is good.

Shipping on or around May 23rd.

CV1 will likely be attached to kids PC in the living room. Play space for it is much better in there anyway.

[Sarsippius]

I'll wait to hear how you find it. What are you planning to do regarding sound, just use the included speakers? That's my one major issue at the moment with the Rift S, I've used my own headphones now with the CV1 for some time and my concern with the halo head mount is that it will make it very difficult to use my headphones. This guy basically confirms this in his video.



I'm now thinking I might just wait it out and save my money up for the Index.

[Cursed]

I plan on using headphones. I don't know how the ones I have will work. My preference is to use my open-back AudioTechnica ADG1's but the drivers are large and I think they might interfere with the headband. Alternatively, I have a pair of Bose QC25's (closed back, noise cancelling) and I saw they were using them in the booths at one of the recent tech shows, so they might work. My issue with them is that I prefer to be able to hear what is going on in the house around me. One sure way to piss the Mrs off with my gaming is to not be able to hear when she wants to engage in a chat.

[Sarsippius]

Ok it will be good to hear how you go with them. I've got some Steelseries Arctis 5 closed back headphones, the pads are fairly thick so they could work ok but it's hard to know without testing.