Oculus Rift: Potential Graphical Improvement Tweak

[UMC 22]

Greetings all,

I generally live by the rule "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, every so often I can't help digging around to see if I can improve and optimise. Most of the time I end up breaking things and going back to default, but sometimes I do find something worth the effort.

Today I came across this thread about a tweak that can be used to potentially improve the Rift's display, enhancing blacks and helping to remove the "washed out" colours present in some games. Please note that this tweak involves editing the Windows registry, so if you're not comfortable doing that then perhaps you should give it a miss. Also note that the affects of this tweak can be somewhat headset and game dependent, so individual results may vary. (See the linked thread for the full discussion.)

I have done this tweak myself this morning and tested it with R3E. For me, it has greatly improved the visual appearance of the sim, with black now being black and the complete removal of the "gradient lines" I was seeing in shadows and on dark textures. Very happy with the results.

The tweak is as follows:

1. Disable OVRService from Task manager. (Services tab)
2. Open Regedit.exe and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software.
3. Right click on the Software folder > New > Key and name the new folder "Oculus"
4. Right click on the Oculus folder > New > DWORD 32bit Value and name it UseSpud
5. Set the value to 0
6. Start OVRService again and put on your headset
7. (Probably) be amazed at how everything looks clean and black

Note: Step 3 may not be required as the folder may already exist! It was already there for me.
Note 2: If you don't like the results, simply delete the UseSpud key and restart your computer.

If you try this tweak then please post here so we can get an idea of how it works across various systems.

Cheers!

 

[Gabbsi]

will this effect other games i play in VR?

 

[UMC 22]

will this effect other games i play in VR?

Yes. It turns off this feature for the Rift in it's entirety... it's on or off, you can't pick and choose the games. Hence the disclaimer above that results may vary between games and even between headsets.

I've only tried R3E so far and it's the game I use most with VR, so it's good for me but may not be for everyone.

 

[BrainsBush]

Thanks for sharing Ross. I also tried this tweak and indeed black is more black and that overall 'washed out' effect is finally gone. It didn't make me faster though .

 

[Balázs Gerencsér]

Works for me too! Unbelievable that I missed this piece of info on Reddit for a year. Thanks for the heads-up Ross!

 

[Gabbsi]

Is this worth doing guys?

i tend not to play about with files ect. everything I seem to touch breaks, computer wise.

 

[UMC 22]

Is this worth doing guys?

In my opinion, yes. Makes a big difference to the colours and shading. The change can always be reversed if necessary.

 

[MarcG]

@Ross Garland Have you got/tried RF2? I'm intrigued to know if that makes a difference (similar Graphical engine afterall), thanks for the tip-off, I'll try it myself when I get time

 

[elloLeo Kinnunen]

Tried this today. Very happy with the more vivid black! It also feels like I can turn my head and the image adapts faster. Thanks @Ross Garland . One thing I'd like to test a bit more is whether i've lost a tiny bit of clarity. Could be placebo, could be unclean lens, but I'd like to be sure by going back and comparing more thoroughly. Strongly recommend giving it ago yourselves though.

 

[UMC 22]

@Ross Garland Have you got/tried RF2? I'm intrigued to know if that makes a difference (similar Graphical engine afterall), thanks for the tip-off, I'll try it myself when I get time

I do have rF2 but it's not installed right now. Been meaning to get it back on my rig though so if I do that before you get a chance then I'll let you know how it looks.

One thing I'd like to test a bit more is whether i've lost a tiny bit of clarity. Could be placebo, could be unclean lens, but I'd like to be sure by going back and comparing more thoroughly.

It's hard to tell with R3E as it's not the clearest looking game in VR already. I haven't had the time to test this with any other games yet, but dedicated VR games would be best for making proper comparisons. I have some time tonight so might give it a try.

 

[Insert Coin]

Tried this today. Very happy with the more vivid black! It also feels like I can turn my head and the image adapts faster. Thanks @Ross Garland . One thing I'd like to test a bit more is whether i've lost a tiny bit of clarity. Could be placebo, could be unclean lens, but I'd like to be sure by going back and comparing more thoroughly. Strongly recommend giving it ago yourselves though.

Enabling spud means "use the factory OLED calibration" (equal OLED pixel brightness calibration done at Oculus' factory): result is less mura (tiny bit of 'dust', best seen in gray images / environments), but you may get a red tint in dark VR environments - that's why Oculus turned it off: too many complaints about the red tint. Some get deeper blacks when spud is enabled. I see no difference, only less mura. Funny enough some people complain about more mura when spud is on, so you have to try both settings and see what you like best.

 

[UMC 22]

Reading the original thread where I found this tweak reveals that it can have very different results across individual headsets. So far I've not seen any of the bad side affects, and it's spud off that has greatly reduced mura for me, rather than the other way around. That's in addition to enhancing colours and blacks.

I guess the screens Oculus use in their headsets vary greatly in quality or functionality.

 

[MarcG]

I tried this with RF2 but noticed very little difference, may be more noticeable ion other Sims but for me the default is fine. Thanks for the heads up though, I seem to recall this being discussed in Elite Dangerous a couple of years ago.