VR versus triple-screen for Assetto Corsa

[Billy Pilgrim]

I have a triple-screen setup. It's great.

I've never tried VR. I'd like to read opinions from those who have experienced both to understand how the two options compare.

The downside of VR, I understand, is the screendoor effect. That's about the extent of my knowledge. I'm thinking fps may be better in VR.

 

[Greg Pugliese]

I’ve tried both and settled on triple screen for now. There is no question whatsoever in my mind that VR is the future for sim racing; the immersion it offers is truly stunning. But the big, big downside right now, in my opinion, is the very low resolution compared to a modern monitor. In VR everything is blurry and very low detail. For some that doesn’t matter, but for me, as I’m accustomed to large 4K screens and triple screen setups, I just couldn’t get over it.

But to each their own; I know others will vehemently disagree.

 

[Gunja]

I'm thinking fps may be better in VR.

This is a big no. I would not recommend VR to anyone below 970/1070 gfx card. I went from 3 screens to VR when oculus DK2 came out and even with resolution lower than current oculus CV1, i could not get back to spaceless and flat 2d image, no matter how big or sharp it is. If i wonted every possible tenth of a second squeezed out of me then i would probably use one 144hz screen but i enjoy the entire experience more with VR. This is very subjective. Make an effort to find a place or a friend where you can demo it for your self.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

The triples setup is by far better if resolution is a requirement in your racing. Ive ran triple 32" Philips monitors up until November, it was awesome, crisp clean images. But I decided to go for VR Oculus Rift, and agree with Greg in his statement that it lacks hi end resolution, so it took a while to get use to the lower end resolution, and the screen door affect, I also upgraded to a 1080ti graphics card so I could get the best images possible with VR, so it has been somewhat costly. But now that Ive been using VR for 3mths I couldn't go back to 2d and triples. The way I view apexes is so different in VR compared to 2d, and the 3d affect within the cockpit seriously raises your immersion levels, being able to actually look to your mirrors by moving your head like in real life is so cool and immersive.

As Gunja said, find a friend with VR or somehow get to demo it before you decide to jump into the VR world, do some research on graphics cards, like me you may end up needing to upgrade from your current card to a 10 series card to get the resolution and FPS performance, which can be hard on the wallet.

 

[dud]

The concept of high enough FPS is different for monitors and VR.

On monitors you want high FPS usually as a matter of being competitive, and to a lesser extent to avoid tearing.

In VR you are usually done when reaching the magic 90 fps. For some the semi-magic 45 fps do. Also, in VR some of the eye candy is useless, e.g. postprocess filters don't do nearly as much. So you turn them off, gaining fps.

Overall I am confident saying that it is easier/cheaper to get a graphics setup that drives VR at 90 fps than to drive a triple monitor setup without tearing or competitive disadvantage.

 

[Terry Rock]

I tried triples on a setup at my local kart track a while back and though okay, the transition from one screen to another was not ideal.
The 'shadowing' and just the effect in general, seemed just a bit off because of the monitor angles.
Looking out the front was okay, but a turn to look toward either side monitor made the car appear like it was doing three times the speed.
I have the Rift CV1 and while the resolution is still not as good as I'd like, once the car gets rolling you quickly forget the lower resolution and screen-door effect.
I use 1.5 pixel density, which adds quite a bit of clarity, while maintaining good solid framerate.
Given the two, I'd still take VR.
It's a completely different experience and puts you dead-center into the action...especially during close racing.
No triples can give you the 'gut-churning', blind-crest experience of flying up through Au Rouge at speed.
That can only be experienced in VR.

 

[dud]

More random thoughts:

• VR makes a lot of progress. If you get used to it now you might be able to get into future generations with no effort, and those might not make the pixels visible and offer wider view.
• At least in the US at this point in time a Rift kit is about as expensive as a single high-quality monitor.

 

[PicoBp]

I would not recommend VR to anyone below 970/1070 gfx card.

Do not forget a pretty strong CPU as well, as VR is shockingly CPU intensive. I went from an i7-4790 to an i7-8700k, keeping the same GTX 1070 in the config, and the difference is night and day. Or I should say, a solid 90fps with higher graphics settings, compared to the dips to 45fps even on lower detail.

 

[Mascot]

VR puts you in the car, on the track, at the race venue, all in proper binocular 3D.
Twenty-seven flat screens is still twenty-seven flat screens with bits of your bedroom showing between the gaps.

 

[Stan Marlow]

I have rift and have to force my self to use it. There is immersion, especially with other cars around - yes. The resolution is low (to the point you cannot read the dashboard on some cars), not easy to get used to. The main reason i do not use it so often, though, is that it is just uncomfortable to have this one your head and face - plain and simple and noway around it (you may say that race drivers have helmets on their heads and you maybe right, I wish a real driver can compare both). After you go through the initial wow effect this thing on your head becomes a nuisance. Money not well spent.
If you can borrow one to use for a week it would be nice before you decide.
I do not have triple screens because of lack of space but still prefer screen (27" 2560x1440).
I have GTX 1080

 

[bondyboy]

I had a decent 144hz triple screen setup, bought the oculus on pre-order and have never gone back to triple screens since

 

[Motowntom]

Been on samsung odyssey since launch, the MS-steamvr integration has been a true beta experience, but the progress has been steady. I am absolutely gassed with racing in VR! The teething problems have been well worth it and I could never go back to flats. I only use it for assetto corsa so I cant speak to other VR experiences, but if you want a dedicated race/flight sim you need to check out WMR, the samaung has the highest res. avail. for VR and although it does take some time to get used to the lower res. I can clearly read the dash in the car with the samsung. It is really a game changing experience for sim racing, as others have said you need a top end PC, but if you have the horsepower you will never go back. I can actually be IN! the cars of my dreams... at my age this has been the coolest thing ever. For league racing, if you race once, you will spend whatever it takes to taste it again.

Cheers

 

[Ryno917]

I've never personally had a triple screen setup, but I have used them. I'd say the fact that I never bothered to get a triple screen setup for myself is quite telling. Honestly, a triple screen doesn't really do much for me; sure you can see a bit more to the sides, but it's hideously distorted, and you have two seams/creases in the view. It's is absolutely not immersive in the least, in my honest opinion.

VR, though... Tried it once, had to have it. Will never go back. Sure the effective resolution is a bit lower than a standard monitor, but honestly it doesn't make a damn bit of difference when you're racing, so it barely even registers as a negative to me. As for the screen door effect, you will only see it if you're looking for it. As soon as you get yourself into the race, you do not notice it at all.

VR has several major advantages over screens:
1. Ability to actually look around. You can look out your side windows. You can look at your mirrors. You can pile straight into another tree because you're staring at all the beautiful detail around you in the cockpit that you would never get to see in a 2D Screen. This exponentially increases your awareness in the car, and no matter how many screens you set up, it's just not the same.

2. Binocular vision. This is something that I really didn't think about beforehand, but real 3D from binocular vision is a complete revolution. Suddenly you can actually see how steep the hills are. Depth perception is perfect. Once you acclimate to it, you will become more consistent because your brain is no longer trying to interpret these things from incomplete data. You can see it, now, just like you would in real life. 2D screens are absolutely never going to be able to do this, it's physically impossible.

3. Immersion. Looking left/right by pressing a button is distracting and immersion breaking. You don't need to do that anymore, you just naturally turn your head. You look directly at your mirrors. You can do it just like you would in real life, which helps to really put you in the car. Additionally, no matter how many screens you have, you are always acutely aware that you're staring at a screen. You see your desk, you see your wheel, you see the wall behind your computer. That all pulls you out of the game. In VR, all you see is the game. Everything else ceases to exist. You feel like you're there.

Honestly, the move from a screen to VR is more impactful to the experience of racing than the move from a keyboard to a wheel. That's not hyperbole, either. I'm 100% serious about that. Even in its current GPU hogging, screen-door touting, low FPS state, VR is amazing.

Triple screens have never been good enough to get me to bother spending the money. VR is a must buy, imho.

 

[Mascot]

I've never personally had a triple screen setup, but I have used them. I'd say the fact that I never bothered to get a triple screen setup for myself is quite telling. Honestly, a triple screen doesn't really do much for me; sure you can see a bit more to the sides, but it's hideously distorted, and you have two seams/creases in the view. It's is absolutely not immersive in the least, in my honest opinion.

VR, though... Tried it once, had to have it. Will never go back. Sure the effective resolution is a bit lower than a standard monitor, but honestly it doesn't make a damn bit of difference when you're racing, so it barely even registers as a negative to me. As for the screen door effect, you will only see it if you're looking for it. As soon as you get yourself into the race, you do not notice it at all.

VR has several major advantages over screens:
1. Ability to actually look around. You can look out your side windows. You can look at your mirrors. You can pile straight into another tree because you're staring at all the beautiful detail around you in the cockpit that you would never get to see in a 2D Screen. This exponentially increases your awareness in the car, and no matter how many screens you set up, it's just not the same.

2. Binocular vision. This is something that I really didn't think about beforehand, but real 3D from binocular vision is a complete revolution. Suddenly you can actually see how steep the hills are. Depth perception is perfect. Once you acclimate to it, you will become more consistent because your brain is no longer trying to interpret these things from incomplete data. You can see it, now, just like you would in real life. 2D screens are absolutely never going to be able to do this, it's physically impossible.

3. Immersion. Looking left/right by pressing a button is distracting and immersion breaking. You don't need to do that anymore, you just naturally turn your head. You look directly at your mirrors. You can do it just like you would in real life, which helps to really put you in the car. Additionally, no matter how many screens you have, you are always acutely aware that you're staring at a screen. You see your desk, you see your wheel, you see the wall behind your computer. That all pulls you out of the game. In VR, all you see is the game. Everything else ceases to exist. You feel like you're there.

Honestly, the move from a screen to VR is more impactful to the experience of racing than the move from a keyboard to a wheel. That's not hyperbole, either. I'm 100% serious about that. Even in its current GPU hogging, screen-door touting, low FPS state, VR is amazing.

Triple screens have never been good enough to get me to bother spending the money. VR is a must buy, imho.

Totally agree. The proper 3D binocular vision is the thing that often gets overlooked when people talk about VR, but for me it's one of the best benefits. The experience just doesn't have proper scale, it has proper volume too. Objects exist in proper 3D space and have a solidity that you just cannot get from a flat panel. You literally feel like you can reach out and touch them - and you will try..!

2D feels very ... gamey after racing in VR. Like something is missing.

 

[Brandon Wright]

Most of the "negatives" of VR disappear after a few weeks once your brains has had time to adapt. Screen door effect? I honestly don't even notice it anymore in most games. Blurriness? Once I got my settings dialed in and my brain adapted it's really not an issue anymore. Low resolution? Again, once I got my settings dialed in and my brain adapted I have no more complaints about resolution (this can vary from game to game, of course). Motion sickness/wooziness? First few weeks I could get some slight motion sickness and would get an overall woozy feeling if I played more than 60-90 minutes but now that's all gone and I can play for hours on end without issue. I also don't even notice the thing is strapped to my face anymore, nor do I get hot or sweaty with it on.

The best advice I can give is DO NOT make up your mind about VR after your first or second experience, it takes at least a week or two before things start to really click and become comfortable. Once they do it's a wonderful experience and there's no going back. (This is coming from someone who raced on triple screens for several years prior to VR.)

 

[bigbawmcgraw]

I'll take the immersion that VR gives over pixels every day of the week.
As for comfort, I spent 8 hours straight on ETS2 at the weekend, and regularly spend 4 or 5 hours at a time in AC. My Playseat is more uncomfortable than the Rift.
Motion sickness was an issue the first time I used it but that soon passed thanks to a couple of beers.
SDE took a little longer to get used to but that's more of a mental hurdle IMO. When you begin concentrating on hitting apexes the SDE dissapears.

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

Well, almost everyone seems to be in favour of VR over triple screens.

Aside from the cost of the PC, what kinda price range are we looking at for the VR hardware? And what's the best that money can buy?

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

SDE

What's SDE?

 

[Brandon Wright]

Well, almost everyone seems to be in favour of VR over triple screens.

Aside from the cost of the PC, what kinda price range are we looking at for the VR hardware? And what's the best that money can buy?

The Oculus Rift is the best bargain, $400 gets you the headset, two sensors, and two touch controllers as well as access to the huge library of Oculus games and the awesome Oculus Home. There may be one or two headsets that get slightly better performance in one area or another but IMO the Rift gets you the most for the money and delivers a high quality VR experience at a reasonable price.

What's SDE?

Screen door effect. If you lean in really really really close to your monitor you can see the cross-hatch pattern of the pixels, that's basically what SDE is and it's more pronounced in VR since the screens are so close to your eyes but after awhile your brain starts to kinda filter it out and you don't really notice it anymore. Varies from game to game, in iRacing it's pretty much non-existent but in PCars2 it's always noticeable to some extent for example.

 

[Ryno917]

Well, almost everyone seems to be in favour of VR over triple screens.

Aside from the cost of the PC, what kinda price range are we looking at for the VR hardware? And what's the best that money can buy?

The only two worth looking at right now, IMO, are the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.

The Vive is more expensive, but comes default with whole-room tracking and controllers. The Rift, at its base, is cheaper but does not have whole room tracking or touch controllers (though you can add these on if you choose). If you will only be using it for racing/flight sims, then the Rift is the easy choice. The experience between the two is basically identical as far as I know, so you might as well just get the one that's a bit cheaper.

If you want to play other games, like shooters or whatever, the Vive might be a better option - at that point it comes down to the price difference for the Vive vs the full kit for Rift, and what exclusive games they offer.

For price, the Rift was nearly $1000CAD when I bought mine last March (or May? April? I forget now) but the Canadian price was always a ripoff, and the prices have come down since then I believe.