VR

[Steve O'Malley]

I bought an Occulus Rift about 3 or 4 years ago and didnt like it. I think it was just about the only option at the time.

Have things improved?

Is VR much better than a wide screen?

Whats the best one to get at the moment?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pattikins]

You might be better off asking the first question here.

I think the Oculus Rift cv1 is better than widescreen.

The Oculus Rift S is probably the best value VR headset (£400) & the Valve Index if you've a grand to spare. Unfortunately, VR tech has gone the same way as toilet rolls.

 

[GEO147]

I have the Odyssey Plus and think it's really good. Still not used to it though.
There is just a bit more phaffing about when racing in VR.
I get weird bugs like settings not sticking etc in Content Manager.
But the quality of the visuals and sound with the Odyssey is very good.
Can only be got in US. I imported it when it was in sale in B&H in states. Think it was 50% off or something.

 

[pattikins]

I have the Odyssey Plus and think it's really good. Still not used to it though.
There is just a bit more phaffing about when racing in VR.
I get weird bugs like settings not sticking etc in Content Manager.
But the quality of the visuals and sound with the Odyssey is very good.
Can only be got in US. I imported it when it was in sale in B&H in states. Think it was 50% off or something.

I bought a used Odyssey Plus HMD a few weeks ago & the display is much better than the Rift.
I use a wireless keyboard to reduce the hassle of VR - the Oculus is better in that regard, especially with AC.
The sound on Odyssey is reasonably good - lacking a bit on the base front, & also doesn't have removable headphones.

 

[Elaphe]

I had not tried the Oculus Rift nor any other VR headset when I ordered my Oculus Rift S, so I was a bit scared because users said that the image quality was terrible. I cannot say if they were exagerating or maybe the Rift S has improved a lot in this sense, but I have no complain at all with it, at least as regards image definition. I see more urgency in increasing the FOV and the contrast than the image resolution.

 

[onearmedbandit46]

I use a Vive Pro and simply could not go back to flatscreen.

 

[ears]

Progressed through Oculus DK2 -> Rift -> Valve Index here.

Massive jump in visual quality with each step.

I'm not keen on the specs of the Rift S hence the move to Index.

Audio quality is poor on the Rift S, which was my main reason.

 

[Elaphe]

Audio quality is poor on the Rift S, which was my main reason.

Fixed.

 

[smasha]

Vr still very much in the virgin stage atm unless you are a whale and buy three of these in one year to compare 10 percent of mprovement.

They will take off in the future when everyone can afford gpus that can run graphics at 8k 90 fps but atm it's lke throwing cash down a drain.

The immersion factor is great but not being able to read text on the hud makes them unusable atm for the massive outlay,they are a sorta niche hipster product,oncethey become mainstream,hopefully prices come down but this is the modern World we are living in,"blood out of a stone period" with dlcs and all that rubbish.

Listen to the wise Tiger.

 

[onearmedbandit46]

Vr still very much in the virgin stage atm unless you are a whale and buy three of these in one year to compare 10 percent of mprovement.

They will take off in the future when everyone can afford gpus that can run graphics at 8k 90 fps but atm it's lke throwing cash down a drain.

The immersion factor is great but not being able to read text on the hud makes them unusable atm for the massive outlay,they are a sorta niche hipster product,oncethey become mainstream,hopefully prices come down but this is the modern World we are living in,"blood out of a stone period" with dlcs and all that rubbish.

Listen to the wise Tiger.

I hear what you're saying regarding reading small text (I play DCS quite a bit and can read the display fine in that but there is room for improvement) but given I have over 400hrs of use out of my VR in just AC alone so far I'd argue they are definitely not unusable. However bring on better hardware indeed, we are only in the early stages of consumer VR.

 

[MirNet]

not being able to read text on the hud makes them unusable atm

That's just not true.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Expert advise fron non VR user. Same trend as in DD wheels thread.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Expert advise fron non VR user. Same trend as in DD wheels thread.

Everyone's got an opinion. Some exude the same qualities as an arm pit.

 

[smasha]

The Valve Index is 4 thousand dollars for Aussies,fms.

For a device that only uses just over fhd resolution.

Save your pennies and wait for when they are evolved to a point they are like a screen monitor,now they are a niche,hipster device which comes with the asssociated price tag.

I sm desperate to own one believe me,to be in the World of the game you are playing would be awesome,imagine riding a horse in RDR2 or climbing cliffs in Uncharted 4.

I have tested the devices at a recent show here in Australia my gf loved the virtual roller coaster,I played Project Cars if I remember,it was a great,they had the old ones but the pixellation was pretty bad,even worse than an old Amiga monitor.

I reckon we are 5 years away yet.

Sony may be the ones who really make inroads with their psvr 2 unit,it might be at a price point that matches the tech.

Right now,unless you are filthy rich or get these units thrown at you,I think the wisest thing to do is wait till the tech gets good enough to use.

A Valve Index aint worth 4 thousand.

 

[onearmedbandit46]

The Valve Index is 4 thousand dollars for Aussies,fms.



A Valve Index aint worth 4 thousand.

$4k?? Someone is ripping you off. I bought my Valve Pro when they were only a couple months old and paid NZ$2500 for the McLaren edition. Now you can pick them up for $2k. And the Vive Pro is still more expensive than the list price of the Index. Before anyone says that the Index is better yes it is in most areas (audio, controllers, SDE) but they are not worlds apart.

To sum up yes it's not cheap (although not $4k) and the tech is in its early days, but I'm sure glad I invested. I don't play games in flatscreen any longer and have got my monies worth from my setup 10x over. And continue to use it around 3-5hrs a day. Everyone's mileage varies of course but your original statement of them being unusable is so far away from being right it's funny.

 

[GeekyDeaks]

I got the HP reverb recently, which is still keenly priced in the UK. Tracking can be a little wonky in poor lighting or when close to a plain wall (I put a poster up to help), but the resolution is fine for reading the instruments in the car or the apps in AC. You have to get used to turning your head to look directly at stuff as it tends to be blurry at the edges though. Only ever used the PSVR previously and my old eyes cannot pickup the screen door effect with the reverb whereas it was very noticeable with the PSVR.

 

[smasha]

$4k?? Someone is ripping you off. I bought my Valve Pro when they were only a couple months old and paid NZ$2500 for the McLaren edition. Now you can pick them up for $2k. And the Vive Pro is still more expensive than the list price of the Index. Before anyone says that the Index is better yes it is in most areas (audio, controllers, SDE) but they are not worlds apart.

To sum up yes it's not cheap (although not $4k) and the tech is in its early days, but I'm sure glad I invested. I don't play games in flatscreen any longer and have got my monies worth from my setup 10x over. And continue to use it around 3-5hrs a day. Everyone's mileage varies of course but your original statement of them being unusable is so far away from being right it's funny.

I can’t afford to buy $2.5 k vr headsets every time a new update comes out.

I love the idea but it’s miles away yet.

I might put money away for a vr headset and when that magic time comes(5 years maybe) then I will buy one,I will be old but I would love to walk the streets of the World in vr with 4k minimum each eye.

Will be fantastic,hopefully the whales don’t grab em all.

 

[smasha]

Pimax 8k x seems to be the best headset now but 1,200 us dollars,that’s one milllion dollllarrrs in Aussie.

Sigh and to play at that res a rtx 2080 is needed.

So another 1,300 for the gpu.

5k all up for the best vr,by gee by jingos.

Where is Bill Hicks when we need him?

 

[mhenstri]

I also went DK2 and CV1, and I have even removed the monitor from my racing Rig. I can't go back to monitors for racing. Was going to get the Rift S, and ditch the 3 CV1 sensors i have all around for room scale stuff, but my IPD is just beyond the upper limit, so no go for me.

Valve index looks good, but coming from Oculus I would need the full kit with Lighthouses etc. And when Oculus has the inside out tracking working so well, I dont want to get something else with the External tracking.

I was then hyped for the Quest when they announced the PC Link cable, but i believe it has a slight quality drop off. So im waiting for Quest 2, which hopefully will still have the IPD adjustments AND full quality when hooked up to a PC.

For now i'm sticking with the CV1, and cranking the Super Sampling to compensate for the Res as much as possible.

 

[onearmedbandit46]

I can’t afford to buy $2.5 k vr headsets every time a new update comes out.

I love the idea but it’s miles away yet.

I might put money away for a vr headset and when that magic time comes(5 years maybe) then I will buy one,I will be old but I would love to walk the streets of the World in vr with 4k minimum each eye.

Will be fantastic,hopefully the whales don’t grab em all.

I'll agree, it isn't cheap, all up my PC/VR combo came in around NZ$6k (RTX2080, 32gb ram, i7-9700k) but I still stand by my statement that it is worth it. Even my combo struggles to run VR with everything on high settings so I'm looking forward to the next gen and will pay the entry fee again.