Hey all just looking to move from my 4k to either a 5k+ or 8K and wondering overall sentiment in 2020.
I can get a 5k+ with nolo or a 8K (non plus or x) for the same price and wondering the pros and cons with latest pitool etc.
It really depends on the kinds of things you want to do in VR. What types of games do you play. Do you plan to watch movies or try to use Virtual Desktop?
I think the 5K+ with nolo will generally give you the better experience, assuming you have no base stations.
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I owned a 4K, 5K+ and an 8K.
And it depends what you liked most about the 4K. The resolution of the new headset is not going to match the 4K. You will need the 8K+ or X for that.
But the large FOV is going to be your next upgrade and personally I find the 5K+ to be better. But if you like certain visual quality and can supersample a lot then the 8K is better suited. But for overall VR gaming I think the 5K+ is a better choice.
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So far I’ve just used the 4k for seated sims, IL2 Box, DCS, elite dangerous, project cars etc. The VR controllers and room scale are by no means a requirement. I’d be most interested in Half life and medal of honor as far as VR controller required games. The wider FOV is nice but I’ve managed just fine with the 4K. Never watch movies or use virtual desktop.
I experience no sickness with lower frame rates right down to 30FPS. I feel I also have a high tolerance for ghosting as seen with the 4K. Obviously less would be welcome.
Current rig is I believe i5 4770k @4-4.2GHZ 16gb DDR3 and RTX 2070 Super. Runs everything at pretty good quality I never bottleneck @ ram or cpu.
So the 5k+ and original 8k have more SDE vs the 4K. I’d be quite happy with similar picture quality with larger FOV. Ideally there would be a jump in picture quality.
From the sounds of it I may be disappointed with both of them as an upgrade from the 4k.
Just for info sake both are going for $700CAD
I wasn’t happy at all with the resolution of the 5K+ and 8K. Because at kickstarter time I expected a large FOV version of my 4K. As was Pimax’ initial idea too.
But many many months went by and I just accepted my fate, I bought a Vive in the mean time because basestations and controllers seemed to be further away with every Pimax post. Then I discovered the joy of 6dof and I didn’t really mind the resolution downgrade anymore because games became much more fun and immersive with 6dof.
I still ordered an 8KX though, because I hate playing Elite with my 5K+ or 8K because of the resolution.
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Awesome very insightful I will probably hold off for the time being then and keep my eyes open for an 8KX eventually. I would definitely be disappointed if there was a considerable quality loss over the 4K. In the meantime I will focus my energy on getting 6DOF with my 4k using driver4vr and freetrack most likely. Fingers crossed that I can scale tracking eventually like I was used to with my trackIR
I used this back in the day. Worked kinda well in Elite, gotta have a good installation of the kinect, angle it 45 degrees to the side.
Then map the bluetooth controllers (cheap on aliexpress) to your games and I used a v1 Leap Motion for hand tracking.
It was fun when it worked but man, better get a Nolo instead and save yourself the trouble
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Yeah I would only use a setup like that for positional tracking for my head using ps3/webcam and IR leds. Thanks for input though I think I’m going to hold off and see what comes available this year. The 4DOF head tracking is the 4ks biggest downside for me
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Keep in mind the Artisan might be good to consider as well.
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I will keep that in mind. If anyone else has direct experience with the 4k and these other HMDs more input on image quality are welcome.
The other option I was maybe considering was the HP reverb but didn’t sound like much of a step up from the 4k for the price point.
Is there in for on exactly what type of display is in the 4k e.g. pentile, RGB
The pimax 4k has and RGB Rainbow display made by Sharp. It’s been awhile but if memory serves right it was believed to be the same 4k RGB Rainbow Sharp panel used in the first Xperia 4k phone. 60hz panel.
I have a p4k as well. We identified the panel long ago with other members like Sjefderk(sp?)
@Century has the 4k as well and posted through lens pic conparisons.
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Yeah I vaguely remember those threads from the long lost forum.
So overall you would agree that I would probably be disappointed in picture quality with the 5k+ /8k for mainly IL2 /elite dangerous where spotting distant objects and reading gauges are a huge part of the experience?
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Yes, you will definitely be disappointed in terms of image quality: clarity, SDE if you go from 4K to 5K + or 8K.
In everything else there will be only pluses: tracking, FOV, Hz, etc.
I would say that at the moment, the Pimax 4K extension is the new 8K + and 8KX headsets with real 4K RGB panels.
I looked through a lot of comparisons at the moment so that it is easy to understand 
(Switching from 4K would be good for og8K if it had 4K RGB panels, and not pentail-like ones.)
You can look at my not-so-good comparisons through the lens of 4K vs 8K, obviously 4K is superior to 8K in image quality (SDE and clarity):
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Yeah I was just looking through that thanks century it really showed how much more SDE the 8k has.
Looks like for the time being I will try to setup 6DOF head tracking with my 4K and possibly keep an eye out for a used HP reverb. Save my money to build a new PC and get a worthy HMD when it finally comes.
If you ever end up with an 8KX a similar comparison would be great as pretty well all the material compares the 5K+ vs 8k, 8K+, 8kX while ignoring the 4k.
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I couldn’t fully use Pimax 4K because of its minuses.
The main minus for me is, of course, ghosting.
Then a small FOV, lack of tracking, drift, etc.
The last time I started 4K, my FOV for some reason became somehow indecently small, as if there were black bounding edges on the edges …
In general, I use it only for comparisons now.
Yes, I’m waiting for 8KX, I ordered it back in November.
Of course I will make a comparison as far as I can 
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That’s great looking forward to it. I have gotten over the limited FOV ghosting etc for the most part but want at least equal picture quality if I am going to invest in an HMD that does not have these drawbacks. As far as the reduced FOV with 4k I remember reading something about certain versions of piplay/firmware or trying to use pitool as causing this. There is supposedly something in the profile.json I think it was to deal with this.
Thanks again! It’s hard staying patient waiting for VR to reach it’s inevitable potential.
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By the way, now I use Odyssey +, bought at a discount for $ 229 (often there are such discounts).
And I could say that it will be a good substitute for 4K, if you do not need the highest clarity.
Samsung did a miracle, in my opinion, hiding the SDE 
FOV is pretty good - 104 degrees horizontally.
I tried car simulators in it - and this is not bad in fact.
If with 8K I had a mess of pixels on the horizon, then with the Odyssey + I don’t have this.
Yes, everything is a little bit more murky, but it is more cinematic, and it’s easier to get used to it.
After some time, you stop noticing less clarity.
But I again postponed auto-sims until the arrival of 8KX.
Still, I want a higher clarity.
But in everything else, Odysseus + is just fire 
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I had the 4K, 5K+ and 8K. Even though the 5K+ and 8K dont have an advantage over 4K regarding the SDE, the “overall” picture quality of the 5K+ and 8K absolutely blows away the 4K. I did enjoy the 4K’s minimal SDE, your eyes tend to get used to the ghosting and low brightness and low FOV of the 4K. If your not into movies I think the 5K+ or Artisan will serve you well.
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Yes, if you take into account the general use of the headset, then almost any headset will be better than Pimax 4K.
Pimax 4K is not full VR.
This is only a clear picture and minimal SDE. In all other respects, he loses to any headset.
But for simulators, clarity and SDE Pimax 4K will win, I think, for some.
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Yes I don’t really have the space right now for true VR experience and am more than happy to play seated SIM games for now. I 99% play IL2 and am fine to continue that. The ghosting I have gotten used to by slow smooth head movements and luckily it has a recenter view button to counteract the drift. The lack of 6DOF head tracking does suck but can be overcome with driver4vr with my previous testing just takes time and effort to set up.
Biggest thing for me in these types of games is being able to spot and distinguish air or ground targets at a distance which by the sounds of it the 4k will be best at for the time being and why I would consider the reverb for the right price.
If I wanted to play true room scale VR / games with controllers I would maybe even lean towards a used rift/vive/psvr setup for about half the cost of the pimaxes.
I guess the next logical question becomes how disappointed I would be with the 8k+ picture over the 4k as I would take a slight picture quality drop to have these other downsides of the 4k dealt with.
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