8k+ First Impressions

Pimax Hardware P2: 8k(+)
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Hey guys !
I received my 8k+ today and because of personnal issues I only gave it a quick try.
Checking SDE mostly.
And I have to say that I am impressed. Yes it is almost gone, it is still there but if you dont have good eyesigh you will not be able to see it.
The image is sharp and colors good, slightly softened by the upscaler it is the best image I had in a HMD for sure.
It is almost perfect to watch a movie, it remind the image you get in a real theater actually, slightly softened but not blurred and have to look for the SDE to see it.

I very very quickly tried IL2 (but I dont have my setup so, no LH, no HOTAS, only 3dof with gamepad. And aircraft at 5.0 distance can be identified as an aircraft and not some pixels soup.

Iam trying to get things up to record a first impression video about it ASAP.

My son who love his Artisan was annoyed by the distortion on the sides when moving his head though.

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Awesome! Did it come with the comfort kit? If so how is it.

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Actually no, it didnt come with comfort kit because it is a early version of the 8k+ (long story) but I know how are the comfort kits since I already have one : Confort kit pour les Pimax - Installation & Avis - (English Subtitles) - YouTube
They are good, but after a while using it, it could be better with a slightly thicker foam.

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Something to be noted and improved by pimax then @PimaxQuorra @PimaxUSA slightly thicker foam for the comfort kit?

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Hello Ludx.

Thank you for choosing Pimax.
Hope you do enjoy our headset!

Regarding the thicker foam on comfort kit, will forward to the R&D team.
Maybe they can make changes on this issues real soon.

Sincerely,
Quorra.Pimax

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So in Artisan 140° FoV do you have distorsion?

Please let me know if in 8k+ it’s different.

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I received my 8k+ yesterday aswell. My first impressions also, need thicker foam and distortions on the side (normal fov). Additionally tracking with one lighthouse 2.0 is constantly moving a bit. More tests today but for now my previous hmd Valve index seems better IMO.

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@Marco Mostly not.
In normal FoV it is the same on the +.

@PimaxQuorra Yes I do love your headsets, you should know it by now :wink: I think everyone know it here…and even elsewhere.

Second impressions after testing some games and recording footage for my next video :
The screens are very very good quality, very very low SDE, most of time invisible.
But at Pitool 1.0 and 100% SuperSampling the image is not good enough, kind of chimering, have to set it up at 1.5 Pitool and 100% SS to get nice image.
But it is very GPU demanding, my 1080 is too low to run it, even with smartsmoothing.
By low I mean 33fps in Assetto Corsa or Project Cars 2 with my usual settings…and most sim games that I did try, way too low then, SmartSmoothing cannot even activate.
Just like @SweViver said, maybe the X is easier to run because do not have to oversample it, because definitly have to with the +.

Have to run a few more tests…but I think, with my gpu, I might prefer the Artisan, as I said several months ago, at the “leak” time, Artisan is the best Pimax VR headset, for its price, sharpness and refresh rate and FoV is pretty much the same.

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Why pitool render quality on 1.5 and not 2.0 then decrease res in steamvr until you’ll have enough fps?

Picture will be more sharp even at the same resolution :+1:

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@Ludiks
Yes 8k+ needs a rtx2080 or 2080ti but it looks amazing with a high end GPU. I can push the res pretty high and still get acceptable performance with 2080ti.

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hi Ludx to get some better performance vs quality you can try pitool 0.75 and steamvr 200% after a few weeks with my 8k+ it’s my favorite setting, i have a 1080TI

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Hi, yes thank you 0.75 pitool and 100%ss made project cars 2 running at 60 fps (without smartsmoothing of course) but image was shimmering, will try 200ss tomorrow but I would be surprised if my 1080ti can handle this.
Absolutely no way for me to upgrade my gpu, I am already selling everything I can to pay bills now :disappointed_relieved: trying to keep hdms.

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yeah pc2 is a heavy one, i use it at 72 hz with smartsmoothing so i only have to hit 36 frames. It’s basicly shimmer free wich is most distracting for me in VR. Some people will choose for higher fps but for me i prefer a clean image. It’s smooth enough for me this way but i’m not a hardcore sim driver :slight_smile:
For upgrading it;s good to wait anyway! the 3000 series is expected to come out this summer, i am putting aside some money every month for it…

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Salut Ludx
Ton expérience avec les 2 casques m’intéresse particulièrement, je possède un 5k+ et honnêtement je l’aime beaucoup, par contre les 2 choses qui me gênent sont le confort et le SDE.
Bien que je possède une 2080ti, le mode normal me convient très bien d’autant plus qu’il limite l’effet de distorsion.
Ton analyse et le test dispo sur YouTube sont très complets et mon sentiment est que le Pimax Artisan par rapport aux casques disponibles actuellement (pas encore de 8KX ou peu de Index) est clairement une très bonne pioche. Surtout à ce prix là.
Qu’est-ce que tu en penses?

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Salut Deuce75,
Tout d’abord merci pour ton commentaire sur ma vidéo.

Effectivement, le mode normal est très immersif déjà en plus d’être un peu moins gourmand et limite la distorsion.

Je trouve également qu’a ce prix, l’Artisan est un des meilleurs casques VR du marché a ce jour et le meilleur Pimax.

Je suis un des rares à être en possession de l’Artisan et du 8k+ (en plus du 8k) (J’ai eu également en ma possession un Pimax 4k, Vive, Rift S et Quest) et je préfère l’Artisan à tout ceux la, notamment pour son prix, mais également pour son SDE (bien que le 8k+ soit le vainqueur sur ce terrain) son taux de rafraîchissement et sa relative facilité a faire tourner les jeux.
Le 8k+ n’est pas ce que j’attendais, l’image est trop aliasée quand je le fait tourner avec les réglages du 8k, c’est une assez grosse déception…sachant que techniquement c’est le même signal, mais le rendu sur les dalles n’a rien a voir, le 8k bénéficie d’un anti-aliasing “naturel” qui a ses bons et ses mauvais cotés, comme le fait d’être moins gourmand.
L’Artisan lui, ne souffre pas de ce défaut en plus de tourner a 120hz ce qui est superbe en simu ou dans les jeux avec de rapides mouvements.

Je suis en train de terminer mon test pour le 8k+ à publier sur ma chaîne mais je suis aussi en plein déménagement (entre autre…) et cela n’est pas chose aisé en ce moment mais cela va être la conclusion de mon test, pour moi le 8k+ est décevant, bien qu’avec une grosse carte graphique il puisse bénéficier d’une belle image, cela reste du 90hz…ce qui reste quand même…bah old school.

Je suis “sensible” au SDE et sur le 8k+ il est vraiment superbe mais trop cher à mon gout pour un casque que je trouve vraiment génial pour regarder des films.
Le meilleur rapport qualité prix reste l’Artisan pour moi.

Pour le confort le plus important entre le Kit confort et la sangle est le Kit confort qui permet de soulager le port sur le front de la tĂŞte.

Si tu as un 5k+ de 1ere génération (oui parce qu’il y a des V2 avec de meilleurs écrans), le SDE est a priori encore mieux que les V2 mais surpasse de loin celui des V1.

In english :

Hi Deuce75,
First, thank you for your comment on my video.

Indeed, the normal mode is very immersive already in addition to being a little less greedy and limits the distortion.

I also find that at this price, the Artisan is one of the best VR headsets on the market today and the best Pimax headset.

I am one of the few to be in possession of the Artisan and the 8k + (in addition to the 8k) (I also had in my possession a Pimax 4k, Vive, Rift S and Quest) and I prefer the Artisan to all those, especially for its price, but also for its SDE (although the 8k + is the winner on this field) its refresh rate and its relative ease in running the games.
The 8k + is not what I expected, the image is too aliased when I run it with the settings of the 8k, it’s a pretty big disappointment … knowing that technically it’s the same signal, but the rendering on the panles is very different, the 8k has a “natural” anti-aliasing which has its good and bad sides, like being less greedy.
The Artisan does not suffer from this defect in addition to running at 120hz which is great in sim or in games with fast movements.

I am finishing my test for the 8k + to publish on my channel but I am also in the middle of moving (among others things…) and this is not easy task at the moment but it will be the conclusion of my test, for me the 8k + is disappointing, although with a bigger graphics card it can benefit of a beautiful image, it’s still 90hz … which is still …kind of old school.

I am “sensitive” to the SDE and on the 8k + it is really superb but too expensive for my taste for a headset that I find really great for watching movies.
The best value for money remains the Artisan for me.

For comfort the most important between the Comfort Kit and the strap is the Comfort Kit which relieves the wearing on the forehead.

If you have a 1st generation 5k + (yes because there are V2s with better screens), the SDE seems to be even better than the V2 but much better of the V1.

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Merci Ludx pour ta réponse et les arguments que tu développe tout au long de ton retour d’expérience.

Du coup je vais pouvoir progresser dans mon analyse de changement de casque et peut-être craquer pour l’Artisan.

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Hi !
I finally been able to edit and upload video
So there are my first impressions of the 8k+
In english :

En français :

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Merci pour ton analyse.

And I agree with you regarding the current Pimax catalog. I also think there are too many models. 8K+ is a model that does not make sense for me. 8KX already covers the option to play with 4K native or with a lower resolution. And actual production cost difference between 8K+ and 8KX should be minimal. Only reason to have 8K+ is to try to justify the high price of 8KX by adding more models between Artisan an 8KX.

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