Kind of a boring read but since so far there hasn’t been many initial reviews from some now recieving there Pimax 8kX HMD, I thought i would try to share my experience so far briefly and explain why i have not given a review and things that where mostly if not entirely my fault effecting my initial impressions.
Chronological ordering of events.
Received my unexpected delivery, Pimax box friend at my door all alone, oh OK then ah well excellent!
Downloaded what used to be one of my favorite VR games Vanilla turned out to be a mistake more on that later.
Downloaded Pitool 261 had issue no PiServiceLauncher. my fault probably.
Re-downloaded Pitool 260 worked without a hitch paired controllers and basestations took no time and
seems much more responsive than the earlier version i had been using v149 with the 8k.
Out of box HMD first impression, feels really light, like the smooth rubbery texture feels nice. Much quicker to place on head and get a stable place to adjust for sweet spot and the ratchet mech. allows for very secure stable feel, not going to move much at all depending on tightness applied compare to the DAS on my 8k.
Here’s where i will say what can go wrong for you as i found if you try the same things as i did while assessing the device.
Okay i’ll just try to take you there in my discription;
Head set on everything working. Started steamvr made the obligatory adjustments there. Started SkyrimVR vanilla no mods. Now ingame. Impression. Seems cloudy to bright what is this i say to myself, i then look down at the virtual ground in the startup area and the screen changes darker to what i feel should be the experience look up again and get this white blurring screen (what the…) Continue than i realize the fpsvr app i have attached to my wrist is causing the screen to cloud whenever i move my left wrist up or down. Okay glad thats not a HMD’s issue disabled and that problem solved.
Next and why i do not recommend using Vanilla SkyrimVR to test your Pimax 8kx when it arrives. The amount of fog in the game from room fog to floating fog will give the impression somethings wrong with your high resolution headset. At one point in the past i had 100’s of mods for this game fog removers being an important addition only then maybe. However, the very sharp crystal clarity of the hud menu i would describe as something akin to etched laser printed white writing on glass and yes readability in the pimax 8kx is that good in that situation, formerly more like looking through plastic but still nice on my 8k.
Briefly first impression on colors and shadows as i experiment with settings. Settings are very important here at least using SkyrimVR (don’t do it) or maybe but know that you need to adjust settings, back to my intent. Color and shadows, Color can be very good better than the 8k and for those who have the 8k+ you already knoow this. Increase in gama and adjustments to pitool game settings achieved great results. Amazing blue sky oranges reds very nice tomatoes those look nice. Still trying to get shadow and black levels to look right in game.
Something the high resolution can do as another mentioned is give a greater perception of this Virtual world being more real somehow. It makes sense when you think about it. VR characters seeming much more like living breathing persons.
I spent a lot of time in game just looking at what would be mundane objects like a wash bucket sitting on a barrel wow how fascinating or the wood grain in various stuctures.
Sound quality without headphones i will not even comment on.
So my early impressions despite my mystakes still overall very good. Working adding some mods maybe for better clarity or i try a different app.
Maybe this will help someone avoid making a few mistakes and as i learned do not always be quick to blame the HMD or software sometimes its just user error plain and simple. Take some time to adjust settings.
Fresco