I’m wanting to stick with the 8k for the reduced sde, but the softening caused by the scaler is really making it a hard decision. My question is, can the scaling process be improved upon with updates?
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I think most of the tech wizards are saying no as it goes for the scaler chips firmware itself, maybe Pimax can improve the imagw quality some other ways though.
The hardware scaler chip cannot be updated, but it’s possible that pre-sharpening the image (in the driver, before sending it to the headset) could counteract the softening to some extent.
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The machine code might not be accessible by pimax to mess with, as it’s from a 3rd party and they would need to update it. Guessing.
I wonder if your suggestion of this (that @deletedpimaxrep1 mentioned) was the change @SweViver was talking about in the latest update.
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That seems unlikely, unless their engineers had previously planned to do that. There wasn’t enough time for them to do that. (I’d expect a delay of at least a week, probably several weeks.) It’s much more likely that there was a non-optimum setting in the driver, which has now been tweaked for the 8K.
I have high hopes that pre-sharpening will noticeably improve the 8K’s display without the need for a massive increase in super-sampling. Since my backer number is in the 3000s, I probably won’t need to decide between 5K+ and 8K for a while and I’m hoping the 8K driver tweaks will be in place by then.
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I believe that Pimax Team is polishing Piplay software, it happened with the 4K … so in the near future we will see better results.
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No disrespect intended, but do you have a source for that? Sad if true.
Which chip has the scaler? It’s not the ANX. Specifically how do you know so conclusively that it cannot be updated?
I saw the part number mentioned in a post and looked up the specs. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the part number, but the chip was fairly limited (functionality). It’s certainly possible that the original post was in error. I did ask Pimax if it could handle other input resolutions, but did not get an answer (no surprise, given how tight-lipped they are).
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@neal_white_iii al What do you think of 2880x1620 as an input resolution instead of 1440p? Its a more per pixel accurate scale that is still only a 1.5x increase. The scaler should be able to handle anything that is just interpolation by 1.5x
My understanding is that the video signal to the headset is always 2560x1440. Increasing the size of the rendering buffer is effectively a super-sampling situation, which will improve the image quality (SS is a form of anti-aliasing). To get a higher res signal to the headset would require a second video cable, just like the 8KX.
yes (twenty twenty)
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I think PiTool Render Quality look similar to Riftcat software, although you can choose sampling in the steamvr, but we can reder more resolution in Riftcat too.
Hey @neal_white_iii @Sjef; just for info, Can be scaler bypassed and get pure resolution (whatever resolution) to the headset (8K headset)???
No. Pimax has stated that the scaler chip cannot be bypassed.
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Are scaler chips usually paired with screens? Do they take pixel arrangement into consideration? In the back of my mind I’m worried that there’s a chance a rectangular scaler is feeding a diagonal pixel layout…
I don’t think there is any definitive info at all out there on whether the scaler can be updated via firmware or not. What got my attention was just how definitive your assertion was that it cannot be updated - as if you had a piece of info previously unrevealed.
I can say that most asic’s, fpga’s and assp’s do at least reserve a portion of their code stored in a couple of repositories of integrated flash in case there is an error that rises to a level where the device itself would potentially need a recall. Since the scaler algorithms optimize for specific applications (i.e. for video, text, speed etc…) it would indeed make sense that a scaler IC would reserve a small updatable area to alter it. I would add the danger is if it can and you do update it you might create a whole new problems like frame rate, distortion, color fringing etc. so the optimization process would probably need an additional pass.
I wish we could find out that part number.
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