As everybody knows the v1.1.92 is still by far the best driver out there. The v1.2.x driver, based on Pimax’s own render engine just never got up to the image quality, speed and Steam compatability of the v1.1 driver.
Now the thing is that this driver is not being updated anymore. There are some nice features in the v1.2.x driver that I would like to see in the v1.1.92 driver, like the better IPD adjustment and simple things like the default for HD mode and the default for the sound output.
And even worse, the driver might just get outdated, for example if Pimax gets “Star Trek Bridge Crew” working, I think they won’t release an updated v1.1.x driver ?
So Pimax, wouldn’t it be possible to also update the v1.1.92 driver ? I just don’t want to update to a highly inferior driver like the v1.2.x just to be able to play some games that aren’t supported by v1.1.92 anymore…
VR Game: AssettoCorsa, default parameter
Scene 1: Render value: 1, stable 60fps
Scene 2: Render value: 3, about 30fps, image quality was further improved, running smoothly, no lag or stuck.
In Piplay 1.1.92, stable 60fps, running relatively smooth, definition is less then Piplay 1.2.75(Render: 3).
During this testing in Piplay 1.2.75, we found the phenomenon of higher render value but lower FPS (it depends on actual PC config), i.e. :
Render: 1 -->60fps
Render: 2 -->50fps
Render: 3 -->30 fps
Maybe you have more details or comparison about these two versions, please let us know
Regarding “Star Trek Bridge Crew” , we have added this issue to our bug system and will reply you once got a new progress.
1.2. + Like also low 30 fps in Project CARS
In 1.1.92 the resolution is higher than in 1.2.75.
1.2.75 shows that the smaller screen is involved both at the top and bottom in
comparison with 1.1.92 but in 1.1.92 fps it’s still higher with the
same settings.
Strongly like in 1.1.92 editing the shivering screen (as in version 1.2.75) and the
compatibility of games from version 1.2.75 because it is very annoying
constantly because of games to change the version of piplay.
Well the render quality of v1.1.92 is higher than v1.2.x at render 3. And the framerate of v1.2.x at render 3 is like 50%.
Also what really bothers me is that in v1.2.x the screen flickers to black when I move my head quickly and that some overlay’s don’t work. And a minor issue is that screenshots from the HMD view don’t work in v1.2.x.
Seeing that Pimax own renderer is no where as good as the one from Steam I wonder why Pimax just doesn’t switch back to the Steam renderer ? Or maybe offer an option where the user can choose between Steam and Pimax renderer ? That would be awesome ! And you would only need to support and update one driver each time.
But then again: I don’t see any advantage at all of the pimax own renderer: image quality is worse, it’s way slower and suffers from a few problems mentioned above. I don’t really get why you guys are using it in the first place ? I mean if you’d offer them both, I highly doubt anyone would want to use the pimax renderer ? Or am I missing some advantage ?
This I don’t understand though. How did you measure ‘definition’ ? I always do that test in VR mark: go to the blue room, set render quality to 8k, look to the left and read the text of the sign. The letters are slightly better readable in v1.1.92 than with v1.2.75 render 3.
I must say though that v1.2.75 with render 3 does come close to the v1.1.92 quality. But at 50% of the framerate it’s not really interesting. And although the quality comes close, it’s still not as good as v1.1.92. That’s what I mean when I said that I don’t see any advantage at all of the pimax renderer and I wonder if you guys just can’t switch back to the steam renderer ?
I was just reading through this thread and was about to say something very similar. Now, with PImax and Nolo compatibility being somewhat lacking right now, I’m sure many would rather not have to switch from v1.1.92 to v1.2x just for the motion controllers.
Personally, the last thing I want to have to deal with (considering they many, many annoyances of Piplay/Pimax Hmd bugs) is lower frame rates with lower performance just to include positional tracking. If it gets to a point of being unplayable… please don’t.
Depending how they proceed with their NoloVR compatibility, requiring v1.2x for Nolo compatibility might just be the final straw for me. Already enough money and patience has been invested into Pimax and virtual reality on my part, and I really can’t say so for that it has been worth it.
Of course, there are many others who enjoy their Pimax headsets just fine, and I’m glad for them!
Yeah I wanna get nolo, but don’t want the 1.2.75 driver. Perhaps they can add compatibility to 1.1.92. @PIMAX-Support@deletedpimaxrep1, is that possible?
Hi All,
Look I know some of you are using 1.1.92 and prefer it to later versions of Pimax, but I think that you are being unrealistic if you think that Pimax will drop the direction of their current development path for Piplay to mod 1.1.92.
Eventually everyone will have to update if they want the extra benefits of the current Piplay 1.2.75.
I have been using the latest version of Piplay for some time now and in my opinion it is the best overall Piplay yet.
Best for Oculus Home, Vive,OSVR and Nolo (although I don’t have a Nolo) compatibility.
Yes, it still has many quirks but it get’s better with every update and I will be sticking with it and I would recommend that unless you have a specific reason for staying with 1.1.92, that you upgrade to 1.2.75.
If we’re all using the same software then the debugging will be faster and we’ll get a better result sooner.
The Pimax 4K’s main selling point was Picture Quality. If it starts to lose that, it can’t be recommended over it’s competition with all the other downsides that must be dealt with.
My opinion is that
developers need to combine 2 versions (1.1.92 and 1.2.75) of rendering
in one piplay and everyone will be satisfied and it will be easier to
test the new drivers since you do not have to constantly change the
driver. Compatibility with the programs will also rise as a significant part of users remain on version 1.1.92.
Why ? I literally don’t see any reason why they’d stick to their own renderer. The idea was, I guess, that doing rendering yourself gives a lot more freedom, if their programmers know a better algo than Steam, they can make things faster, but they can also implement things like they did, like a render setting so the user can choose himself if he prefers quality over speed.Things like that are impossible when using the Steam renderer.
In theory very valid reasons to switch to a custom renderer. However you need programmers who actually can do it. Pimax failed miserably. I brought them in contact with someone I found on the internet, someone who wrote his own custom renderer that actually works. It turned out pimax engineers already had found this guy too and had been asking him questions on Github, which he out of kindness answered, for free… I talked to both Pimax and this guy and tried to broker a deal so that this guy could rewrite the pimax custom renderer. I told this guy: “look, Pimax is a Chinese company, they’re not used to huge Western salarier and it’s just a small niche company, you need to keep that in mind, but if you make a reasonable offer I think you guys can work out a deal.” I was very pleasantly surprised that he made them a very reasonable offer, 10k usd for a new driver. Mind you, this is 2-3 months of work, a programmer with such specialised knowledge that nobody else has could easily earn 10k/month in the Western world. However Pimax declined. I was very disappointed, as this guy too, he said he won’t give any more free advise now. He made a very very good offer but Pimax only wants help for free.
So, my hope that they will fix their renderer has gone completely out of the window.
I think the only alternative now is to switch back to v1.1.92 and work on that one, to improve things like compatability and all the whistles and bells that they’ve added to v1.2.75. I think it’s the only thing that makes sense at this point.
Of course you’re right about the image quality and from my discussions with Pimax support, they know that and they are working towards improving the overall quality of Pimax4K, however I believe that will be done going forwards in future improved versions of Piplay and firmware.
Let’s face it, time is moving on and while we all want the best for our Pimax4K I’m sure that as other vr products appear on the market and are reviewed, we will make our choices.
In my opinion Pimax has to be commended for setting such a high standard and I sure that this is not lost on other developers.
Read my post above. What you don’t seem to realise is that a custom VR renderer is a very complex driver and there’s almost no info available on the internet at all ! So this is not a question of will power. It’s a question of ability.
What Pimax has been doing so far is taking part of the open source OSVR driver, modify it and use it. But that’s not going to be enough for a good custom renderer.
Here you can see it BTW, this is the Pimax in house developer on Github: HelenXR (Helen_XR) · GitHub (their main programmer at the moment)
So that’s the guy who wrote the v1.2.x driver. He’s just copying existing open source osvr code and modifies it.
I like Pimax but man, people should realize that we really need v1.1.92, because it’s just not going to work out with their own custom renderer.
I think the best way for Pimax is to make is driver open source and available to the community (via github) so they can be improved. As happens for OSVR. This, if they do not want to spend money to hire programmers, is the only way.
I totally agree, but it’s not going to happen. They somehow feel their driver (which is mainly just copied OSVR code) with their crappy custom renderer should be protected. So that’s not going to happen.
Really, I think the only option is to go on with v1.2.75 but bring back the steam renderer (or start with v1.1.92 and add all the changes from v1.2.x, same thing).
V1.1.92 worked just fine, it just needs some compatability improvement and all the things that came with v1.2.75 like the new IPD change method etc.
I agree. But I do not understand why Pimax is so obstinate. He succeeded in selling his hardware. If it were not for the limits of its software, these HMDs might be more successful.
