I’m trying to understand what types of IPD and eye distance from screen get most barrel distortion on Pimax headsets. Perhaps this could indicate whether it’s people with high, low or extreme IPD that have more distortion. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this with a sort of poll.
Thank you kindly to those of you who take the time to participate, this could be very useful for future buyers.
Please could owners of Pimax headsets list below:
a) Model of Headset
b) do you get a lot of barrel distortion (warping)?
c) do you get a lot of blurring? If so from what fov onwards?
d) what is your IPD (please specify if you know your actual IPD, as the Pimax headset measurements may be offset and therefore not accurate)
e) do you have inset eyes or are they more or less level with your forehead?
I remember people posting their IPD before in relation to distortion, there didn’t seem to be any correlation at all. Sweviver has the same IPD as me, he claims to see no distortion at all.
I don’t think anyone sees ‘a lot’ of barrel distortion (fish eye effect). The first versions of pitool had it more, now it’s much more of a refined effect.
Also I don’t think physical face properties influence it. My eyelashes touch the panels if I want it that close. And then I can just move it further away, up down, tilt etc. And things change slightly for sure, but it’s just impossible to get it without distortion at all.
I think it’s just our experience. First of all if you’re not used to distortion-free VR like in the Index, you might not notice it at all. Some also might not even know what they’re looking for. Then, I also believe that you can get used to it and that after a while you don’t see it anymore. But for me personally I just find it immersion breaking, it just feels like ‘something is off’. I really liked how MRTV described it, like when you put on somebody elses glasses, thing just look ‘weird’, but it’s hard to explain why exactly. That’s exactly it.
I have an Index, so I reckon I would hate that “somebody-else’s-glasses” feeling, I’m wondering if the Artisan still has that, but I’m also afraid the fov will not be a big enough gain on the Index to justify buying the Artisan.
Hi.
In Sebastian’s review of the Artisan he stated that it had less distortion for him.
Personally I don’t think it’s an upgrade from your Index. The high end 8kX maybe when it’s finished. My Ipd is 64 but on a pimax I have to set it to 60. I notice distortion at the extreme edges but it’s not a deal breaker. I prefer my index to the 5k and 8k I’ve owned. I think the mas head strap will help when it’s released.
Thank you! What I’m after is the extra FOV, I’m still going to use my Index of course. Is the warping very significant for you? And is the normal FOV a lot bigger than Index FOV?
Hi I would consider the 8k plus model as well this is available now. The Artisan has the smallest FOV of any new pimax and a lower resolution. Noticeable if I look for it but not normally. Yes it’s noticeably larger.
oh wow that came out today! Didn’t see much difference in the image quality, it seems to be diminishing returns from Index resolution upwards. I think what they really need is a display with even less space between pixels, because it’s mostly the SDE that is still the problem now.
IPD 59/60. 5k+ 202 then 203 models. Vive thick face foam. Vive DAS
Ipd offset depends on the game engine but usually -1.5. Vertical offset again engine dependent but from -7.0 to -5.5 in each eye.
I’ve never really had many problems with distortion. A little at the very periphery sometimes but I’ve gotton completely used to it very quickly. I do wear glasses, so maybe that helps? Made me wonder what all the fuss was about. I did however notice it quite significantly in Half Life Alyx the other day which makes me think the distortion profile was not set up yet and I’ve seen another report that a separate Pitool resolved the issue.
Also I’ve managed to introduce it by pushing my face far away from the headset. I think a dial that let the user pull themselves closer or further away from the panels would be really useful.
I also think the 8KX wants to be paired with at least a 2080ti. Its going to open out progressivly with every bit of horsepower you can give it. A 1080ti is minimum spec really.
I’m wondering if Pimax indtroduced better profile distortion at some point in the last year, because all the old reviews are quite critical about barrel distortion, the newer ones not so much.
A-5k+
B-if I do I can’t tell. I use my hmd a lot because I don’t play pancakes.
C-no
D-67.5
E-slightly inset vs forehead
F-thin. I bought pimax for the fov. I use it now at 144hz, so I regain fov using 6mm face foam.
G- no glasses.
a) had 202 now 203
b) no on either
c) no on either)
d) 66.7 (202 I had to set to 62.7- 203 is right on 66.7)
e) average (considered hot by women )
f) original pimax pad
g) contacts
H) I consider this one you forgot. I use a Vive Das with Studioform cross strap and a 7 ounce counter weight. It may or may not be relevant to some people seeing distortion, but highly recommended for keeping the headset properly positioned on one’s head.
Distortion seems to be a by-product of the wide fov and canted displays. like SDE, godrays, black levels and other such anomalies of the tech, how sensitive one is to any of them seems to be highly personal and distortion may well have nothing to do with any of your criteria. Even if you see distortion your brain may well be able to compensate and you could soon ignore it, but that too will be highly personal.
Best solution is to buy from somewhere you can return it, if afflicted.
The rough-average 15-ish pixels per degree of the Index is still only a fourth of the way to the minimum of 60, where we need to be (at least for the green colour component), and even the HP Reverb, and Pimax 8kX are only somewhere around 22 ppd.
What you see in those p8k+ pictures, is photos of a 4k screen, which does give you a “finer weave” SDE; But the actual picture that goes to it is only an Index-comparable 2.5k, and upscaled on-device to the higher resolution screen; That is why you see no more detail.
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