The easiest setup to use would be the quest. But i personally would not be happy with the quality of the panel (screendoor effect) anymore. If you are used to gearvr then the quest is probably even an upgrade (depends on the resolution of your mobile screen). Go to an electronics store and check out if the resolution is enough for you. You could copy the movies onto your quest (64gb version should be enough) and sideload it (like a jaibreak on iphones but much easier done) to install wireless desktop streaming to watch the movies on desktop and streaming it via wifi to the quest. Also the headstrap is flat on your back so you can even lay down and watch. The comfort is okayish because the quest is a little front-heavy, but if you lay down it rests on your face. Watching/using while recharching is also possible and the integrated hand tracking is a nice extra. Just strap it on and use your hands to control it.
A step up in quality would be the index or the 8k+/x i donāt think you would gain much in using the wide fov settings of the pimax headsets for watching videos. The index would be imho a enoughish fov to have a nice cinema feeling. Also the screendoor of the index is less than the quest. To a point where it does not bother me anymore and i do not automaticly refocus my eyes on the screendoor effect if i see a larger uniform bright area in front of me. Actually that threshold order is (for me only, from worse to best) quest, 8k, 5k+, index, 8k+, 8kx.
For just watching videos you do not need a basestation. But for using a vive wand you would need one. And i would suggest you to buy one because without your gyros would shift your view slowly over time and for watching movies thats a nogo. But that will force you to watch at the same spot, next to your pc unless you mount your basestation to a tripod and use a laptop.
All in all i really think the quest is the right hmd if the screen quality is okay for you. Another positive point is that the quest has an oled screen and that comes with better blacks and overall better contrast. Nice to have when watching movies.
3dof brings the gyro drift with it. But the worst of such kind of headsets (i backed the avegant glyph, too) is the fov. Which is just terrible compared to a quest or nice vr headset. They state a screen x wide in x m distance. Just garbage marketing to hide the fov. Nothing beats a good vr headset there.
As a former Pimax 4K (3dof) owner, that missing movement isnāt really an issue if youāre not very used to 6dof.
I actually played Elite in 3dof before I got my 5K+ and 8K, and it was perfectly fine. Adding 6dof was a hundred times better but before I knew how that was I did not miss it
I used the pimax 4k with vorpx to play borderlands, too. I enjoyed it, even so i had to recenter every couple of minutesā¦ nice to remember, but nowadays not the way to go
I hooked up the 4K to a friends laptop the other day just to see if there was some fun left. Nope. No fun left. What a horrible experience it was. Ghosting was extreme and the small fov just doesnāt make sense anymore.
Any VR headset Iāve tried isnāt good enough for watch a movie, I have Odyssey+ as well.
Yes, you see the faces of the actors well when they are very close to the camera but thats it, everything else is blurry and a lot of sde.
You need Oled, and the higher PPD posible to have a good experience, and FOV and 6dof is not important for media content, just visuals and audio
I heavily disagree. Fov i very important. The avegant glyph project an razorsharp image directly into your eyes almost without sde, but the fov of the image covers is probably around 30degrees. No cinema feeling or immersion in watching a stamp post image in front of me.
Edit: the odyssey+ was the first headset i used to watch some lengthy youtube videos with virtual desktop. Not bad at all. But of course personal preference.
Still only half of an index.
Just picture yourself sitting in a movie theater. Where do you want to sit? I prefer the middle of the room. Not too for away neither. With such a movie viewer you sit in row 25+. With the quest you decide in which row of the theater you want to sit.
I see your point, FOV is important for me as well, thats why I have 3 Pimax headsets, and the Index, and the Quest and many more.
If you ONLY want to watch movies, 3D, and more, and you like it with high definition, close to what you see IRL, none of this will be good enough, you need the higher PPD, a decent FOV, and if it is micro-OLED much better
One thing is immersion of being in a cinema, and the other is immersion watching a movie, and enjoying the movie it self.
But I agree of course, personal preference.
Right, personal preference is an important factor. I tried watching 1917 (great movie!) on my 8K, but switched over to my 4K flat screen, because the higher res made a huge difference. Other content might be better in VR (like ānatureā videos).
Iām looking forward to my 8KX, which should provide a much better VR experience.
I think the 8KX will be good for watching movies and nature videos, it will not be OLED though, not a big problem if you use an iluminated environment, and with the wide FOV it will not be a problem.
I wouldānt recommend the 8KX to someone who only wants to watch media content though but it is a good option indeed
My first priority is Elite D and other seated games like Assetto Corsa, then comes movies. I plan to buy Index controllers eventually and play Half-Life: Alyx standing in place (because I have no area for room-scale VR).
Iām not convinced the 8KX wonāt be very good for movies. I sit near the front of a theater, so Iād like a big screen (and have no room for a video projector), so the wider FOV is appealing and the higher pixel density should show a lot of detail. True, itās not OLED, but I like watching movies on my 4K LCD monitor, so I donāt think that would bother me.
The problem of LCD is not the blacks of the movie it self, because of the contrast.
I have a 4k projector, it is not OLED, obviously, and it is perfectly fine.
The problem for me is the environment. The wall behind my projector Screen is pure black when watching a movie, and it adds a lot to the immersion.
If all the environment is ugly grey, like if there were a lot of smoke in the cinema, it takes me out of any immersion possible.
Using a bright environment with an LCD VR headset is much better for me, it makes all the greyish blacks of the movie look much darker, and I donāt see all the grey fog of the environment, and obviously no glare and godrays as well
Well i made the jump to windows 10 today actually not a big hassle and it was still a free upgrade hehe
So now all my past posts regarding my win 7 limitation are now gone wooo
Now my only limitation may be my GTX 970, but for mainly watching media it doesnt seem to be a big hurdle according to some googling, i guess that depends on the resolution of the headset i end up buying
reply to McUH below because i apparently have a 13 reply limit per day lol odd.
Yeah I think id still prefer a controller of some kind, im used to gearvrās controller which is a nice pointer/wand type control.
I like regular movies, 1080p-4k, 3D movies, 360 docos etc, all kinds, so yeah still makes me wanna maybe go even higher rez and also maybe try and get OLED too if possible i do prefer the deep blacks.
And yeah the G2 looks nice, i may wait a bit longer before purchasing a see a lot of cool stuff on the horizon if im patient
Depends on application, For Gizmo or Deo players BS or controllers are not needed. But some applications need them.
What movies? If VR movies then 5k+ can be Ok. But for classic 2D movies on VR screen there simply is not enough resolution, 5k+ or Artisan not worth it. One of the 8k models might be good enough (donāt have it yet).Or since you migrated W10 then perhaps the HP Reverb [G2?] someone suggested might be good option - high res, relatively low price, tracking included.
3D movies look great in VR, although Iāve only tried Avatar. If you want to watch Blu-ray discs, youāll need to find an appropriate player or rip them to disk, using a program like Pavtube ByteCopy (for 3D) and/or MakeMKV (preferred, but no 3D).
Well I went with an Oculus Quest
1440 Ć 1600 per eye, OLED which I prefer for movie watching.
I know thereās higher end gear but through my searching i found the quest to be the best value overall bang for buck, cheap all in one solution, 2 controllers, and I may even get the link cable later and try half life Alyx in future nice open ended option
but it is a good option indeed
actually not a big hassle and it was still a free upgrade hehe