This is a Battle of lenses Reverb vs Rift S vs Pimax 4K vs Pimax 5K+ / 8K
Pictures through lenses are unreliable. That’s why I’ll explain in my own words the differences I’ve seen with my eyes.
HP Reverb with tree lenses. From left to right: Reverb, Pimax 4K and Rift S.
A closer image. Look at the fresnel rings of the Reverb (left) and Rift S (right). Pimax 4K lenses are aspherical (not fresnel) and do not have rings. Not to be confused with the weave of the tablecloth. Look at the middle rings of the Reverb lenses.
Interior gap between lenses and screens.
Use of screen and distortion pattern in Reverb. Resolution 2160x2160 per eye.
Oculus Rift S disassembled.
HP Reverb and Rift S without lenses.
A closer image.
___________________ Round 1: Rift S vs Reverb lenses___________________
HP Reverb with Rift S lens installed on the left and original Reverb lens installed on the right.
A closer image. Could you see the fresnel rings? They’re very different, especially in the center.
Right image/eye from Reverb lens (installed on Reberb). Pictures through lenses are unreliable.
Left image/eye from Rift S lens (installed on Reberb). Pictures through lenses are unreliable. The only important thing here is the glare (God Rays) on left bottom.
Conclusions:
- The Rift S lens have about 10% lens of magnification than Reverb lens and 10% more focal distance. To see a clear image with Rift S lens on Reverb headset you need to increase the distance to the screen. Fortunately the lens holder have this 10% height and the Rift S lens rests on the holder (instead of rest internally). The Rift S black adhesive allows it to stay glued.
- The Rift S have about 10% more FOV. You can profit all Reverb screen without touching your eyes on the lenses. This is more confortable because you can separate the headset from your face without losing FOV and taking advantage of the maximum FOV without seeing the peripheral limits of the screens.
- The Rift S lens have about 50% more of central super-sharpness and about 50% more of sweet spot than Reverb lens.
- The Rift S lens have a lot of peripheral glare (God Rays) and Reverb lens have practically zero glare.
Unfortunately you can’t use the Rift S lens installed on HP Reverb because the distortion image. The only solution is using a modified distortion pattern and right zoom for scene rotation but only the manufacturer (HP or Microsoft) can do this, for necessary software/firmware modifications.
___________________ Round 2: Pimax 4K vs Reverb lenses___________________
HP Reverb with Pimax 4K aspherical lens installed on the left and original Reverb lens installed on the right.
A closer image about holder and height. The focal distance is much larger.
Right image/eye from Reverb lens (installed on Reberb). Pictures through lenses are unreliable.
Left image/eye from Pimax 4K lens (installed on Reberb). Pictures through lenses are unreliable.
Conclusions:
- The Pimax 4K lens have about 30% lens of magnification than Reverb lens and 30% more focal distance. To see a clear image with Pimax 4K lens on Reverb headset you need to increase a lot the distance to the screen. I used a lens holder that I made to test Pimax 5K+ and 8K.
- The Pimax 4K have about 30% more FOV. You can see the black box around the screen.
- The Pimax 4K lens have about 50% more of central super-sharpness and about 50% more of sweet spot than Reverb lens.
- The Pimax 4K lens have a lot of crystal image with practically zero glare.
Unfortunately you can’t use the Pimax 4K lens installed on HP Reverb because the distortion image. The only solution is using a modified distortion pattern and right zoom for scene rotation but only the manufacturer (HP or Microsoft) can do this, for necessary software/firmware modifications.
