Inner Edge Lens Banding/Distortions

Pimax 8K Series
21

Most people complain only about distortion/blurriness in the edges.

I remember MRTV saying that during the m1/m2 testing period, the early version had this issue of distortion in the center and he was feeling that the Pimax was a failure because of it. (He even described it like NoonstaysNoob described it here as the ‘whole world moving around’ with his head) But then in the later version this was completely fixed for him and is why he was able to recommend the Pimax.

So it looks like the same issue is still manifesting itself for some people?

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22

I have a 2080 and sold my 8K because of this geometry distortion.
Strangely, nobody in Korea except me has raised this issue.

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23

Sorry to hear this - what is your IPD ?

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24

I disagree with the “it’s there in all HMD but some people just don’t notice it”.

Could it be a firmware update problem?

Have the lenses changed since M2?
If so we would need to see pics from people experiencing distortion.

25

My IPD is 71 and I don’t see this issue. The only thing I see is the minimal blurring, distortions at the edges. The rest of the screen is clear and distortion free for me. I also have to say that I notice the edge distortion much less now than I did when I first put the headset on.

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26

My IPD ist between 65 and 67 (self measured) but I’m gonna remeasure today …
I had really not to much time with it yet, maybe 3 or 4h …
But even if you don’t have the distortions you have the unsharpness ?

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27

If I look towards the edges with my eyes only, then the image gets less sharp as I get closer towards the edge but it remains sharp for a fairly large area. In other words I can look much further out with just my eyes and still see a sharp image than I could with either my Odyssey or Vive. Of course after having VR for a few years now and also wearing progressive lens eye glasses, I am accustomed to moving my head to look at things so I don’t look around with just my eyes anyway. Thankfully I don’t have to wear my glasses in VR though.

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28

My ipd is 70.5. There doesn’t seem to be a relationship there.

Yeah I’m really amazed some people (actually it seems the majority) doesn’t notice it at all. I’ve said many times that for me this is THE biggest downside of the 5k+. I’m actually using my odyssey+ now more than the 5k+, mostly because of this issue. I like both headsets but I think the o+ is my favorite now (also because all games just work, I don’t need to go into pitools first to tweak things or be disappointed that some games just don’t work at all with the 5k+. I’ve really come to see that as a big disadvantage too).

I have SOME hope pimax will fix this distortion issue at some point when they got eye trackers available but this might take a long time.

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29

Maybe it just doesn’t bother the other people that much, or they get used to it.
Edit. I wish I could join this conversation more, but I’m not going to have any first hand pimax experience before, lets say, in march maybe. :dizzy_face:

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30

My ipd is 68 and i notice a blurred image on both inner lower corners of the lense which is pretty uncomfortable its not warped just like a milky blurr in the vision.had mine about 5 days and still notice it

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31

My IPD is 69.5.

Upgraded to latest firmware *.176 yesterday on both 8K and 5K+ and maybe its placebo effect only but I find the distortion to be even less apparent in the edges now than before with *.146 firmware.
But yes there is some apparent blur in the edges while using Large FOV, slightly less when using Normal FOV though.

The last 5 maybe 10 degrees on each side feels a bit distorted and blurred but that has always been the case (as i mentioned it in full review) but probably i have just been used to it and it really doesn’t distract me. While in game I hardly notice it at all.

What I dont see is any distortion in the center 120-130 degrees. The binocular overlap outer edges gives a slight blurrier overlap as mentioned before, but i wouldn’t call it distortion. I think this has been improved since early days of PiTool and firmware.

I must add though, that if I use an IPD of 67 or lower I get a little bit strange and dostorted image even in the center or within the center 100 degrees. A little crossed eye effect as well. This is why I always point out to check your correct IPD and not just guess.

Also move around the headset to really find the sweetspot for wearing. While the visual sweetspot area (sharp area) ia huge on Pimax, its still easy to wear the headset wrong (too low or too high up) which dramatically changes the visual result. The better audio strap will hopefully make it easier to wear the Pimax in the end.

During m1 beta the center distortion was a big problem for all of us testers, especially in a few early iterations of PiTool. We could see blurry spots, geometrical distirtion, sometimes wrong scale (things too big or small) and so on. But luckily, ever since before the Berlin meetup, all those issues were fixed.

Today if i compare my Odyssey to the 5K or 8K, I find the edge blur on my Odyssey worse than on Pimax. On top of that my Odyssey always gave me a slight pupil swim effect which I never really got used to…

I find all these different opinions about Pimax distortion so difficult to understand, but I totally get it, we are all different. Some people see slight distortion, some doesn’t see it at all (!!), while some can’t handle it and says its extreme.

I guess we will need eye tracking to make it perfect for everyone…

10 Likes
32

Please find a nearest optometrist and have them measure your IPD. Takes 5 minutes, they will probably do it for free and you will know for sure what IPD value you have in fraction of a mm. It’s a crucial thing for VR image to be displayed with correct scaling and minimal distortions. You just need to do it once and you are settled for the rest of your life, your IPD is not likely to change anytime soon.

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33

Already did that, professionally measured 70.5. The IPD is not the issue, at least not in my case. I even tried pretty much all other IPD there is on the pimax.

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34

I don’t even mind the blur, I only see that at the very outer edges and doesn’t really disturb me. My biggest problem is the incorrect geometry. When you’re in the SteamVR room and look at the panel with the apps and then at the window behind it, move your head left to right at various speeds and keep looking at the same spot in the window. The window changes, it gets ‘wobbly’, as if it were made out of rubber, it bends. I find that effect highly distracting and immersion breaking.

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35

Okey guys small update !!
I played around 2h of skyrim now and you really start to get used to it. I also switchef to the normal FOV and it’s better :slight_smile:

So I really have to take back that I find the vive better. The Pimax has a much higher resolution with some drawbacks that you get used too… I still see it but it gets better ! :slight_smile:

I will try to update my Firmware to the .176 version as I’m currently at .168 :slight_smile:

@Sweviver yeah I think that you are just super used to it by now :slight_smile: I mean if you can see it but it doesn’t bother you then that’s really a big step up from the Vive just as you always said !

I just jope that the eventuell eye tracking will improve it even more :slight_smile:

@sje yeah thats exactly the effect that I’m talking about … I think in games you can quite easy ignore it most of the time. But if take just a quick look to some other spot it’s sometimes kind of obvious…

8 Likes
36

In action packed games it’s really easy to ‘forget’ about it, you’re so busy that you don’t even have time to notice. So in some shooters, I really don’t even see it. But for example in Skyrim when you walk and enjoy the nice scenery, I find it really disturbing.

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37

If you can try a blind test on a friend & see if they notice what your describing.

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38

Yeah it’s definitely much better on “normal”, I only tried “wide” the very first day and quickly saw that that’s not the mode I will use. And I guess one could get used to the effect. Problem is that I keep switching to my odyssey+ and when I go back to the 5k+ the effect is very much in my face again :slight_smile:

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39

Try War Robots VR. Or if you have Gunjack.

I think InMindVR is free & is easy on resources. Distance also runs decent on gpu resources with tweaks.

40

Edges will be less sharp as there is no overlap.