I’ll try out assetto corsa later today.
First video is out now!
Sorry for the low video quality. I recorded it in an HD webcam but using obs software and then had to upscale it to match 720p. Next time I’ll use a better software.
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Hmm, being a tiresome old jerk, I’d just like to curtail an apparent semantic trend, that seems to have been growing the last week or so, lest readers pick it up verbatim, without registering the unspoken subtext, and we find ourselves with yet another wide-spread misunderstanding of terms.
I know one should not underestimate the viewer, nor need to spell out every tiny detail every damn time, but it just happens so often, and we end up with different people using the same term to mean rather different things, and talking right past one another (e.g: “sweet spot”). :7
So, culling is something normal and highly desireable, that graphics engines do to save precious hardware cycles: You cull things that fall outside your visibility frustum, single-sided triangles that face away from the camera, objects that are occluded by other objects, etc, which is to say: You sort them out, omitting them from evaluation/drawing, because spending work on them would serve no purpose for the rendered output picture.
The problem we’re seeing with canted screen HMD:s, arises from us beginning to cull excessively, using a culling frustum that is narrower than that of the camera. This is a problem with the applications/engines that exhibit it; Many of them seem to ignore the rotation part of the matrices they get from the VR runtime, substituting a presumed zero.
That rant out of the way: Thanks for sharing, dmel! 
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Hey Dmel, nice review. I would reccommend checking out the unreal Demo that was optimized for StarVR One. Might need to query @VR-TECH or @Djonko to see where to get it. And see if you can get the regular version to compare with the Index/pimax as it will be a better comparison of how well it can compare.
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Yes I did try the unreal Showdown demo, it looked much better but was still a bit blurry from a far distance. I’ll do a comparison with the Index.
I think overall, I’m looking forward to the 8K-X which even though it won’t have as wide FOV, it’ll have a good balance between resolution & FOV.
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@NextGenVR Just a very rough estimate, how would you compare the FOV of this to another Pimax headset? In percentage, as well as qualitatively how much it changes the immersive feel.
Like, do other headsets feel a bit like blinders in comparison, does Alyx/PavlovVR feel much more immersive, or is it just a little bit of a difference?
And is there a huge difference in what the vertical FOV feels like, or just the horizontal FOV, or neither?
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I’ve never owned a Pimax headset yet. I think @vrftw or @crispybuttphd might be able to answer your question.
I would say the vertical FOV from the top is great, as for the bottom, I can see an upside down V shaped black border where the nose gap is. Vertical FOV similar to the Index. Horizontal FOV is a massive improvement, but it’s not completely borderless, I can still see slight borders in the peripheral.
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I value your opinion, and look forward to you having an 8kX to be able to share your impressions!
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Just a very rough estimate, how would you compare the FOV of this to another Pimax headset? In percentage, as well as qualitatively how much it changes the immersive feel.
Maybe like 15% bigger?
When you look forward you won’t see the black bars on the side. You see them when you moves your eyes to look for them. For the vertical FOV, if you position the hmd perfectly, you won’t see the black bar at the top even when you move your eyes. The sweet spot is the entire screen(for me) which is really nice.
Like, do other headsets feel a bit like blinders in comparison, does Alyx/PavlovVR feel much more immersive, or is it just a little bit of a difference?
Pimax on large do not feel like blinders, it’s close. The better resolution makes up for it. Just wish the sweet spot was bigger.
The immersion is about the same honestly, both have their pros and their cons. The main con of the StarVR one right now is the Mura correction that isn’t working(for me atleast) lol. The resolution is lower than Pimax but way better than I expected. Also currently no PP on 210 fov.
btw I have the 8k+, haven’t tested other Pimax hmds.
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Checkout the results from @Risa2000 hmdq tool. He might have added results to his database.
On horizontal:
- Pimax Large 160 wide
- StarVR One 172 Wide
Vertical values don’t recall results.
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Great review and honest too.
I think your honesty will get you subscribers as other, perhaps confused reviewers, have promoted StarVR headset as being the absolute best Ultra Wide headset available and thus better than Pimax 8K-X and yet, here you are, with a reality check that a $3,200 StarVR is inferior clarity to a $1,000 (Full kit) Valve Index.
So basically we now know what the authentic answer will be when comparing the 4K per eye $1876 (Full kit) production model Pimax 8K-X and StarVR also.
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@isamu Great news! I tried the StarVR One with Assetto Corsa and it works perfectly. I have the full 210 degree field of view free of distortion or culling. Sitting in my racing chair with the headset on felt so much more immersive! The resolution is a bit blurry but honestly it’s comparable to how the game looks on my Index. While I can’t read some of the numbers on the dials, I am able to read certain things in the car with no problem and racing is enjoyable 
I started up Assetto Corsa, made sure OpenVR early support was enabled, and set the FOV from 57 to 120 (the highest) before playing.
As for Automobilista 2 and Project Cars 2, those games doesn’t work unfortunately. It shows two different images in each eye. I will keep testing more racing/flight sims.
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You will like what you can read in the 8kX. All the dials in Assetto Corsa are very easy to read. Sometimes, I get a bit annoyed to think how much easier it is to read car instruments vs aircraft.
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I’m pretty sure it’s what you personally value. It’s why you buy into or trust reviewers with the same taste/priorities as you. If you’re seeking no SDE you don’t go for a reviewer with terrible eyesight.
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Not yet, but I will soon 
.
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So I decided to play Pistol Whip but this time actually allow myself to play the game without being in constant judging mode and wow, I got very immersed and it was super fun. Then I tried Synth Riders which is a VR rythm dance game and wow that was the most immersive experience I’ve had so far. It felt like I was actually there and I could not see black borders anywhere because I was so immersed.
Contractors VR works but is constantly reprojecting to 37Hz at 75Hz so it’s not the best experience.
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This looks interesting. I’ll probably give it a try once I have some VR controllers. (Right now I only play seated games with HOTAS, steering wheel, etc.)
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This headset looks so good in Superhot VR. Clear wide field of view.
In Beatsaber I was able to get it working well by doing the following:
- Settings -> Graphics -> MSAA to 2x, under Advanced Graphics I turned off Screen Distortion effect, post bloom process and Mirror quality. Now beatsaber is playable albeit not with the best looking graphics. Where the headset shines is in 360 degree mode levels.
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You managed to get it working in 210fov?
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Yes, all the games I mentioned in this thread work with 210 fov. Which game are you referring to specifically?
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