Pimax EU Roadshow-Stop 5: VR Days

Hi There!!
Meet us (and Crystal & Portal) at the Immersive Tech Week 2022 @VRDays in Rotterdam.
Find us at the Unbound Booth, this Wednesday to Friday. Skip the queue & book an appointment to try out the products here:
Meet us at the Pimax RoadShow

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I’l be there all 3 days! I think there have been a lot of very in-depth impressions already but if anyone has any questions or specific things they want checked then please let me know and I’ll do my best. Can’t wait!

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check the steamVR render resolution how big it is.

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I’ll try and see if I can.

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Got trying the portal with aspheric lenses just there, apparently I was the first. I must say, it actually blew me away. I think this has so much potential. The fov was significantly taller than Quest 2 and about similar or a bit more width. The clarity was a decent step up from the 8K X.

Tried the crystal also. Will share more thoughts later as it was just a quick demo while they were setting up for tomorrow. Just gonna post some pictures for now, feel free to any questions and I’ll try to find answers over the next few days. Still running about as just arrived here so can’t really write up much properly just yet.

Also @Atmos , you’ll be happy to know that the LED rings do light up and no, the crystal doesn’t have a sticker on the front ha. I was actually worried for a bit that I would need to eat one of the display units but thankfully that’s not the case haha.





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Just realized I only took photos of the portal ha. Whoops.

I must say though, I am massively on the hype train for the portal. It is really so much better than I expected, and I didn’t have particularly low expectations going in. I’m genuinely hyper for it. The weight seems similar or slightly less than the quest 2, so worries about comfort being crazy can be laid to rest (it won’t be amazing but very similar to Quest 2 imo which can be decent with a counterweight.

The clarity is looking great. I am really hoping that it’s good enough to read text comfortably as I am intending on developing a productivity app over the next year and clarity is my main concern right now (with comfort a very close second tbf but I can wear a well modded Quest 2 for hours without issue.

I’ll post more thoughts later but seriously, portal is looking great to me. I think they might onto something big. Even just look at that Logitech cloud device that Linus Tech Tips reviewed yesterday, the portal will blow it away and for cheaper. I could see the base android device being very popular and a massive gateway (or should I say portal? Lol) into VR for many.

Thanks to @SweViver, Josh and the other Pimax staff for letting me get to see the units in advance of the actual event and for letting me hang around trying the units out for ages.

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Thanks for posting your quick thoughts. Those of us who can’t go are eagerly anticipating impressions! :slight_smile:

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wait portal has pancake lenses?

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In terms of the crystal, I just got briefly trying it as I didn’t want to get in the way too much while Pimax were setting up the stall. I tried MSFS on a 4090, it was running at about 45 fps (which is expected). Mainly just to see the clarity which was very impressive. The left lens fogged up on me a bit but the area was very hot so it’s understandable imo (also only one lens so maybe that prototype lens didn’t have any coating?). The colours were great, I didn’t get trying the A/B comparison of local dimming on and off, will do that tomorrow. The clarity, sweet spot, colours were all very very good. By far the best I’ve ever seen (8K X/G2 being my personal pinnacle so far, I will get trying the Aero tomorrow to compare).

Comfort was a step up for sure. The face gasket seems to be back to the usual 5k+ / vive etc style (not the comfort kit style). Personally, I prefer that but it’s extremely subjective and personal. I don’t like the MAS / Vive pro headstrap style myself, I find it doesn’t suit my head shape, but in the brief bit I tried it I definitely found it better than the 8K X etc (which I switched to a DAS). I personally would probably still want to attempt a DAS mod but that’s just due to my own personal preference, I still hold out hope that working the DAS into it will be possible but even if not, it’s not a deal breaker (while it possibly would have been on 8K X, at least without a counterweight).

Wigig port on top is micro HDMI like the portal. The new cable will be shallower, you can see it sticking out right now with the 8k x cable. Seems like they are currently deciding whether to go with an extender or not (for those that want to switch from wired to standalone quickly without removing the face gasket I think). Personally I am fine with it being plugged in directly and an extender being something extra in the box or even an additional accessory.

IPD can be adjusted from Pimax client and the motors kick in. I couldn’t notice any fan noise or such and the environment wasn’t particularly loud where I was.

Can’t think of anything else crystal related right now. Will post again if I do but will also know more as I try the headset more.

Portal controllers felt great btw, the buttons and haptics seen high quality. They were a bit on the small side but my hands also aren’t the smallest, I didn’t find them uncomfortable though. They charge by pogo pin connections to the portal main unit, also the battery power strap uses these same pins which I thought was pretty clever and seamless (no wire hanging out like quest elite battery strap).

Feel free to ask questions.

Oh also I tried the fresnel and aspheric portal headset side by side (fresnel version wasn’t the horizon version, didn’t have the large FOV, it was just a prototype). It was great to see the difference between fresnel and aspheric on the same panel, and I must say the difference is huge. Fresnel just looks so dated now although I would still likely want the horizon wide FOV headset for certain experiences.

The controllers were there and charging but I didn’t get to try them as it wasn’t actually the official event time etc. Hopefully will try them tomorrow. They feel decent enough. I guess inbetween the feel of Quest 2 controllers and reverb g2 controllers in terms of build quality. They do indeed have hall effect sensors which seriously Pimax deserve credit for. I am convinced that other companies don’t use them just so they can keep selling more controllers as they break, the material cost for hall effect can’t be that significant. Joshua mentioned that PS vita uses hall effect thumbsticks which just backs up my suspicions as they couldn’t have whole units fail but replacable controllers are just fine ha.

Anyway, I know it’s a small thing but I think it reflects on why so many people likes Pimax because they are clearly making hardware they want to use themselves.

Still need to try the devices more to get a better idea, I also want to try the portal in non-VR mode. So far I am happy and glad I reserved early, I just now feel bad for my 3080!

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I tried the aspheric lenses. I think the ‘cinema’ lenses are pancake but no one has tried them yet.

From memory I think it’s

View: Aspheric lenses, 24 PPD and the FOV I saw today.
Cinema: Pancake lenses, 40 something PPD and like 60 FOV for watching movies

(Above are same headstrap with swappable lenses)

Horizon (separate headstrap, non swappable): Fresnel lenses, 18 PPD and 140 fov.

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Aha - so that first report wasn’t mistaken after all, then; There are units configured with frenel lenses (EDIT: …as well as others, with conventional), and that person happened to get (only) one of those to test…

No, they were incorrect (even the pictures they shared were clearly not fresnel). I was talking about the Portal, not crystal.

Edit: Just to clarify - Portal up until today has been shown with Fresnel lenses. Crystal has never been shown with fresnel and (according to Pimax) has never even had a prototype with fresnel.

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Can you look what the resolution is in steam vr 100% with the pimax crystal please.

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Will do, I didn’t get a chance to try today. The issue is I didn’t have controllers so couldn’t bring up the steam VR overlay, I’ll directly ask tomorrow to see. That said, I was shown MSFS so maybe it was direct openXR and bypassed steam vr? I didn’t see steam running on the PC but didn’t look too hard.

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:rofl: Finally, those absolute life-changing specs have been clarified. Thanks a lot for this!

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I’ll sleep better tonight, thank the lord. lol.

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You’re welcome, my child. Walk in the light.

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So the crystal is simply on par with the Aero which has been available for more than a year now? Same clarity but larger form factor. Problem is by the time crystal is finished there will likely be a Aero v2 and a new Reverb G3 for only $300. Can almost guarantee Varjo have something in the works

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nope wmr is death … anyway

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