[Replied]Flicking white dots 5K

Hi there

I just got my 5k headset and have noticed an issue. Just wondering if anyone else is having it. I am seeing white dots flickering on the pixels and occasionally a flash of something white. It’s not the same pixels - as I rotate I see different ones. I can best describe it as “stars” twinkling, and is more visible against a black backdrop. Once in a game I dont really notice it. I have the latest pitool and geforce drivers (1080). I dont have any steam base stations (coming from an oculus). Any ideas?

Thanks all

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That sounds like a hardware issue to me. No one else has reported it.

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Have you checked that the plug is seated all the way into the HMD? (EDIT; …and made sure there is no crisp sparkly recently fallen snow inside… :wink:

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It sort of seems like a software thing. Its not that specific pixels are dead - its more subtle than that. There seems to be 2 issues. The first is the twinkling white pixels. Its really subtle, but you can definitely see it in dark scenes. Not noticable at all in bright ones. If I stare at the same place and dont move the white pixels change places (i.e its not like a dead pixel thats static - they seem to move around). The second issue is a random flicking white/black screen. The flicking white / black screen happens infrequently and seems to happen randomly. I’ve tested it in many apps now and it happens in all of them - including steam. When testing it with Skyrim you can see weird lighting artifacts as you look around. It sort of feels like a software issue - though i wouldn’t rule out hardware.

@jojon All plugs are in tight :slight_smile:

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@jojon Maybe its all this xmas wine catching up with me :thinking: ‘“Twinkles” he says - pah - drunk I say :star_struck:

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I should say it all works perfectly in Oculus. So not sure if that rules out a graphics driver issue

The way you described it just now, it really sounds like a hardware problem. :frowning:

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Logged a support ticket. Guess I’ll have to see what they say. :frowning:

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Have you tried one eye at a time to see if present in both screens?

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@Heliosurge Looked with each eye and can confirm it happens on both panels. I actually filmed it and sent it over to support. I guess I’ll have to wait and see

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I thought of another possibility: Are you overclocking your video card? I’ve seen similar sorts of artifacts when the video ram couldn’t quite keep up with the clock rate. If you aren’t, it could still be the video card; you might want to try under-clocking it a little bit and see if the problem goes away.

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@ABlueEyedMonkey Can you please show me some pictures or video,for this problem?

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Also thinking about a ram issue of the gpu. Try downlclocking/changing gpu if one by hand.

Could be also a damaged cable. I remember the fullHD screen upgrade for the dk1, i bought three of these for my four dk1s (yes, i am crazy for Vr :joy:) at that time and had a problem of red dots (noise) appearing on the screens.
Was visiting prague (not so fr from vienna) then to discuss and finally found a solution with the guys offering this upgrade. Some capacitors in the mipi lines (as far as i remember) did the trick to stabelize the signal in the cabling. These guys later on showed one of the first 2 display headsets and later on i think merged with the xtal guys…

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I agree the “noise” red or white, is caused by a bad cable/connection/interference.
Had tiny red dots on 4k/60hz picture with a random 5m cable. This didn’t happen on lower resolution or a good quality cable.

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Thanks for the tips. I’m not overclocking my card and it actually has a very smooth performance + high fps. Regarding the cables, is it actually possible to change them, as they seem connected pretty tightly? I dont actually have anything to replace them with, so dont think I can test the theory. I only have a spare laptop and that flat out doesnt work at all as the pitool wont even detect the pimax on the laptop, so cant test it against that. I guess i’m stuck unless I can somehow get another super beefy pc to test against :frowning:

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Would the cable also cause the screen to black/white out occassionally? The whole screen doesnt go black however - just parts of it. Lets say 60% of the screen. Sometimes straight ahead - sometimes to the sides.

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Pictures attached. I’ve highlighted the dots. As you can see its pretty subtle, but noticeable against black areas. Also got a video which shows it a bit better - as well as the screen just flicking off/on

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Some backers had the problem of this connector (at the headset) to be loose or not fully plugged in.
They also said that it sits quite firm. So, it is up to you to pull it out and push it in again to probably fix it. You will never know if it fixes your problem if you don’t try :joy:.

Thank you for the pictures. Still could be the cable/connector or the panel is not fully in contact with the mainboard.

If replugging the cable does not fix it, i would issue a support ticket.

You said before, it still works with oculus games???

Edit: just saw now that you already checked the connector. Then it could be the ac/dc powerbrick of the headset. Some had problems with it not delivering enough power. This could trigger the backlight issue. Try to set brightness lowest in pitools and/or try a spare ac/dc if you have one. Or even an usb 3.1 connection. This could deliver also more juice to the hmd.

Edit2: did you twist the cable on purpose to see what happens?

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Hi @mr.uu

So I spent most of last night trying to debug it. I’ll just clarify a few things and a few of the steps I did.

  1. I am an Oculus user and do not have a Vive. When playing my on Oculus there are no issues at all. The same is true when I just play regular games with my monitor. The only reason I mention this, is to rule out a problem with the graphics card.
  2. I tried pushing in all the cables and connections and they seemed to be connected very well. Nothing seemed to be loose.
  3. I updated all drivers for my graphics and have the latest pitool and firmware updates
  4. Restarted several times (changed brightness / FOV / any other relevant settings)
  5. Tried many different games. The issues happen on all of them, including the steamVr home
  6. The issue does not seem to be related to movement. If I leave the HMD lying on the desk and peer into the panels I can still see the white dots flicking as well as the occasional screen flashing black/white.
  7. When the screen flashes black or white its usually for a split second and affects about 60% of the screen - but in different locations each time. Sometimes directly ahead / sometimes on the sides
  8. When the screen flashes “white”, it almost looks like a broken screen or white noise. But its very hard to tell because it happens so quickly and only on every 30(ish) second. Also the screen flashes black more than it does white.
  9. I tried connecting the pimax to my laptop (to try to debug), but its not a gaming laptop and the pitool wont even allow the hmd to start (surface book 2 with gtx1060). I think this is just because the laptop does not have the right connectors to run something like the pimax. Ideally I need a gaming laptop to test but I dont have one.
  10. I am not overclocking my graphics card
  11. The graphics runs very smoothly when viewed through pimax - no issues other than whats been described

Hope that clarifies a few things

I have logged a support ticket already + provided a video & screenshots. I guess I’ll have to see what they say. Thanks for the tips though.

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Looks like similar issues to my vive when the cable has been twisted once to often
I’ve been through 2 cables with that headset ( overhead cabling) , symptoms were always as you have described above

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