8KX’s lens is also interchangeable if you scratch one, it’s pretty easy to replace. There is no need to complicate the whole project if the purpose is to self replace a spare part; Crystal’s interchangeable lenses are used for nothing but getting different FOV and resolutions.
Needing to attach suction cups to the 8K-X lens and yanking, after unscrewing bits is not easy for consumers.
People are cooking up BS reasons to hate the he concept even as it’s already proved to be valuable
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Earlier 8kXes yes. But it was reported later models maybe using a much stronger adhesive increasing the likelihood of breaking the lense mount cavity. Iirc I remember seeing a user report cracking the holder on one of the pimax hmds using the suction cup method.
You can’t beat something designed for easy replacement. Especially when a standardize system is in place to make the process relatively easy like swapping lenses on a Professional camera.
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In the past at least with earlier pimax p2 hmds no unscrewing was required. However it did require quite a bit of force to yank the lense out.
It was reported by some users that new manufactured hmds seem to have a much stronger adhesive that may indeed cause damage with the original method prescribed.
The core benefit of a properly designed lens swap system also can ensure proper lense placement. Ie the adhesive not create potential variance in focal distance. Now a proper tutorial if using screws maybe required to ensure even torquing so to speak. However a magnet system can also create a very simple method with a seal in place to help prevent dust.
It is indeed a long proven simple concept from Professional cameras to early Oculus dk to OSVR HDK which was a 100% modular idea where you could awap out every component. Save that it was not really aimed at end users but more to be a platform base for Hardware Developers to build OpenSourced vr hmds
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I just watched the vid, haven’t read the comments here yet, will do when i’ve made this post. I’ve not much to say about his Portal opinion as that device doesn’t interest me. About his remarks on Crystal, i don’t agree with him on saying interchangeable lenses are problematic. I owned a Rift DK2 with such lenses and it was 0 problems. Yes occassionally a bit of dust/dirt could get in there but it was simple to clean with blown air, you didn’t even have to touch the lens or panel.
What he said about the controllers concerns me. I don’t want to have to use lighthouses/knuckles. Good to hear he had no focal issue. Good to hear he really liked the display. All in all the vid wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be given the title and the fact the he doesn’t like Pimax anyway.
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I’ll repeat what I commented on the SadlyItsBradley’s video on YouTube:
I put up with Pimax for exactly one reason: The wide FOV.
I seem to be considered a proponent of Pimax on their forums, but in reality if another more reputable company, especially Valve, were to produce a wide FOV headset, I would abandon Pimax and jump to that company in a heartbeat.
The fact is that no other company is even working toward building a wide FOV consumer VR headset that the public is aware of. Pimax is literally the only game in town. Every other company is focusing on making VR headsets which are cheaper, more accessible, lighter, mobile, etc… but none of them seem to have any interest whatsoever in improving the quality of immersion in the VR experience itself beyond what was available in 2019.
None of them except Pimax. If you want that, there’s only one company you can work with. That company is janky, and it makes products that suffer from jankiness. But if you can handle that, they provide the most immersive VR experience available on the consumer market today.
Pimax has (amazingly) continued to survive and grow. I have made observations that they seem to be moving in a direction of cleaning up their act and could be maturing into a better company with more polished products. Don’t be too quick to predict them based on their past history because things have been changing at Pimax. But more recent information on the state of the Crystal, etc do show that this tiger hasn’t completely changed its stripes so far.
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Just been thinking, the Crystal looks like an Aero clone to me now with the addition of local dimming and audio. Crystal was said to be better in a few ways such as wireless and not needing basestations/knuckles but it turns out these features aren’t available or are poor, i question will they ever be ready? idk.
So the Crystal as it stands is an Aero with local dimming and audio at a few $100 less. Still worthy of consideration imo if you’re looking for a high ppd hmd intended for simming. Edit: Crystal will only be good for simmers once the faceplate is ready. Crystal also edges Aero in fov.
It was really frustrating for me, especially when I heard from my colleague at the roadshow that he was into crystal at the time(2~3hours);
Anyway, I’m glad some of his fans still like crystal, you know…
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Completely agreed. This guy seem the king of world and almost nothing that he said is rasonable or logic. Always few comment without any backup info…
A Youtuber star, superficial and banal
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The differences are in addition to the audio and local dimming - you get microphones, controllers, i/o tracking, wifi6e wireless, wider fov, interchangeable lenses, 3 high power usb ports, WiGIG compatibility, configuration and setup without a pc via xr2, stand-alone, option for MR, full face tracking. Not $100 less btw, $400 less, $500 if you already own a pimax.
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yes it’s a better package than the aero, what i meant was currently there’s been no demonstration of wireless working and until it’s demonstrated i have to assume it doesn’t have it (remember the 8KX wireless), and yes it comes with controllers but feedback on them is atm not very positive. btw i did say a few $100 less, not $100, but yeah $400 or $500 less is significant. even with these caveats it’s still a better proposition on paper than the aero but without demonstrated wireless and good controllers it is less so.
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I am afraid that I do not realistically expect to be using this headset in 4 years from now, too fast development cycles at this stage.
I guess the point he is making is that at the time HTC also said that while they didn‘t mind the users exchanging lenses, it was not recommended because they claimed they out a lot of effort in calibrating each individual headset with its display and lenses. I never saw final evidence of that becoming a greater issue though, so cannot really judge on this.
Where do the five years come from? It released in late autumn of 2019, so 3 years ago. But yes, you can argue that it‘s great value for money if it will grow on you when GPUs become more potent. The flipside is though that you then have to concede that it cannot really be fed appropirately at the time you are spending your money on it and by the time the GPU power is there, you‘d have to fear that then-current products are more sophisticated b/c they match the resolution but have all the advances in VR tech which were not available yet at the time the 8KX launched. Same goes for the 12K - however, here both DFR and the huge leap the RTX 4000 generation brought about are potential game changers. And of course Pimax day was saved by the fact that nobody else tries to go ultra-wide FoV for con- and prosumers, so Pimax remains unique in that area.
The 12K may struggle though if future headsets all are much lighter & more compact due to new lens & display concepts, but time will tell.
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Who’s going to launch first Crystal or Index 2 that is the question.
i think its a good sign for pimax that the need to hurry up with the lighthouse tracking faceplate and fix the inside out tracking from the controllers and headset …
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100% crystal, no doubt about it. Which will be feature complete first is a fair question though, assuming the index 2 isn’t like 3 years off (I reckon we’ll hear about it next year).
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Just watched Bradleys latest review from his impressions at the Orlando show and saw myself in the background of a few shots, man I gotta start hitting the gym again lol.
Hmmm, his vid is a lot to unpack… I’ll just label some points and my thoughts:
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Portal Impressions: I agree with him on the portal and he makes a good point about other bigger competitors failures with similar products. I think the competition is too intense and market segment saturated between steam deck, nintendo switch, mobile gaming phones, etc, etc. I get his point about the persistence problem, but that could be passed off as being early prototype issues. I get Pimax’s interest in the space given that is where the most money is and they have the opportunity to leverage some of their other technologies…but I think they have their work cut out for them with it. If it were my baby, I would try to hold out for the next gen processors and add in phone capabilities…maybe even partner with a few small indy developers and get some exclusive games on the new market place app. …maybe Warbal lmao
https://youtu.be/Gab0Nnlv-xI -
Crystal visuals: He is spot on, it is the best VR picture quality I have ever seen.
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Modular Lens Rant: I think he’s making a mountain out of a mole hill. Unless you live in a barn, I don’t see how it could be an issue in the nano second it takes to swap lenses. He also says there was a pubic hair in the test unit lol, but ya know were talking about a prototype that has been handled by a thousand people with the lenses being taken off and put back on about a million times for demonstration. He goes on to say that the median film could get damaged from cleaning and affect eye tracking, but that seems a tad hyperbole IMHO. I mean if that did happen, then I suppose one could RMA…no different than if their fixed lens on any other competitor headset got too scratched and you had to RMA.
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Flight simmers only: I agree with him in that the headsets are big and bulky, but that is unfortunately where tech is currently limited. I think everybody would love to see a 200 FOV high resolution, high refresh rate HMD that is the size and weight of normal every day glasses, however, that is not realistic at this point in time. He makes criticism that the same shell is being used, however, I don’t think he quite understands or appreciates the complexities of bringing a technically advanced product to market within a shoe string budget. Multi-national companies frequently spend hundreds of millions of dollars rebranding the physical look of products and packaging all the time but Pimax is not working with a Facebook budget or a Coca Cola marketing army. When resources are limited and time is critical, why fix something that is not broken?
If you wanna see really bad packaging and design check out Orgamu’s TX-69000!
Also, I will add…all of the competitor HMDs which are smaller and lighter are not that great. Take the new Meta pro for example. Its resolution is dated, refresh rate is dated, FOV is lacking, cost is high and its LCD screen suffers from terrible yellowy IPS glow and really bad Fald Bloom.
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Why not VR Lighthouses: I agree with Bradley on this point. I think Pimax should have saved resources and gone with lighthouse tracking first. Then later on, offer an inside out tracking option, BUT ONLY if they could make the tech as good as metas new pro controllers. One of the reasons why I will not even bother to try the Pico is because their tracking is not as good as metas and they do not offer any alternatives.
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It was nice to meet Bradley and he was a good sport about posing with my dog
Yoleebee the chihuahua walks into the Multiverse with Andy! - YouTube
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Crystal BLOWS the aero away man!
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Yea exactly that…I owned a Varjo VR3, and a quest pro…but I still tested them at the event right before the crystal to give me a better immediate perspective.
The aero was actually much better than how I remember the VR3, because I got the VR3 early on before they got a lot of the teething issues sorted. Even still, crystal is next gen vs the aero.
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Uhh no…Facebook…arguably the leader in VR right now by sheer market penetration failed HORRIBLY with metaverse and the pro unit. Literally had billions and billions of dollars at their disposal and dropped the ball nearly as bad as FTX!
I watched the pimax guys working their assess off at that orlando show and my impression is they are working to create something special. They literally want the same thing we do, a premium low compromise headset that checks as many boxes as possible.
I am far from a Pimax apologist, and damn did I troll the hell out of them on this forum back when the Varjo Vr3 released…but have since changed my stance as I see them doing the absolute best they can given the circumstances they have to work with in this post covid nonsense clown world.
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At IBM if you say something logical you have to buy the coffee 
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