Should Pimax have concentrated on releasing the 5k first then move on to the 8k?

General discussion
1

I think this would have been a better decision.

The 5k can easily achieve 90hz+, can probably run on DP1.2, and the 1080ti would have been overkill. Furthermore, they would have made the Jan 2018 delivery date and made backers happy.

This first release would be V1, with further versions enhancing and refining the headset. Backers would probably be able to get the next 5k version with a heavy discount with trade in. Most of the components of the trade in would be reused.

While they worked on further 5k releases, they could probably have worked and tweaked the 8k at the same time. The 8k would also benefit from further 5k releases because the problems facing the 5k would be relevant to the 8k as well.

Releasing the 5k first would still have been significant in the VR world. Even Vive’s Pro couldn’t touch it, and Pimax would grab a huge market share in VR.

So yeah, I think the Pimax should have released the 5k first, then work on releasing 8k at a later date.

What do you think? We’d like to know.

2 Likes
2

As this post is predominantly about the 5k and not 8k, I will move it to a more appropriate category

Eno

2 Likes
3

I’m more inclined to say they should have ditched the 8k, and made the 8kX their base line product, even if that move would have made a 10x0 series GPU minimum spec.

4

That makes no sense. The 8kx would probably require a gtx1480ti+

1 Like
5

Depends on what you are doing.

If you want to render for the full native resolution of the device, then yes: 4k is 2.25 times more pixels to render, than the 2.5k of the “8k” and “5k” models.

You don’t have to do that, though. If you rendered the exact same resolution to the 8kX, as you’d do to its little siblings, the only extra overhead would be 2.25 times the work at the 2D lens distortion part of the compositor stage.

So pretty much the same amount of work, and you gain the benefit of lens distortion (including chromatic abberation compensation) using the full resolution available.

If you are supersampling anyway, which you will want to do, if you do it today with a Rift CV1, because similar resolution is to be expected (fullRGB-vs-Pentile notwithstanding), you’ll get to use those rendered pixels on physical one, instead of downsampled and then upsampled again, which should result in a significantly clearer, and more geometrically accurate picture – even if you don’t supersample, as a matter of fact, because every time you rescale the picture, it is softened somewhat.

Every 10x0 series card, even the 1060, has the throughput to drive two 4k screens at 90Hz, with some to spare for a modest main monitor.

…so I don’t buy the gazillion80ti argument. :7

6

The 5k and 8k are the same thing aside from the LCD screens used. In an alternate reality I think perhaps they could have been served to just make the 5k now (90hz no problem) and have the 8k next year as their follow up model. I am quite happy in this reality however :slight_smile:

1 Like