Introduction
Test configuration :
CPU: I7-6700k
MB: Asus Z170 Deluxe
Ram: 32gb
GPU: Asus Gtx 980 Strix
Nvidia driver 419.35
Pitool 1.0.1.111 Beta
Biometrics :
Height: 1.70m
Head size: 61cm
IPD: 72mm
short-sight: left -2.75 / right -2.00
Installation and first running :
After unboxing my brand new headset (the box was torn but it doesn’t really matter) I was looking for any external issues like cracking: none of them. Pitool has been installed flawlessly.
I soon noticed I couldn’t use my glasses. I tried to adjust my IPD by changing the default image, but as expected it’s a bit hard to differentiate between several levels of blur. 68-69, with or without glasses, is a good value for me.
I also had some difficulties to maintain the sweetspot because of the 5k weight (I’ll come back on that point later).
Good to know, I’m not bother by distortion, maybe because of my IPD.
Fortunately my 5k has no dead pixel, no black dot, no cable issue. I noticed some dust between lenses and screen, it doesn’t bother me while using it for now but it’s unacceptable for a device that costs so much.
As soon as I was sure my headset has no major problem, I installed the Vive DAS on it. My big head (I wear XL motorcycle helmets ^^) is a benefit for once because I hadn’t to replace the DAS foam.
I was suggested to adjust Pitool with SS 2 and Steamvr 20% to get a decent fps with my GPU and normal FOV thanks to Smart Smoothing.
The FOV
As an Oculus DK2 and CV1 user (and Vive too), I was waiting for a large FOV since a long time. Not only horizontal FOV but vertical too. That’s the main reason I purchased a Pimax. I’ve always been frustrated by this impression of looking through a ski mask on gen 1 headsets.
About resolution and image quality
As said before, first impression wasn’t very good. The lack of glasses place makes the experience blurry. Once fixed I found the resolution amazing, great colors except of course black (not as deep as OLED screens). SDE is difficult to discern except while watching videos but it’s way better than a Rift.
For now I’m limited by my GPU, despite that I don’t regret my purchase.
Using glasses
The lenses are so close of my eyes that eyelashes touch them. I had to find a way to fix this.
At first I used the Vive narrow face but it wasn’t deep enough, glasses touched the lenses. Fortunately I own a 3d printer and found an interface face (link below). Using it and the original Pimax foam lets me the good place for my glasses (around 1.5cm between glasses and lenses) and no risk to scratch. I also tried with interface + vive face but that was really too much.
Tip: First of all, remove your glasses, insert them in the pimax (be carefull to not touch lenses or they may scratch), and place the whole thing on your face. If you don’t do that, your eyes may touch your glasses leaving stains.
For information, here are my glasses measurement.
Pimax weight and sweet spot.
Pimax sweet spot is thinner than the Rift one, and 5k+ is a bit heavier than Vive or Rift. Even with DAS top strap adjusted I got my headset going down and loose the clear zone.
So I had to add some weight on the back. The 5k+ is around 500 grams.
I found 2 small boxes with weight provided with my 2 old Logitech G9X. I filled them with provided weights, coins and foam to avoid noise while moving my head. I could reach 195 grams for each box. I put them in a little vrcover bag (to avoid damaging the DAS) and fixed it on the back with a collar (don’t forget to remove the foam before ^^).
As I suspected, the 2 boxes make the whole device too heavy: instead of only having the headset going down, the whole thing sags.
One 190-195 grams box is enough to keep the device well balanced.
Of course you can use anything you want to make weight ^^
Pros:
- nice image quality
- almost no SDE
- easy to install
- Pitool well optimized
Cons:
- bad conception for glasses wearers
- dust inside (that’s not serious)
- a bit heavy even for a DAS (imagine with the default strap…)
- sweetspot too small
Conclusion and Mods used
After those mods installed, my Pimax is almost perfect to me.
- .bat file to start and stop Pimax service and tasks, thank you to @mojojojo
echo off
set ServiceName=PiServiceLauncher
set ProcessName=PiService.exe
tasklist /fi “imagename eq %ProcessName%” |find /v “:” > nul&&(
sc query “%ServiceName%”|find “STATE”|find /v “RUNNING”>nul&&(
sc start %ServiceName%
timeout 10
)
sc stop %ServiceName%
) || (
sc start %ServiceName%
)