Is there a viable POC for dynamic distortion correction within an adequate performance budget? If there is, is it SteamVR compatible? I mean, SteamVR isn’t even able to support FFR that isn’t a hackjob and engine independent, let alone DFR. With DFR as a given, I would expect dynamic disortion correction to be very doable.
Disagree on the ‘fixed IPD’ HMD though, that is an economic nightmare and would result in Quest 2 ‘semi-adjustable’ IPD mechanics (switchting the lenses) as your bulk-buying and -manufacturing advantages at higher scale would go out the window and logistical overhead would be horrendous. Sure, it works for shoes but those are cheap and you can sell millions. I also don’t think it adds significantly to weight. The VR-3 and XR-3 are so heavy because of the focus displays which are literally two projectors in an HMD that need to be cooled and hence require heatsinks.
SteamVR offers a distortion rendering algo that headsets can use. But to get more control of the process, SteamVR allows manufacturers to use their own algo, which Pimax for example did (in the older versions of the pimax 4k headset they used the SteamVR algo, uptil piplay 1.1.92 and then moved onto a custom algo, which they are still using). Now all you need to do is use a different profile each frame, based on the iris position. It’s how StarVR says they solved their distortion.
If you compare the mechanism of the VR3 with the Pimax 8kX for example, the VR3 just feels so much more solid. The lenses just stay in place without moving even a fraction of a mm, while with the Pimax it feels like some cheap plastic was used. I think that the mechanism in the VR3 does significantly add to the weight, but of course I’m just speculating and you might be right.
The trade off would of course be that the production line would need to be more flexible. And indeed, logistics would be complicated a bit (but hey any clothing company does this, so there are just standard solutions for this problem). But personally I feel this is something worth investigating and I feel Palmer was right and that some companies will start offering this in the future. Especially when VR has become more common and people just know their IPD’s. Though in the top gaming segment everybody already knows their IPD
Not only tailored IPD, but prescription optics, too (as built, through custom lens-to-screen distance - not through added extra lenses), although adjustable would of course be preferrable.
Sebastian is a bit of a mixed bag at times. On the one hand, he actually does some pretty comprehensive stuff which gives him a lot more credibility as a reviewer and shows he can be really committed to ensuring his results when he wants. Stuff such as when he tested a bunch of Reverb G2s people sent him to see if there was perhaps some kind of issue in the manufacturing that caused large unit to unit variance with what people said, only to find no, it was probably just face shape causing it after trying what looked like a dozen or them or something. And then the video on the HMD FoV comparisons he did.
On the other hand, he does have a tendency to feel like he gets really enthusiastic and overhypes things a bit if he finds something he really likes. He comes across as a generally positive and passionate guy in his love for VR, but that feels like it translates to downplaying flaws if they’re not fatal ones.
This video is rushed on the TTL comparisons, which is kind of funny after his VP2 thoughts, because the guy actually delayed their review vs almost everyone else specifically to take his time, including trying some extra stuff such as thinner face padding that not many people reviewed. But the TTL footage was done kind of poorly on the G2 and 8k X vs past videos, even setting aside the fact they had a not final 8k X unit and thus that could impact the visuals. I’ve had experience with the G2 and 8k X and they did not feel that bad, ESPECIALLY the 8k X, and I’ve tried 2 of them, neither felt that blurry. I have a really hard time believing that line 9 is borderline unreadable on it if there’s not something wrong on user settings or something’s funky with that prototype unit. I absolutely believe the Varjo-3, even outside the focus display, is marketably sharper than the 8k X between the pixel density and lenses, but come on.
I still think they’re generally a good reviewer, but just take what they say with a pinch of salt.
G2 looked pretty accurate to me, and its common knowledge now that the Pimax8kx clarity is inferior vs the G2.
The Varjo and sebastian did not cost pimax a sale from me…pimax did with their inferior product. Instead of complaining about sebastian and users impressions of the VR3, pimax should be building a better mouse trap then they currently offer.
Pressuring a reviewer this way makes me NEVER want to buy their products.
They didn’t pressure him at all on this. He recognized the quality did not match his past ttl and chose to fix it. This was after many pointed out issues with his ttl pics of both g2 and 8kX.
His pictures didn’t line up with his dialogue didn’t match what he said about the g2 and 8kX. I commend Seb for recognizing it was not his previous quality.
Varjo vr3 is some great achievements and really should be for the price being out of this world. However we need a WFoV Varjo and atm Varjo’s hmd requires too much power to expand the FoV. Now it would be great to see a compare with Xtal 8k as both have Aspherical Lenses and both are priced to be outside of the consumer space.
Pimax’s product for it’s price point is decent quality for it’s target consumer.
As for the 8kX being inferior to the G2 in clarity is over dramatizing that. As it was simply said the G2 has a touch better clarity.
I hope Varjo gives this industry a nice kick in the rectum…its time to up the quality across the board. Consumers should not have to settle for glare, god rays, mura, grey blacks, small sweet spots, etc, etc…charge more if necessary the market will support up to $2k headset if the quality is there.
Here is an image spamenigma uploaded just from a phone which is even closer: (with seb’s you can’t read the numbers shown at all but here with this simple photo you can easily read 20/70 and 20/50 etc.)
Here is the same image using screen grabs without motion blur from seb’s video:
TTL shots will never be ‘as good as it is’ but given all three HMDs were filmed with the same camera, the differences between each HMD are portrayed accurately.
Notice on his you can’t see the vertical line in the helmet in his image - that is from motion blur because his camera is in motion at the time the image was taken.
Probably just an oversight on seb’s part, no big deal.
And again, why is what @BGAStories posted ‘interesting’? I get the impression you are (once again) alluding to some sort of conspiracy against Pimax, is that the case?
