I have a Pimax 4K currently. I liked it better on every account, but tracking precision, than the Oculus Rift that I returned for a refund, but still I do notice a bit of an SDE, plus it has terrible washed out colors, terrible ghosting, and is still rather fuzzy. Plus I have no VR controllers but an xbox360 gamepad. So I barely used it.
The only game that I enjoyed playing on the 4K is Subnautica. The whole underwater thing works rather well here, it’s like looking through a real diving mask. But now I am thinking of upgrading, onto something with better graphics and controllers. I am tempted by the Valve Index, which will completely remove all compatibility issues and other headaches, but I am willing to give Pimax another chance.
On the 8K side, I am not sure. It is very expensive, plus I have a 1080ti which apparently already struggles with the 5K’s at the highest qualities and I have no plans to go SLI or 2080ti.
I’ve read some comparisons between the 5K+ and the XR. The lack of ghosting on both the 5K’s compared to the 4K is a big plus already. Apparently the 5K’s have better resolution, but because of the larger viewing angle they have has more SDE than the 4K. But a sharper image still I guess, and better colors?
Now what I don’t understand between the two 5K’s, and my google-fu seems to be lacking, is the price difference. The 5K XR has more SDE but better blacks than the 5K+, plus the 5K+ is 120 MHz. What is the reason of the XR costing $200 more that the 5K+ then (as of today)? For me, by looking at the specs, I’d say it should be the other way around, no?
@Neofit: I have 4k, 5k+, 8k and Index and some more. And i loved to play Subnautica and Sabnautica below zero (with vorpx). I know exactly where you are coming from. So trust me if i tell you that whatever hmd you choose to buy, it will be a MASSIVE upgrade. You simply can not compare p4k with 5k+ or index. I would not choose the XR. Oled is nice, but the sde is said to be terrible, way worse than 5k+ mainly because of the pentile subpixel arrangement. 8k is better in terms of sde (a little worse than 5k+) but imho not worth the higher price compared with the 5k+.
If you want a trouble-less package, then go with the index. If you don’t mind to troubleshoot a little and want to be able to upgrade later with eye-tracking, then go with the 5k+. If you can afford a few hundreds more, then go with the soon shipping 8k+. Its sde is even better than one of the index or 5k+.
But you will need the full package, with basestations and controllers, which is not cheap.
So personally i would suggest you to buy the Samsung OD+. Tracking is not as perfect but works fine for me in 99% of the games (yeah, i play even FO4 with it without problems), has even better sde than p4k (picture a little less sharp but oled blacks and as a whole waaaay better than p4k) and can be bought insanely cheap. There is no better headset out right now in terms of price/performance. And then save for the real next gen hmds like 8kx or whatever comes around.
@mr.uu I’ve spent half a day googling the differences between the Pimax 4K/5K/8K and the Valve Index, but one thing I couldn’t find is whether the 5K itself would be a good upgrade from the P4K :). Probably because the term “4K” is used when referring to all the other headsets as well, so it drowns the P4K itself. Anyway, thanks for the “it will be a MASSIVE upgrade” part, that settled it.
Now concerning the OD+. Sounds like a good idea, I never imagined that a WMR set could be an ungrade over the Pimax, but it’s like I am living in a state-owned 5-year plan economy. Samsung.fr = doesn’t know what an “Odyssey” is. Amazon.fr = nothing, but at least has some accessories. Finally got one link on Microsoft’s US store site, out of stock of course, and they don’t deliver to France anyway, and the link on the microsoft.fr site links to the page on the US site :). Local brick and mortar stores, yes I am willing to go old-school, they don’t want my money either. Never mind then :).
Well the plus as a p4k owner. If your content with your current XP any of the new pimax headsets will be a very decent upgrade. The 8k+ would be closer or better on SDE to the p4k. 5k+ not so good on SDE but better colors, no noticeable ghosting. I prefer the 8k over the 5k+ coming from the p4k. With the 8k being discontinued the 8k+ release.
Now as the Upgrade program is extended at least til Jan 31. You might want to wait & see what impressions are of upcoming Artisan pimax headset at ces as it will have some kind of tracking & controllers. Just at 3200×1440 (1600×1440/eye) with 120hz & 140 FoV (believe wide).
As a fellow 1080ti user as long as your reasonable with settings works quite well on p8k & p5k.
Now, is it me or are the screenshots in this thread look much better on the Valve Index rather than the P5K+? I mean I am seeing much better colors and less SDE, no?
Link for some reason isn’t working for me. The Index can have a better picture than the 5k due to it’s resolution being more compacted in it’s FoV.
Need to check numbers for proper compare. The 5k+ to compare closer one would need to set to Small FoV (still larger than Index FoV Horizontally) & compare per eye or overall res.
Index 1440×1600/eye or 2880×1600
5k+ (full) 2560×1440/eye or 5120×1440
So one benefit is higher vertical res on index by +160 & I believe Index has higher ppd than the 5k+. The 5k+ however improves how much you can see & be aware of due to increased FoV. Pimax does have atm more configurable options. But Index does have 144hz mode.
Color wise the 5k+ might be able to be tuned to match index closer. But color was one of the reasons I like the 8k better.
Might have been my inet acting up. It does seem in that thread depending on the scene index does look better. But in some scenes the 5k+ looks better to my eyes for detail.
More vertical Res on the Index does give a benefit of smaller Cubes(pixels) on that with the extra 160 res.
Now if your a simmer in Multiplayer the added wider fov would increase possibility to spot opponents sooner. But it is difficult to really say which you would prefer as for many reasons either headset will be an upgrade to the p4k. Hands on trial always best when possible.
One thing to note: i just read in another thread that some had a bad experience with support with samsung with an imported headset. But its Amazon, so should be hassle-free to send it back in the forst two weeks…
If you want wide fov then go with pimax.
I personally play only on index since i received it. I have an ipd of 69,5, so i have a really nice fov-experience in the index. Almost like small fov on the pimaxes.
All the hassle with pitools software is just so annoying. So i wait for the 8k-x being delivered…
On my second pc i recently setup the OD+ and i was suprised (almost forgot) how good it worked with Subnautica or Borderlands or MassEffect series with vorpX.
Well, using it is okay-ish. But sometimes the headset is not turning on or the window is semi-transparent, etc. Just little annoyances that shows the lack of manpower regarding pimax-software.
Of course you trade function against stability with using pimax. So if you are a power user and/or okay with small software-issues, no problem! I am just more and more tired of spending my precious game-time with tinkering around update-problems etc. That is probably also the reason why i play more and more on my consoles again. Had to buy ps4pro with psvr on black friday (saving €300 so i had to buy)
I hear you as there are a number of minor nuisances. The transparency issue was interesting as my nvidia install never activated that global was it fxaa? That caused it & Amd is unaffected by it as it seems.
But even Windows 10 changes with How it render program windows has created mild annoyances that could be updated by individual programs or as MS does give the option to fix via a setting could have had that fix by default.(think it is application scaling if mem serves)
Like some have said before the Pimaxes might take a little tweaking to get everything set up, but once its set up then only every once in a while you might have to do some tweaking.
Im using the Odyssey+ right now until my Pimax 8K gets shipped back to me. Man I really miss the Pimax 8K FOV, its really hard to go back to anything smaller than Pimaxes FOV.
