Why it takes longer than expected (M1 update April 23 2018)

Hi Futurists,

We have fixed all the issues of v5 in the new prototype.

After v5, we have adjusted the lens design three times. Each adjustment requests a new tooling. It costs over $50,000 - $100,000 and a few more weeks for a new tooling each time, but we believe the improvements in visual quality worth the cost. Given the vendor will deliver the newly designed lens in early May, we are looking to ship M1 to testers in May, when the units have been assembled and tested.

Two major reasons that may cause schedule delay:

  1. Change design for the better result.
  2. Components delay

The holidays have some impact over the delivery of raw materials. There are dozens of components, delay of any of these may impact the schedule as a whole. When we become a more established company, we would have stronger support from our vendors.

The good news is, all the materials for M1 are now ready in the factory, which means we have better control over the timeline.

Worth to mention that moving production line also takes some time. Yes, we have moved our production line from the current one to a world-class line that has the most strict standard for optical devices.

Thanks again, 8K backers! We cannot deliver the best VR experience without your support.

Best regards,
The Pimax Team

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@deletedpimaxrep1
Okay so early may units will be sent to beta testers?

Any update on achieving 90hz/90fps on the displays?

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After received the new lenses, we will need to assemble and test, and then ship to testers when finished. Nothing new on 90Hz yet, but we will update here as soon as there is any breakthrough.

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Ok now I am confused I thought that you said you already had 8-10 assembled and that you were shipping to testers. Is that incorrect?

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10 is the estimated number of M1 that will be available for testers for the closed beta.

We will ship M1 as soon as we have finished assembly and testing.

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To All:

As Per the Poll results. Only Questions to @deletedpimaxrep1 please. As requested I will remove other posts. Please start a seperate topic for community discussion of update.

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@deletedpimaxrep1
Have you got details you can tell us on the final design of the lenses that were changed ?

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3 posts were split to a new topic: Community Discussion 0423 Update

If you need any support of ours, just ask!

Interesting, lenes is heart of HMD.

Can you update new picture of M1 with the new lenses. It will be great while waiting the testing result.

thank you.

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We will take some photos when we have received the new components of M1 and start to assemble.

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@deletedpimaxrep1, can you please tell the team I am super-impressed with your response to what must have been difficult decisions? It sounds like the Pimax 8K will have the best optics of any consumer VR headset available. :slight_smile:

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@deletedpimaxrep1 what happened with the previously assembled units? Did the new lenses not have the result you were hoping for?

Everyone that tested v2 v3 seemed happy with how the lenses were back then. Strange that Pimax decided to change them for v5. It came with many downsides… And now they struggle to correct them adding months and months of delay. Delivery window Q4?

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@deletedpimaxrep1 Thank you for the update. I was wondering what exactly will be improved with this new lens design compared with the previous design?

The core team is specialized in display thus somewhat picky on the visual quality. Comparing with more costs, time, and extra works, it’s even harder for the team to move on with the lens design that is not good enough from their point of view, even though many people were happy with the previous versions.

Yes, theoretically we can choose to keep the original design, start mass production and ship 8K right away, make enough people happy and generate enough cash flow…

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Thanks for the update @deletedpimaxrep1. Dont rush it. If the tester units work perfectly and word spreads the only problem will be making enough 8K’s to meet demand :slight_smile:

Do you still have any roadshow plans for the M1?

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Yes, closed beta first, and then open beta/roadshows.

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The question is,
is it possible to improve upon the original design of the lenses and visual quality that much that it is worth the time, effort and money you put into it?

Or is it not?

If the team thinks they can improve the quality that much with new lenses then by all means go for it…

But i wonder if a normal consumer would notice the difference between the lenses in v2 v3 and the new ones.

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For a general consumer, it would be hard to tell. but we are targeting a very niche enthusiasts market here, not mass market.

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15 posts were merged into an existing topic: Community Discussion 0423 Update