I feel like I'm been pretty damn unlucky. My two current ones are having tracking issues now, but I'm pretty sure that's because there's a lot of reflective material near the tracked area. Hoping I don't have to buy another two lol.
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PIMAX "8k" 200° FoV VR Kickstarter - completed, 4.2 million total funding; all stretch goals reached
- Thread starter Durante
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I feel like I'm been pretty damn unlucky. My two current ones are having tracking issues now, but I'm pretty sure that's because there's a lot of reflective material near the tracked area. Hoping I don't have to buy another two lol.
I haven't had any particular issues with my Vive wands other than just not enjoying using them very much. After having used Oculus Touch controllers it's hard to not want them back.
It said a lot: They are happy with the headset hardware and are ramping up production, with parts for 1000 units ready to go, and current capability of manufacturing 200-300 per week. Since the final hardware wasn't available until recently, the software isn't at the stage they consider good enough for consumers yet, but certain businesses that don't need consumer-ready software will be the first recipients (hooray, I convinced my boss to Kickstart one or two, hope he gets his soon!) In addition, they are going to (later) make a new Business Edition model with support for different accessories. Based on feedback from the beta testers, they are adding a software option to limit the FoV to 170 degrees, users can choose the FoV before running each app. Their support for Base Station 2.0 is ready to go, having achieved the same tracking performance as the Vive Pro, and what they learned from doing that will speed up development of the controllers, which they haven't been prioritizing work on until the headsets were done.
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I think the most interesting news by far is the 170° option. I was really hoping for that, I think it's a good tradeoff to explore (especially since those last 30° will probably be quite distorted anyway).
IMHO it would even be worth thinking about a third 140° option. That's still significantly more than any other consumer HMD, but not a huge increase in rendering workload, and might be interesting for some intensive games or those that do not benefit as much from peripheral vision.
Anyway, I still hope I'll get the HMD before the end of the year.
IMHO it would even be worth thinking about a third 140° option. That's still significantly more than any other consumer HMD, but not a huge increase in rendering workload, and might be interesting for some intensive games or those that do not benefit as much from peripheral vision.
Anyway, I still hope I'll get the HMD before the end of the year.
Absolutely, and I agree that I'd like to see some even more options. I'll likely be using the 170° for sure though. Someday we'll have it Foveated but for now that's a great option.
Saw this linked on Reddit:
https://m.gearbest.com/pc-headset/p...z1pzLIuR0LHIG5PYa4970kOnsVybZUvxoCttMQAvD_BwE
Looks to be the full SKU, and apparently ships late July or early August.
So should backers expect theirs soon? Aren't the early testers still under NDA?
And for the FoV, wouldn't just rendering the last 30° at lower res, "smearing" it be sufficient, instead of turning it off completely, as some of the early LED-based testing that was done with other HMD's?
They're not really saying what feedback lead them to the option to decrees FoV, was it purely rendering power, or does the distortion get distracting after a while? Or does the higher FoV lead to motionsickness over a longer period of time (iirc the early tests with the LED's to increase perceived FoV by other researches had some results show it could lead to motionsickness).
https://m.gearbest.com/pc-headset/p...z1pzLIuR0LHIG5PYa4970kOnsVybZUvxoCttMQAvD_BwE
Looks to be the full SKU, and apparently ships late July or early August.
So should backers expect theirs soon? Aren't the early testers still under NDA?
And for the FoV, wouldn't just rendering the last 30° at lower res, "smearing" it be sufficient, instead of turning it off completely, as some of the early LED-based testing that was done with other HMD's?
They're not really saying what feedback lead them to the option to decrees FoV, was it purely rendering power, or does the distortion get distracting after a while? Or does the higher FoV lead to motionsickness over a longer period of time (iirc the early tests with the LED's to increase perceived FoV by other researches had some results show it could lead to motionsickness).
Oh sorry, didn't think of posting the reddit link, it was posted on the VirtualReality subreddit and the Pimax Subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualrea...arbest_has_a_price_and_shipping_date_for_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/comments/8w64wj/gearbest_has_a_shipping_date/
Edit: maybe should've clarified that the parts after the original link were my question in regards to the other posts further up this thread, and not really related to the Gearbest-link.
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Oh yea, no, I get that you were just pondering. I was just curious to see what people on the subreddit were saying. If someone from Pimax had responded etc. There's a lot of unanswered questions all around.
I think you should change the thread title to: PIMAX "8k" "200° FoV" VR Kickstarter - completed, 4.2 million total funding; all stretch goals reached, after the recent revelations about horizontal v. diagonal FoV.
Glad to see they're still engaging with the community and incorporating feedback. But quick question about those 30 extra degrees: surely your peripheral vision won't care if it's distorted as your peripherals are super low detail anyway. Or is it more the case that it's distracting?
Glad to see they're still engaging with the community and incorporating feedback. But quick question about those 30 extra degrees: surely your peripheral vision won't care if it's distorted as your peripherals are super low detail anyway. Or is it more the case that it's distracting?
I've heard it said that the peripheral vision is actually more susceptible to things like flicker and other anomalies. Seems like that part of the vision is on such cruise control by the brain, all it's really scanning for is "threats" (IE an animal is about to blindside and eat you.) In that sense, it's the worst place to have abnormalities because it's gong to constantly trigger the brain.
I'm completely oblivious to this project. All I want to know is... if this thing is running at 8K what GPU are they using? Because nothing out there can run games at 8K @ 90FPS on a single card unless the games look very basic.
it's not running at 8K (hence the "8k" in the thread title). It's got 2x4K screens, and your question would still be valid even then, however, the standard version only accepts input up to 2560×1440, and upscales that to 4k, so 2x1440p rendering, not taking into account Supersampling, though it'd still be a 1440p signal sent to the HMD. (though you wouldn't really know that reading their website, or the FAQ's on their forums).
The Pimax 8k X does accept 2x4k inputs. (still not 8K)
My gtx1380 hits 8k over 90fps. Of course I have to turn down some of my settings from from super mega ultra supreme down just to super mega ultra.
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Did I miss something wrt. that?
All HMDs are advertised with diagonal FoV, since forever.
Really? I always assumed that the "default" value is the horizontal FoV.
There is some confusion whether this FoV is horizontal or vertical. Pimax poste contradictory information.
All headsets, VR and AR, list the diagonal FOV since that gives the most impressive number, and means they don't have to "confuse" people if a screen is taller than it is wide. Just like they really like to add the two eyes' horizontal resolutions together rather than listing the *real* horizontal resolution. Oculus Rift, for example, has 80 horizontal degrees FOV, though it is listed as 110 degrees.
No posts here recently. Pimax made some announcements today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13etqjaYLKU
8K and 5K+ are supposed to start shipping to backers at the end of the month and Pimax wants to delivery all headsets to backers before the end of the year.
5K+ is an improved 5K version, both will be available at retail and the 5K+ will cost more. Seems like it might just be a better panel?
Apparently has the best colors out of the 5K/5K+/8K, and higher PPI (or PPD?) than the 5K, which is weird.
5K backers are getting the 5K+ without needing to pay extra to upgrade, 8K backers can opt for the 5K+ and get credit for Pimax accessories to make up for the cost difference.
It's confusing, where are the benefits of the 5K+ coming from? Higher resolution than the 5K? Smaller screen with different optics? Why complicate manufacturing and marketing with two models instead of just selling the improved 5K+?
They plan to use eye tracking for distortion correction, but that seems like a long way off since they aren't even getting samples until next year.
Seems like there has been some controversy over communication (or lack thereof), and Pimax allegedly not doing a good job working with the testers to fix reported problems. Seen a lot of negativity over what Pimax might actually deliver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13etqjaYLKU
8K and 5K+ are supposed to start shipping to backers at the end of the month and Pimax wants to delivery all headsets to backers before the end of the year.
5K+ is an improved 5K version, both will be available at retail and the 5K+ will cost more. Seems like it might just be a better panel?
Apparently has the best colors out of the 5K/5K+/8K, and higher PPI (or PPD?) than the 5K, which is weird.
5K backers are getting the 5K+ without needing to pay extra to upgrade, 8K backers can opt for the 5K+ and get credit for Pimax accessories to make up for the cost difference.
It's confusing, where are the benefits of the 5K+ coming from? Higher resolution than the 5K? Smaller screen with different optics? Why complicate manufacturing and marketing with two models instead of just selling the improved 5K+?
They plan to use eye tracking for distortion correction, but that seems like a long way off since they aren't even getting samples until next year.
Seems like there has been some controversy over communication (or lack thereof), and Pimax allegedly not doing a good job working with the testers to fix reported problems. Seen a lot of negativity over what Pimax might actually deliver.
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That's not reassuring... I think I'll stick with the 8k with one base station, I have no interest in using accessories so I might as well get the highest resolution headset.
There's always a lot of negativity over Pimax, because people on their forums don't understand what Kickstarter is, instead thinking it was a preorder with a strict promise of a release date. Plus people who were given pre-alpha hardware and software to find all the problems for Pimax to fix, broke their NDA revealing some of the early problems, and people somehow think Pimax isn't going to fix any problems even though that was the whole point of the test.
I think they are selling both 5K and 5K+ because they have already manufactured a bunch of 5K models and just decided to sell them to recoup some cost. Or they are thinking of catering the budget consumers who can't fork out more to get the 5K+
I would bet the plain 5k will replace the 4k in their lineup as a budget headset, now with 6dof tracking (with optional base stations) and huge fov!
If it's the same resolution, and I presume same fov, how can it have more pixels per inch ?
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It could have slightly better PPD if it has less unused area. It could also have less SDE (which could appear somewhat like better PPD) if it has a better pixel fill factor.
Yeah, since lenses create distortion, there is an idea of "sweet spots" with more detail, more pixels concentrated in one part of the lens and less detail outside that. Oculus Rift for example has a larger sweet spot than HTC Vive, and Oculus Go has an even larger one. One of the things Pimax has done in the development of the 8k was to have the lenses remade a number of times (at great time and expense), I could see them doing so one last time for the 5k and ending up with such a better image that they decide to call it an all new model 5k+.
Well I hope 8k backers won't get the short end of the stick... It should be the top of the line version.
Impressions seem pretty close. Certainly isn't safe to say the 8K is worse, apart from the refresh rate. Seems like the bigger question is whether it's better enough to be worth the difference in price. Some people have already said they want to step down to the 5k+ to put the difference toward accessories because the 8K isn't $100 better.
In the end both versions are displaying the same amount of detail, the difference is the 8K is upconverting each eye to a 4k resolution. In a perfect world the difference between the two would be minimal, the 8k would just have a more "solid" picture with pixels that aren't visible, but because of the upconversion process the image on the 5k should be a bit sharper (but more pixelated).
NDA has lifted so some full reviews are available from testers. I'm at work and can't watch any of them though. Based on comments it seems like the 5K is sharper and has lower system requirements since the 8K needs a higher input resolution to look good, despite the scaling.
Overall seems positive with some caveats.
Overall seems positive with some caveats.
The 5K doesn't really have lower system requirements, where that comes from is people trying to increase the supersampling of the 8K to equal the sharpness of the 5K; with the exact same supersampling settings, both headsets get the same performance. So from the various reviews, it appears the 5K has a noticeably sharper image with more visible pixels, 8K has a smoother image with almost no screen-door effect. And both headsets are very hard on your system, even 1080ti won't get maximum framerate except in games with simple graphics.
Sweet, definitely made up my mind to switch my pledge from an 8K to a 5K+
Sounds like foveated rendering might be reeaaallly helpful, especially considering the 2080 is only a very moderate increase in raw power over the 1080ti. Hope to hear more about the eye tracking modules soon.
Sounds like foveated rendering might be reeaaallly helpful, especially considering the 2080 is only a very moderate increase in raw power over the 1080ti. Hope to hear more about the eye tracking modules soon.
Just to be clear - this basically means that the pixels are bigger with less space between them, correct?
I'm sorry I didn't back this, almost a year ago the reports were really good, but Kickstarter can really burn you.
Is there a possible public release date yet? I want the 5K+ :)
Is there a possible public release date yet? I want the 5K+ :)
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Apparently preorders open soon, within the next month, and it will ship to non-backers in December/January.
December/January is fine, thanks for the info.
I really should have backed this. But a non-backer can still be a buyer, so I will be contributing to this technological advancement in the end, I'll just be a little bit late to the party.
Sweet. Only care about sim racing. Sounds like a 5k+ with a 2080ti will work out well. I hope there's a ASW option as there is on the shfit. I'm fine with 45fps for simracing on the rift (980ti) when playing Assetto Corsa. Hopefully the integrated headphones come out soon. Don't want to use headphones on top of a set.
Need a simracer to review this!
Need a simracer to review this!
Home and checking out the reviews now. I have to say the 5K+ clarity looks like a bigger advantage than the reduced screen door effect. There was some initial regret for not bumping at the last minute to go for the 8K over the 5K, but I'm happy with the decision now and probably would have chosen to "downgrade" anyway.
17:50 in the MRTV review really shows the difference with an eye chart. Rows 7 and 8 on the 8K are less clear than rows 9 and 10 on the 5K+.
17:50 in the MRTV review really shows the difference with an eye chart. Rows 7 and 8 on the 8K are less clear than rows 9 and 10 on the 5K+.