Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

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Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 11 Mar 2021, 01:27

Hey all,

Some of you saw me fawning about Quest 2 in [H]ardForum. A few readers asked why I don't have a VR forum area yet -- but I need people to begin posting about VR threads. VR threads are allowed on Blur Busters Forums in applicable topics related to VR (General, News, Motion Blur Reduction, Area 51, Programming)

I'm starting a VR experiences thread because it's an emerging area of interest by Blur Busters, since VR headsets have had excellent motion blur reduction capabilities that are generally far superior to desktop gaming monitors. I have some headsets here, including Rift and Quest 2, and will be releasing a review article soon.

Questions for Readers with VR Headsets

1. Which VR headset(s) do you have?
2. What are your favourite VR games?
3. If you also have a high-Hz gaming monitor too, how do you compare VR to your gaming monitor?
Head of Blur Busters - BlurBusters.com | TestUFO.com | Follow @BlurBusters on Twitter

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tygeezy
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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by tygeezy » 11 Mar 2021, 01:38

I actually saw you talking about it on Neogaf and made the suggestion to you on Twitter. The quest 2 is my first headset. I’ve always been interested in vr, but I was waiting for the tech to mature a bit. The quest 2 felt like the perfect time to take the plunge and it’s been amazing so far. I’m hoping they can improve on the black levels though while keeping the low motion blur and have some sort of eye tracking where there is a bigger “sweet spot” on the lens.

I’ll add some more thoughts later on my favorite games and compare it to my monitors and TVs.

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by iopq » 11 Mar 2021, 05:54

I use my phone for light VR, but it's definitely crappy, the AMOLED screen I have in my phone has black smear

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by tygeezy » 11 Mar 2021, 14:30

Something interesting that I have found is great graphics aren’t a really big deal in vr. Everything tends to look amazing because it’s in 3D and feels like you’re practically there.

One of my favorite games is Anchient Dungeon which is in beta and available on the oculus store via app lab for free.

I’m not someone that is big on rouge like games but it’s absolutely amazing. The graphics are pretty much mindcraft but it still looks great in game with the lighting and everything being in 3D. It’s a hard game and just a joy to play.

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/ques ... cale=en_US

Sometimes I like to clear out my garage so I can play with a really big room space. It’s kind of like being in a holodeck which is what chief described. Other games I enjoy are walking dead saints and sinners. I’ve played a couple zombie first person shooters with my buddy who also has a quest 2.

My main display by the way is a lg c9. My pc is hooked up to my living room tv. I play at 1440 p 120 hz. I haven’t been able to buy a 3080, so no 4K 120 hz for me. The blacks, colors, and peak brightness are better on my tv obviously but the motion blur is much better on my headset. I haven’t tried playing pancake pc games via virtual desktop, but I have played virtual desktop pc vr games like boneworks and it works great.

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by tygeezy » 14 Mar 2021, 21:57

Lies beneath is 20 % off right now. I’ve been waiting for this to go on sale. It’s cross buy too as their is a rift version, so if you want to play this on virtual desktop that is an option.

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by sharknice » 15 Mar 2021, 17:25

1) Quest 2
I tried other headsets before, but this was the first one high enough resolution not to bother me.

2) Echo Arena and Hyper Dash
I really like competitive multiplayer games.
I like how Echo Arena really takes advantage of VR and lets you play a game you can't do in real life and just wouldn't work very well with a keyboard and mouse. I'm mostly looking forward to more games like this.
Hyper Dash is pretty fun and a cool take on a VR FPS
I would really like to play some sort of VR first person MOBA.

3) I use a LG CX running 4k@120hz with gsync. The Quest 2 feels like a 1080p screen in the center of the screen, but things in the peripheral vision feel even less clear. The motion clarity is very good on it. Games on the Quest 2 feel smooth but they don't have the same buttery smooth feeling 120hz gsync gives. I'm not sure if it's just because the framerate is lower, or because the frame pacing just isn't quite as perfect as what gsync does. Yeah the colors and black levels are bad compared to my OLED and I would love to see them improved, but for the most part you forget about it and just enjoy the immersion.

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 15 Mar 2021, 17:48

sharknice wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 17:25
Games on the Quest 2 feel smooth but they don't have the same buttery smooth feeling 120hz gsync gives. I'm not sure if it's just because the framerate is lower, or because the frame pacing just isn't quite as perfect as what gsync does.
I think it's more The Stroboscopic Effect of Finite Frame Rates.

The framepacing of a good game on Quest 2 is actually slightly better than games on G-SYNC on average. (I'm ignoring the stutter bug in v26 Quest firmware when the Holodeck wall appears while in Oculus Home environment)

But since the screen is stretched to fill your FOV, it makes the screen "feel" lower resolution and "feel" lower refresh than it would otherwise be. Even though the Quest 2 is almost 4K, it feels 1080p due to the way it's stretched perceptually to IMAX-size.

It's part of the well known (around here) Blur Busters "Vicious Cycle Effect" where wider-FOV reveals refresh rate limitations better. That's why bigger displays / higher resolutions / wider FOV demands higher refresh rates.
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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by tygeezy » 15 Mar 2021, 18:37

I want to create a custom resolution for 90 hz for virtual desktop pc games. I'm using a lg c9 at 1440 p 120 hz, but I will need to use toasty x CRU to create a custom resolution since the edid doesn't have 90 hz at any resolution as far as I can tell. What exact refresh rate is quest 2 at when using 90 hz anyway? is it integer 90 or something like 89.987 or something along those lines.

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Re: Do you have a Virtual Reality Headset? (Oculus, Rift, Valve Index, Quest, HTC, Pimax, Reverb)

Post by tygeezy » 14 Apr 2021, 15:03

A huge update is coming out which adds 120 hz support (this will be awesome for standard pc games through virtual desktop) as well as "air link" which will be the official wireless soultion to play your pcvr games wirelessly:

Oculus today announced new features coming to Quest 2 in update v28, including Air Link for wireless PC VR streaming, support for 120Hz refresh rate, and the ability to track your desk and keyboard in VR for enhanced productivity.


The latest Quest update is due to start rolling out to users any day now and will bring with it a slew of updates.

Air Link for Wireless PC VR on Quest 2

Image courtesy Oculus
The Oculus Link feature has long allowed Quest and Quest 2 to plug into a VR Ready PC to play PC VR content from Oculus PC or SteamVR. Now in v28 Oculus will introduce Air Link to Quest 2, which will allow the same PC VR streaming functionality over a Wi-Fi connection.

Oculus says that Air Link will launch initially as an experimental feature, which it expects to improve over time. So far it sounds like Air Link will only work with Quest 2 (and not the original Quest). Air Link will require v28 software on both Quest 2 and the Oculus PC software before it will work.

Oculus says that Air Link will work best if your PC is connected to your router via ethernet and if you use your Quest 2 in the same room as a 5GHz router, otherwise you might see performance issues due to varying connection quality. The company says that the wired version, Oculus Link, will continue to offer the best quality and most reliable experience.

SEE ALSO
'Realworld' Aims to Bring a Multiplayer 'Google Earth VR' Alternative to Quest & More
While Air Link will only work on Quest 2, third party applications like Virtual Desktop can also stream PC VR content wirelessly to the original Quest.

120Hz Refresh Rate on Quest 2

Image courtesy Facebook
We’ve known this one was in the works for some time now, but v28 of the Quest software will finally bring an optional 120Hz refresh rate to Quest 2.

Most apps today run at 72Hz, while a handful of apps and the Quest 2 system software run at 90Hz. The new 120Hz mode will initially be introduced as an experimental feature which users will be able to opt into, thus allowing developers to run their apps up to 120Hz if they choose.

Quest 2 currently supports 72Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz refresh rates. Higher refresh rates are harder to maintain from performance standpoint, but can reduce flicker while increasing immersion and comfort.

Oculus also says it will upgrade Oculus Link to support a 120Hz refresh rate in the future (though it isn’t clear if this will come to Air Link).

Desk & Keyboard Tracking
Similar to the couch tracking feature which was recently added, v28 of the Quest software will allow users to mark their desk to be tracked by the Guardian boundary system. This will show the location of your desk from within the headset, making it easy to pull up a chair and sit down with a keyboard and mouse for productivity work. The desk’s location will be saved as its own Guardian boundary, making it easy to return to the desk even if it isn’t in your usual playspace.

SEE ALSO
Microsoft Announces Mesh, a Foundation for Building Multi-user XR Applications

Alongside desk tracking, Oculus is also adding keyboard tracking to v28 of the Quest software. This will allow you to see a 3D model of a keyboard in VR, including a representation of your hands so that it’s easier to type while in VR.


Out of the gate this will only work with a specific keyboard, the Logitech K830 [Amazon], though Oculus says it plans to expand the feature to other keyboards in the future.

Oculus indicates that desk and keyboard tracking will be supported on both Quest and Quest 2.

– – — – –

As with prior updates, v28 will roll out slowly to Quest and Quest 2 users, likely over the course of a week or more, but you can check for an update manually to see if it’s available to you. Here’s how:

How to Update Quest and Quest 2
In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Find the Settings section (gear icon).
On the left of the Settings section select ‘About’ at the bottom of the list
Look next to the ‘Software Update’ label to see if a new version is available
Check the ‘Version’ label to see which version is currently installed

https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-2 ... -trakcing/

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