Official VR Headset discussion

[Exposed]

$1400 is a chunk of change. You can piece it out for cheaper. Get a few Gen 1 base stations ($135 each) and some gen 1 wands ($129 each). $1280 with the $750 headset total. For $120 extra though you get the Gen 2 stuff which is really nice.

But IMO it's not a bad investment. This will be my third Vive VR headset. Each and every one is still in working order and each and every one was well worth the cost to me and the family. My Vive Pro gets about 20~30 hours of play a week. Sometimes more if the kiddos are our of school. Aside from a few controllers that lost their directional pad clicking to the right (that I looked up the fix on youtube) I haven't had many issues with them. Even with that much play. That to me is worth the extra that I pay.

I only use VR for maybe one or two hours a week, and that is mainly for indie VR horror games. I also prefer sitting down, so the inside out tracking of the Odyssey (and Reverb G2) would benefit me more than the extra cost of base stations since I don't really stand up and walk around (I prefer teleportation movement in VR games).

But, the biggest thing for me is the optics. So I have to see how much better the Vive Pro 2 is compared to the Reverb G2 in terms of clarity. Especially for "in the distance" clarity like looking at the scenery towards the horizon. Up close is fine with the Odssey, but distance scenery tends to get blurred because it's not high resolution enough.

I wouldn't mind buying the Vive Pro 2 if it has much better distance clarity over the Reverb G2. Will wait for a review something like this:

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[logical]

I think the price for these things are outlandish especially when they really have no big games backing them.

[Exposed]

VR doesn't really need big games. I prefer the smaller indie titles, and there are tons of them with new ones coming out all the time.

[logical]

VR doesn't really need big games. I prefer the smaller indie titles, and there are tons of them with new ones coming out all the time.

I would definitely disagree. It needs some super exclusive thing that can only be done with a VR unit to draw way more people in to get more poeple into the eco system to drive VR unit costs down.

[andino]

IMO, you are both kinda right here.

It needs more HL Alex type games and AAA releases for sure. At this point, I'm comfortable adding MSFS2020 to the list of AAA releases. It's getting better and better with each update for VR.

I think Exposed is also right here. Indy VR games keeps VR afloat between the AAA game releases.

I'd love to see VR be standardized releases. No more Oculus Only games and no more Steam Only games. That's what is killing the growth of VR more than anything else.

[Mangler]

The big stuff is probably going to end up being Quest only and psvr2 only in the future.

[CyanBlues]

didn't even see this, now I gotta go test it out lol

The latest beta update of SteamVR, version 1.17.8, now offers two more.


First is a ‘Field-of-view’ adjustment which works a bit like foveated rendering—you can optionally choose to reduce the size of the application’s field-of-view, thereby concentrating all of the available processing power in a smaller region.

https://www.roadtovr.com/steamvr-field-of-view-option-world-scale-override/

[CyanBlues]

yeah field of view sucks, it just really shrinks the field of view on the lens, basically feels like putting black bars on the side of the lens

[Exposed]

I've been reading the new Pimax 8k X (latest revision) offers the best in terms of visuals and fov that even the Vive Pro2 won't touch.

Problem is that $1400 price tag for just the headset alone. Controllers and base stations are extra. That's almost a $2k investment. But damn VR Pr0n, I mean Half Life Alyx, would be damn good to play in VR with

[Nascar24]

Will stick with my console peasant Quest 2 at these prices.

[andino]

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[Nagorak]

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[Seyiji]

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Fix't

You only need the shiz after v= gai ^_^

[Nagorak]

My bad. I know you only need the code but I just copied in the URL without thinking.

It sounds like there was a preorder discount for the Pro 2, but it has already expired. I probably would have preordered it had I known, but now I guess I'll wait. I haven't had much time to play VR or any games lately, so not exactly in a rush to get it.

[Seyiji]

My bad. I know you only need the code but I just copied in the URL without thinking.

It sounds like there was a preorder discount for the Pro 2, but it has already expired. I probably would have preordered it had I known, but now I guess I'll wait. I haven't had much time to play VR or any games lately, so not exactly in a rush to get it.

^_^

All good just lookin out :3

Shame you haven't had time to play games lately and I know the feel !__!

[A2597]

Now just waiting on my vive pro 2 preorder to ship...

[Arrowhead]

Now just waiting on my vive pro 2 preorder to ship...

Yeah, still waiting here. I pre-ordered within two hours of when news broke. I wonder how many units they've managed to make with the chip shortage and what the demand is like.

[A2597]

Got a message from their support. No way to know my place in the queue, but they said they hope to have enough inventory to cover all preorders. So just the process of shipping them out I guess....

[andino]

If these orders are anything like my others from HTC you'll get a e-mail a few days after your package is delivered. LOL

[Arrowhead]

Got a message from their support. No way to know my place in the queue, but they said they hope to have enough inventory to cover all preorders. So just the process of shipping them out I guess....

Got charged this evening and the order is being processed.

[A2597]

Same here. Pretty Stoked.
Coming from a CV1 this should be a huge upgrade.

Note: I've seen one user who said after hanging his headset on a wall-mount, screens up, the next morning he had a Moire pattern that lasted a couple hours before clearing. May be best to store horizontal, as if wearing it until we know more. (One off issue, or some defect that needs to be addressed)

[Exposed]

https://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-pro-2-review/

Vive Pro 2 would seem to be perfectly positioned to bring the best of Valve Index and Reverb G2 into one headset. Unfortunately the reality is a little more blurry.

Clarity
Although the paper specs would suggest that Vive Pro 2 and Reverb G2 could have quite similar resolving power, a quick side-by-side with the headsets reveals Reverb G2 to have an obviously sharper image, even before running any objective tests. To some extent, this would be expected given that Reverb G2 packs its pixels a bit more densely into its smaller field-of-view; even so, while Vive Pro 2 is clearly sharper than Index or the original Vive Pro, it still seems less sharp than it ought to next to Reverb G2.


Hmmm.... interesting.

[andino]

https://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-pro-2-review/

Vive Pro 2 would seem to be perfectly positioned to bring the best of Valve Index and Reverb G2 into one headset. Unfortunately the reality is a little more blurry.

Clarity
Although the paper specs would suggest that Vive Pro 2 and Reverb G2 could have quite similar resolving power, a quick side-by-side with the headsets reveals Reverb G2 to have an obviously sharper image, even before running any objective tests. To some extent, this would be expected given that Reverb G2 packs its pixels a bit more densely into its smaller field-of-view; even so, while Vive Pro 2 is clearly sharper than Index or the original Vive Pro, it still seems less sharp than it ought to next to Reverb G2.


Hmmm.... interesting.

The review and comparison of the displays is very poorly thought out. Of course the Reverb G2 is going to be clearer seeing as how the field of view on the G2 is much smaller. The reviewer is comparing a headset that has a 120 degree horizontal FOV to one that has a 100 degree horizontal FOV. The G2's FOV is smaller than the Vive Pro 1.

1 bad review in 20 it seems.

[demo]

The sweet spot is also smaller than G2, which to me seems like a pretty big deal

[andino]

Got my shipping info. Will be here on the 8th by 8pm.

[A2597]

Shipped as well! Will be here tomorrow

[Arrowhead]

Mine already arrived and cleared customs in Toronto this morning but says they won't deliver until Monday while I'll be at work. Guess FedEx doesn't do weekends over here...

[andino]

I paid for FedEx 2day shipping and it shipped out of Friday. Kinda POed that it's gonna take 4 days to get a 2 day shipment.

EDIT: Looks like their 2 day is 2 business days... Still kinda sucks...

[A2597]

Turns out it was only my lighthouses. Still waiting on headsetvto ship.

[Nagorak]

The most interesting thing to me about the Vive Pro 2 is that it works with the wireless adapter. I don't like that I've had to go back to a pulley system with the G2.

However the wireless can't actually run the Pro 2 at full res, so I don't know whether it will be an acceptable option. I guess I could always swap between wireless and wired depending on whether it's a fast paced game or not.

Then again, I already have the G2 working with my lighthouse tracking controllers, so maybe not worth the hassle switching it up.

[Arrowhead]

I actually had the chance to try my VP2 for a couple hours yesterday before shipping out to work for the week. First impression coming from the Vive Pro, definitely noticed the lack of deep blacks with the LCD first thing in that default dark SteamVR environment but other than that the colours seem pretty vibrant so I guess I'll get used to it. Clarity and resolution is amazing as I can read stuff and see details at a distance much easier which makes up for all of the shortcomings. The biggest hardware shortcoming being the glare in contrasting colours in certain situations which was a bit jarring but I suppose I can get used to that too. Audio is not identical to the Vive Pro 1 and it actually sounds better and is a bit louder for me. Also the headphones are more comfortable on the ears.

The software seems janky though and needs some serious updates. Experienced a few SteamVR crashes while shutting down certain games like War Thunder and MSFS2020. Also got this really annoying jittering while moving my head around at some times which magically goes away if I alt tab and bring the Vive Pro 2 app to the forefront. I read that it's recommended to disable GPU scheduling though, so I'll have to experiment more with that next weekend.

When it's not being janky though, it runs amazing considering the clarity it's producing. Did a short flight across Toronto in MSFS2020 and it's as smooth as the VIve Pro 1 and I can make out buildings and stuff in the distance making it more immersive. So definitely a keeper just for that.

[A2597]

My headset is now set to arrive Thursday, FedEx in possession of the package.
Fingers Crossed!

[andino]

OMG at the God rays.

It's like I'm in a Star Trek movie FFS.

[andino]

So, here is the deal. It really looks like shite in the steam Home menus and if there is anything that has a dark background and white letters it looks worse. Desktop looks worse than with the Vive Pro. I have found that if I put a thinner padding on it reduces the God Rays some but it doesn't eliminate them. They are a pain in the ass. I really wish they would have went with different lenses. It looks like you have astigmatism. I got eye surgery to get rid of that. I don't know why HTC wants everyone to simulate that....

What is the point of having a higher resolution screen if you are only going to **** it up with shitty lenses....

In games, it looks pretty damn cool. Especially with the higher refresh rate.

As it sits right now, I'm like 50/50 on returning this thing.

[Nagorak]

I'm surprised it would look worse than the original Vive Pro. I guess it's due to the new lens design resulting in more god rays?

[andino]

I'm surprised it would look worse than the original Vive Pro. I guess it's due to the new lens design resulting in more god rays?

So it took me a little while to figure it out but sorta.

I pulled out the Vive Pro 1 and played on it a bit. The rays are still there just not as pronounced because the FOV is smaller. Also, the blur starts to happen at the Vive Pro 1's edge of view. The problem is that the new lenses on the Vive Pro 2 increase the FOV and makes the rays more noticeable because there is more area to notice it in. Also, the blur on the Vive Pro 2 starts in roughly the same areas as the Vive Pro but the problem is that there is also more area to notice it because of the increased FOV.

So long story short, they increased the FOV but essentially made it useless because their dual lens choice makes it blurry as fawk on the horizontal edges.

It's still playable. And it is a definite upgrade from the Vive Pro 1. I'm going to give it a day or two but I'm still 50/50 on it. I'm going to see if I'm just nit picking it or if it is really something. The kiddos love it. I'm the only one that is having issues with it.

[andino]

Had they went with a different lens and made the FOV the same height as width then this would have been a killer purchase. As it is it's kind of like going from the 1080 to the 2080. IMO, Yes it is an upgrade but it could have been a whole lot better bang for the buck.

EDIT: All that being said, I just got done playing MSFS2020 on it. It looks a whole lot nicer than the Vive Pro 1. A WHOLE LOT NICER.

[andino]

I put a medium pad on and I think I have found a nice groove with this headset. Rocked out some Half-Life Alex and some Demeo and had a decent time with it.

BTW, if you like D&D Demeo is a great game. I suggest you skirmish for a bit before jumping into a game with other players. They are pretty hardcore about this game.

[andino]

Played more on it today.

It just doesn't look right to me. I hooked the Vive Pro to my sins computer and played on it a bit then went on my Vive Pro 2 and played. The Vive Pro still looks more crisp to me.

So I filled out a support ticket.

Maybe I have a bad unit or something.

[Arrowhead]

Played more on it today.

It just doesn't look right to me. I hooked the Vive Pro to my sins computer and played on it a bit then went on my Vive Pro 2 and played. The Vive Pro still looks more crisp to me.

So I filled out a support ticket.

Maybe I have a bad unit or something.

Check which resolution you are actually running in SteamVR. I think the VP2 does this weird thing where it adjusts the res automatically without telling you to maintain performance. This may even still be the case if you select a res manually in Vive console.