Hardware & Technical Am I the only one unimpressed with Oculus DK2?

[Katkon]

I'm surprised at some of the rude responses to my post in this thread - I mean, name-calling - really? What on earth is happening to this forum?!

That aside.... I've played around a bit more with the Oculus this evening and stand by everything I say. And yes, it IS a development kit, but unlike a software beta, firmware/software updates cannot and will not fix the resolution and pixilation issues of this product. A major HW upgrade will be required.

Like I said: I look fwd to the CV1 as the sense of immersion is terrific. But when looking directly at something there's no question that the game looks quite a bit worse than a bog standard 1080p monitor can portray. Higher resolution... make that overall higher quality imaging... is needed before Google's $2B investment in these guys will pay off. I suspect they'll get there - and hope they do - but it's still a 6 out of 10 product currently. Maybe 7 out of 10 on a really great day. In my humble opinion, of course.

I also believe - from having read numerous posts on this forum and elsewhere - that most who "love" the DK2 do so because they're excited about the concept and possibilities and/or they're judging it relative to the inferior DK1. Yes, it's very cool. But it needs work, and hopefully CV1 will overcome DK2's major shortcomings.

 

[Flavio]

It gives a great wow factor for 5 mins but that is the sheer beauty of the game but I wouldn't buy one . On the other hand I was more impressed with the TrackIR type headgear. That along with a nice sized monitor is probably better.

 

[Katkon]

I'll let you know when mine arrive.

It was just $500 including shipping and taxes after all, so I'm not expecting much. Still have TrackIR to hold me over for "consumer use" until the actual OR release.

If the unit is completely useless for [gaming] use, I can at least use it as a party gimmick, or dust off some old OpenGL code and play with it that way.

I must say that I'm most curious to see how the tracking compares to TrackIR.

I don't think it's completely useless at all. Just be prepared to be both blown away and a bit disappointed at the same time. It's a bit of an odd feeling. For example, right now I'd debating having a go at E: D with or without the DK2. The sense of motion, speed, depth etc. is phenominal - but once your head stops moving (or your ship stops moving) and you're looking at a relatively static image it's not as impressive.

Floating around inside Azeban City for example: the sense of scale is incredible. It "feels" so real. And then you look down and see your (tiny!) body, feet and hands: it's almost like you're there. But then at the same time you realize that you're having a hard time distinguishing an Anaconda from a Cobra by the station entrance, and notice that objects on the other side of the station are a bit blurry... Again, very mixed feelings. But perhaps you'll be one of the many who thinks it's home-run out of the box.

 

[saviornt]

Am I disappointed in the resolution? Well, not really disappointed. I wish it was a 2k screen, of course I do. I also wish I had a million dollars too.

Is it a PITA to set up? - Yep.

Is there hardly any content, of which what there is that is out there, is kinda buggy or makes you sick? - Yep

Am I going to get one? - Yep

Oh, and I don't have one, never tried the DK2. I do have a DK1 though. Oh, and while I may be super depressed that this development kit is not a consumer product, I think that I will be more depressed that I do not have a million dollars in my bank account. Know why? Because it's a development kit for a bloody reason. Instead of making a "Oh, I'm so disappointed" or "The DK2 sucks" or "This !@#% is !@#%" or whatever, how about you go over on the Oculus forums, make a thread on what you would like to see implemented and how to implement it in a cost effective manner, and then, maybe then.. you will get your opinion heard.

As it is now, w/e you have to say is irrelevant.

Oh, and before you rush out to buy a Samsung GearVR device.. IT IS A DEVELOPMENT KIT! (In Samsung's terminology, it is an "Innovator" product).

 

[Katkon]

Am I disappointed in the resolution? Well, not really disappointed. I wish it was a 2k screen, of course I do. I also wish I had a million dollars too.

Is it a PITA to set up? - Yep.

Is there hardly any content, of which what there is that is out there, is kinda buggy or makes you sick? - Yep

Am I going to get one? - Yep

Oh, and I don't have one, never tried the DK2. I do have a DK1 though. Oh, and while I may be super depressed that this development kit is not a consumer product, I think that I will be more depressed that I do not have a million dollars in my bank account. Know why? Because it's a development kit for a bloody reason. Instead of making a "Oh, I'm so disappointed" or "The DK2 sucks" or "This !@#% is !@#%" or whatever, how about you go over on the Oculus forums, make a thread on what you would like to see implemented and how to implement it in a cost effective manner, and then, maybe then.. you will get your opinion heard.

As it is now, w/e you have to say is irrelevant.

Oh, and before you rush out to buy a Samsung GearVR device.. IT IS A DEVELOPMENT KIT! (In Samsung's terminology, it is an "Innovator" product).

Thank you for your post. You made me laugh. On a more serious note: nothing that I've said is new, so no point raising it with Oculus. I was just wondering if I was missing something, and have come to the conclusion that I am not. Cool concept that's in need of a serious HW upgrade.

As an aside I do find the many references to it being a development kit quite comical. First, it's blatantly obvious to anyone with even a passing interest in VR and Oculus. But secondly, why should that abscond them from any criticism and otherwise non-positive feedback? Essentially you're really just saying that unless I have something positive to say about the product, don't say anything at all.

Bottom line: The product works as designed. The design just needs a lot of work. No amount of development kit references, swearing, name-calling or otherwise immature, anti-social or combative behavior will change that very simple irrefutable fact.

 

[mikemorris444@gmail.com]

Contact Oculus support about the face of the rift sliding back and forth. My dk1 had the same problem (the gear holding it in place on one side was missing) and they sent me a replacement right away and I didn't have to send the faulty one back until I received the new one. There is a fix you can find on oculus reddit that helps with chromatic aberration but you'll have to search for it. And also, you can super sample and change the res higher which might help things look a little sharper but may also hit the performance a bit.

 

[Spectre Alpha]

I took delivery yesterday and after a lot of fiddling have it working in E: D.

Yes, it's much more immersive than playing on a single monitor. The positional tracking is cool, and the general VR feel is great too.

BUT, the resolution absolutely sucks. Pixels, pixels everywhere. Hard to read text. Orangeish outlines around objects if not situated directly in front of the camera (i.e. if you slouch in your set). "White" stars with rainbow-coloured outlines. Not to mention is looks a bit blurry at times (have tried both lenses, and stuck As as my vision is 20/20). Oh, and the wires/leads are too short for anyone not situated at a desk. I realize some have had success extending. Also way too fiddly to set up - which of course can be partly excused by virtue of this being a development kit. Build quality is OK, but unfortunately my left side adjuster is loose, so it keeps "auto"adjusting when I take it off or put it on.

I'd give Oculus a 10/10 for effort, but a 6 out of 10 for execution. Perhaps my fondness for the thing will grow, but it's far from perfect. I may revert back to playing on a big screen TV for crisper imagery and forego the VR experience until CV1 comes out.

Am I the only one who feels this way????

I think that 6 out of 10 is too generous, I give 3 out of 10 because it's so horrible and makes the game a lot less fun.

 

[BazzaLB]

I also agree with the op and its widely accepted that the resolution is to low.
Complaining about it is another matter. All these petulant children should realise its a developers kit for a reason.

I can see it now. Now one complains about anything because its a DK. CV1 comes along. Everyone now complains. Oculus are amazed, surprised and confused by the response as.....you guessed it.... No one complained about the DKs. If only they knew, they could have made some adjustments to their design...now its too late.

 

[Dark Lord Insidious]

Well here we have the truth on this steaming pile of nerdgasm, I myself use a Sony HMZ T2, which some fanboys got quite upset about the other day when I taunted their oculi, I can read text clearly, shoot at ships at distance clearly and all in 3d yes, with a track ir as I suspected my experience with the HMZ T2 is far superior to the rift in it's current state..

Anyway I digress from the reason I made this post, I had the cheek to claim that VR and the oculus may be a fad, because simply wearing something on your head is a pain I just cant be bothered with to play a casual game.

Anyway I digress once more here are the facts and why I entitled my post "Suckers".

Look how much the so called "DK1" changed from the "DK2" in such a relatively small space of time from using a gyroscope to using an ir solution combined, this means that anybody who bought a DK1 now has learned nothing about developing because the product has completely changed.

Nobody can tell me that oculus did not already know about ir tracking when making DK1, they just didn't include it because they wanted you all to wait and buy another set DK2, and so I predict a pattern will emerge from this, anybody buying DK2 for actual development is going to have a hard time migrating their newly aquired "skillz" to the "DK3" or final product because I think oculus will release umpteen DK's all with different hardware and never release a full version.
The DK2 is basically a track ir with a samsung phone screen and some lenses lets be honest.

Also I have seen the DK2 on ebay for like £500-£600, what's that all about ?they only retail from oculus at about £250

So here is the upshot of my rant
oculus are stringing you all along, they know what they need to do the job and they simply havent made it because it will cost too much money, they need twin oled's at least for proper stereo 3d with zero ghosting like the HMZ has, and oled's ain't cheap, just watch the consumer oculus will cost about £700 that's if they ever make it.

ahh not this guy again , hes never even used one but thinks he knows all because he got roped into buying one of those crazy priced non vr sony headsets......... let the people who have used it comment please!!

 

[dtt255]

We'll ordered mine tonight and the delivery date was shown as Oct.

Total impulse buy when my 14 year oops and I we're watching videos of the OR and E : D and he was like " that is the kewlest thing ever!"

So total impulse buy. Lol

NOTE: Oops wrong thread lol

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

Thank you for your post. You made me laugh. On a more serious note: nothing that I've said is new, so no point raising it with Oculus. I was just wondering if I was missing something, and have come to the conclusion that I am not. Cool concept that's in need of a serious HW upgrade.

As an aside I do find the many references to it being a development kit quite comical. First, it's blatantly obvious to anyone with even a passing interest in VR and Oculus. But secondly, why should that abscond them from any criticism and otherwise non-positive feedback? Essentially you're really just saying that unless I have something positive to say about the product, don't say anything at all.

Bottom line: The product works as designed. The design just needs a lot of work. No amount of development kit references, swearing, name-calling or otherwise immature, anti-social or combative behavior will change that very simple irrefutable fact.

I think they know they need better resolution for CV1, but are having to wait for better displays to become available.

The question remains: how did you manage to buy one with the gopping level of over expectation you are displaying? What were you expecting from a smartphone screen at many times magnification?

Anyway, back to monitors for you I guess, flying tiny little ships around tiny stations.

In the words of the song:

It was an Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Sidewinder
that he flew for the first time today.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

I can see it now. Now one complains about anything because its a DK. CV1 comes along. Everyone now complains. Oculus are amazed, surprised and confused by the response as.....you guessed it.... No one complained about the DKs. If only they knew, they could have made some adjustments to their design...now its too late.

Oculus have a forum where grow up people go to give feedback on the Rifts.

 

[EdwinStowe]

no worries

I've owned a DK1 for quite some time and if someone thinks the DK2 has a bad resolution, can you imagine what the "screen door effect" looks like on mine? My reaction wasn't "This looks horrible!" it was "I can't wait til this screen is 4k! *vomit*

Keep in mind the first release took awhile before it was up and running properly. Also the best demos like Senza Peso came out later in the DK1's life span. It will get better over the months, I'm sure.

Just look forward to the release of the consumer version which should fix your complaints and keep that kit in good shape because it will most definitely become a collectors item.

 

[BazzaLB]

Oculus have a forum where grow up people go to give feedback on the Rifts.

Most "grown up" LOL, companies would love the sort of revenue raising market research Oculus are getting prior to the CV1. People's complaints will only help improve the consumer release. (So long as they are legitimate).

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

Most "grown up" LOL, companies would love the sort of revenue raising market research Oculus are getting prior to the CV1. People's complaints will only help improve the consumer release. (So long as they are legitimate).

What's the point in moaning about the resolution of the DK2 when, obviously, Oculus are awaiting next gen screens that will, hopefully, go a long way to making the experience loads better!

 

[BazzaLB]

What's the point in moaning about the resolution of the DK2 when, obviously, Oculus are awaiting next gen screens that will, hopefully, go a long way to making the experience loads better!

Yes, good point. I guess I was more addressing the general statement people made about complaints regarding Dev Kits.

 

[JaviLM]

It's a tradeoff

I play exclusively in the DK2. I tried playing on the screen for the increased resolution, but it wasn't worth my time.

The reason why I play on the Rift is immersion. I like the feeling of actually being there, looking around the cockpit and actually piloting a ship, as opposed to looking at things happen on the screen as if I was a third-party in the action.

In my opinion, the feeling of immersion is worth the decreased resolution.

On top of that, you have to remember that:

- The current E version is a beta and uses an obsolete Oculus driver. It doesn't even use the DK2 in direct mode.

- The current Oculus Rift is a developer kit. It's not intended for you to play games, it's intended for developers to develop applications (duh) before the consumer version is released.

So basically, you're using the beta of a software product, running on beta hardware, and you're complaining that you're not getting the same results as a finished product.

 

[Vulfy]

I had DK1. I couldn't get over the low resolution of it, so I sold it. However that gave me something to compare DK2 to. Yes DK2 still is pretty low res, but at least now its somewhat usable. I've played Elite with DK2 for a week or so, and after adjusting Nvidia settings, it is in a state where I can comfortably enjoy it, and the immersion outweighs the lack of resolution.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

So basically, you're using the beta of a software product, running on beta hardware, and you're complaining that you're not getting the same results as a finished product.

What sensible people need to remember is that there are a lot of stupid people about who will buy without thinking first and then whine without thinking first.

Such people will inevitably get shot down in flames whereupon they will become bitter and entrenched, because they are too stupid to be logical. Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[saviornt]

snip

This is going to sound rude, and it is not you specifically that I am aiming this post to, but everyone that beats the dead horse with another dead horse.

If, before you posted your gripes, you had bothered doing any research on the kit, you would have realized that OVR realizes the issues that the DK2 has. Not only that, but they have, more or less, released the CV1 specs (in a round-about manner if you look at market trends, hardware prices, statements, etc..). Or you could just read any of the myriad of posts on the forums with realistic expectations of specifications.

- 1440p (ie: 2.5k screen)
- 110 degree FOV (a tad larger fov than dk1, which is 105 degree)
- Smaller in size, lighter in weight

Now, here is the kicker with the SDE. Even the 2.5k screen has a screen door effect, IF you are looking for it. Another thing; the lenses scratch entirely way too easy (in the DK2). Do you want to know how they're going to solve it? It's a $2.00 fix.

Screen diffuser/scratch protector film. Easy to do, cheap to do it.

Now.. you don't think I have MY complaints? I made a couple of suggestions, but most of my complaints on the hardware specs and faults are pretty much all software based. For example:

- Currently the Dk2 needs a higher end graphics card. This can be solved using the idea that John Carmack was swinging around about foveating the rendering. What's the progress on that?

- There should be a video pass-through on the headset. Not really for AR-applications, but as a "where did I put xyz at" or "i need to see my keyboard" or any of the reasons you need to take the headset off now. Do not tell me how "laggy" and unusable it would be, my webcam can record at 90fps; and I'm not asking for the software to record anything.

- The tracking camera needs to have 3 cameras. 2 for stereoscopic recording, each on the opposite side of the tracking camera. Or at LEAST make this type of camera/webcam an accessory.

- That bloody warning label needs to be on OR application install, rather than have it run every bloody time you launch your game. Make that warning a "template" for developers to use instead of hiding the crap in code.

Some of the other complaints I had were solved (today actually):

Added a new chroma setting for minimum eye relief, improving chromatic aberration correction when configured through the Oculus Configuration Utility.

Added “Riftsaver” mode, which turns off Rift display in direct mode if the headset is not in use.