Has anyone tried Pico 4 with ED?

[Rudlzavedno]

o7 commanders,

I'm really tempted to pull a trigger on buying Pico 4 now that's on sale (399€). I can't find any videos or reviews Pico 4 and Elite dangerous. Has anyone of you tried the combo?
Plus, how good PC do I need? Would my R5 5600/16GB/500GB NVME SSD/3060 TI suffice to run Pico 4 + ED horizons combo? Thanks for replies and fly safe.

 

[BinakAlgo]

I am using a Pico 4, and while I am satisfied with it so far I am not sure if I can recommend it to everybody. I come from a Rift CV1 so any headset made in the last 5 years looks awesome to me, but I doubt a Quest 2 user would see too much difference. If you are planning to play mostly simulation games like Elite, DCS, F-1 2022, and similar the HP Reverb G2 V2 is the most recommended headset around here. As Pico 4 and Quest 2/Pro have to stream by USB or wifi the quality will always be lower.

I think your rig can run ED horizons but not in the max settings.

 

[Rudlzavedno]

I am using a Pico 4, and while I am satisfied with it so far I am not sure if I can recommend it to everybody. I come from a Rift CV1 so any headset made in the last 5 years looks awesome to me, but I doubt a Quest 2 user would see too much difference. If you are planning to play mostly simulation games like Elite, DCS, F-1 2022, and similar the HP Reverb G2 V2 is the most recommended headset around here. As Pico 4 and Quest 2/Pro have to stream by USB or wifi the quality will always be lower.

I think your rig can run ED horizons but not in the max settings.

Are blacks decent enough and is performance & image quality acceptable? You're probably using VD right?
I'd get a G2, but it still costs 700€ here in Germany. A bit too much imho.

 

[Coppermine]

I had Pico 4 and Pico Link 3. Decided to keep the 3 link and return the Pico 4. I play mainly E.D:O and a bunch of racing sims. AC with loads of mods, and AMS2, and heavily modded Fallout 4 VR.. The link 3's display port connection was a much smoother, better looking & responsive experience than Pico4, and at less overhead because of compression / streaming. Virtual Desktop was good on god mode with Pico4 (i7 12700k and 3080ti), but Link 3 was still crisper, smoother and without stutters or artefacting. So, this has replaced my PCVR headset (Rift S) and for standalone stuff, I use my Quest 2.

 

[BinakAlgo]

Are blacks decent enough and is performance & image quality acceptable? You're probably using VD right?
I'd get a G2, but it still costs 700€ here in Germany. A bit too much imho.

They are decent enough for me and also I like the image quality, but as said, coming from the rift CV1 anything looks fantastic to me. About the G2, have you tried to order it from the USA directly? I checked it but the tax and shipping prevented any savings from my country, but maybe you will have better luck.

Another option could be the Pico Link 3, as Coppermine suggests.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I had Pico 4 and Pico Link 3. Decided to keep the 3 link and return the Pico 4. I play mainly E.D:O and a bunch of racing sims. AC with loads of mods, and AMS2, and heavily modded Fallout 4 VR.. The link 3's display port connection was a much smoother, better looking & responsive experience than Pico4, and at less overhead because of compression / streaming. Virtual Desktop was good on god mode with Pico4 (17 12700k and 3080ti, but Link 3 was still crisper, smoother and without stutters or artefacting. So, this has replaced my PCVR headset (Rift S) and for standalone stuff, I use my Quest 2.

Why on earth did Pico decide to go USB over DP?

 

[Coppermine]

Why on earth did Pico decide to go USB over DP?

Madness isn't it?

 

[BinakAlgo]

Why on earth did Pico decide to go USB over DP?

Maybe money. I suppose it is a strategy like the one of Meta, where consumers will prefer their online shop instead of buying their games from Steam. It's been rumored that both the Quest 2 and Pico 4 are sold almost at production hoping to have profits with the game sales. I think that is why Meta bought so many VR game studios.

 

[Rudlzavedno]

Hi guys, I just wanna give an update on my new headset search. I decided to go with G2 in the end and my first impressions are a mix bag. I was hoping to get blown away by image quality but was a bit disappointed to be honest. FOV is OK at least for me, like looking through ski googles, but the screens and lenses are just not good enough. Blacks are quite grayish even with gamma in ED set to the lowest so a sense of depth in the dark cockpit suffers a lot. Colors are bellow quality of good IPS monitor and resolution is not high enough for me not to notice narrow black spaces between pixels forming a very fine grid on bright backgrounds. The worst part of it is a really small sweet spot. Image is clear only in the center, everywhere else gets a bit blurry, no matter how tight I fasten the straps. And then there are god rays a, A LOT of them. Especially around text and a bit of chromatic aberration. I haven't tried narrower face gasket yet, maybe this can solve the sweet spot issue.

I tried to watch 4K and 3D movies using Big screen besides playing ED and accounted the same problems. Image quality is borderline acceptable, but worse then on my average 2K Sony home LCD 48" TV screen, so I really see no reason to watch movies in the headset.

And then there is comfort. IF G2 is really the most comfortable headset, I can't imagine how bad other headsets must be. I tested G2 for about 5 hours yesterday and it's a front heavy for sure. My neck felt very tired after testing and I was using it mostly in seated position.

So all in all I don't know if I'll be playing ED in VR much. Maybe some more tweaking will change my mind but as things stand I find it more enjoyable to use triple monitor setup. Any suggestions what to do to improve above mentioned problems?

Btw. I used Exigeus settings for testing:

Source: https://youtu.be/G7efYzpquIs?t=69

 

[SPA_Rioku]

I had Pico 4 and Pico Link 3. Decided to keep the 3 link and return the Pico 4. I play mainly E.D:O and a bunch of racing sims. AC with loads of mods, and AMS2, and heavily modded Fallout 4 VR.. The link 3's display port connection was a much smoother, better looking & responsive experience than Pico4, and at less overhead because of compression / streaming. Virtual Desktop was good on god mode with Pico4 (i7 12700k and 3080ti), but Link 3 was still crisper, smoother and without stutters or artefacting. So, this has replaced my PCVR headset (Rift S) and for standalone stuff, I use my Quest 2.

I have Pico Link 3 also.

Just bought a 4070 ti.

Can you put a screenshot of the Graphic settings please?

Im new in VR and don´t know what to set.

Thanks!

 

[BinakAlgo]

Hi guys, I just wanna give an update on my new headset search. I decided to go with G2 in the end and my first impressions are a mix bag. I was hoping to get blown away by image quality but was a bit disappointed to be honest. FOV is OK at least for me, like looking through ski googles, but the screens and lenses are just not good enough. Blacks are quite grayish even with gamma in ED set to the lowest so a sense of depth in the dark cockpit suffers a lot. Colors are bellow quality of good IPS monitor and resolution is not high enough for me not to notice narrow black spaces between pixels forming a very fine grid on bright backgrounds. The worst part of it is a really small sweet spot. Image is clear only in the center, everywhere else gets a bit blurry, no matter how tight I fasten the straps. And then there are god rays a, A LOT of them. Especially around text and a bit of chromatic aberration. I haven't tried narrower face gasket yet, maybe this can solve the sweet spot issue.

I tried to watch 4K and 3D movies using Big screen besides playing ED and accounted the same problems. Image quality is borderline acceptable, but worse then on my average 2K Sony home LCD 48" TV screen, so I really see no reason to watch movies in the headset.

And then there is comfort. IF G2 is really the most comfortable headset, I can't imagine how bad other headsets must be. I tested G2 for about 5 hours yesterday and it's a front heavy for sure. My neck felt very tired after testing and I was using it mostly in seated position.

So all in all I don't know if I'll be playing ED in VR much. Maybe some more tweaking will change my mind but as things stand I find it more enjoyable to use triple monitor setup. Any suggestions what to do to improve above mentioned problems?

Btw. I used Exigeus settings for testing:

Source: https://youtu.be/G7efYzpquIs?t=69

Sad to hear. Maybe if you play with the settings you could get something playable? Other than that, I like the experience even with the Rift CV1. The first time that I went from orbit to a planet's surface is something I will never forget.

 

[Rudlzavedno]

Sad to hear. Maybe if you play with the settings you could get something playable? Other than that, I like the experience even with the Rift CV1. The first time that I went from orbit to a planet's surface is something I will never forget.

I have changed my mind since writing the post above. I have played a bit more with it and made some adjustments that really made a difference. First I 3D printed narrower face gasket which brings my eyes so close to the lenses that I can see the edges of the panels. This widened sweet spot a lot and FOV quite a bit. Then I exchanged steamVR for OpenXR via OpenComposite + OpenXR tools + OpenXR Toolkit. This way I got access to FSR and Fixed foveated rendering. Both make a lot of difference as I can lower native randering resolution to 70-80% via FSR and blur the edges we I don't see clearly due to fresnel lenses limitations anyway via fixed foveated rendering and then crank up supersampling in ingame settings to 1.25 to 1.5. This gave me performance boost and better image quality at the same time. I was actually surprised I can get pretty stable 60FPS at these settings in Horizons on my underpowered 3060TI while still getting good image clarity at high graphics settings. The only downside is occasional image artefacting due to rhe use of FSR, but well worth it for the difference it makes. The only thing missing now is a comfortable foam for headset and I'll be pretty pleased with results. I think I can now live with G2 until a release of a headset that will use pancake lenses, oled panels and offer native uncompressed PC support. Pico 4 link or Quest 3 maybe? Probably some third party if at all.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

First I 3D printed narrower face gasket which brings my eyes so close to the lenses that I can see the edges of the panels. This widened sweet spot a lot and FOV quite a bit.

You didn't specify which version of the G2 you got, but if it is the newer V2 version, you might not be aware that the gasket can now be split in two parts, making it shorter and thus enlarging the POV. Now, I have a 3D printed version myself, too, and the FOV is still a bit larget than with the original gasket, but the cloth padding of the included gasket is much more comfortable and face-friendly than the PU "leather" padding from... I think it is the vive that I put on my 3D printed one.

The new version of the gasket is much more comfortable and almost as good as the 3D printed one (I am guessing you are using the same one from thingieverse I have? Seems to be the most popular one).

 

[Rudlzavedno]

You didn't specify which version of the G2 you got, but if it is the newer V2 version, you might not be aware that the gasket can now be split in two parts, making it shorter and thus enlarging the POV. Now, I have a 3D printed version myself, too, and the FOV is still a bit larget than with the original gasket, but the cloth padding of the included gasket is much more comfortable and face-friendly than the PU "leather" padding from... I think it is the vive that I put on my 3D printed one.

The new version of the gasket is much more comfortable and almost as good as the 3D printed one (I am guessing you are using the same one from thingieverse I have? Seems to be the most popular one).

I have V1 of G2. 3D print is based on German "WideVision Mod Gasket" coupled with 6mm foam. I can clearly see the edges of the panels all around so FOV is as good as it gets with G2.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I cannot see the etsy page without an account, but I assume it is the same as this one. I can see the edges of the panels, too. It is loads better than the V1 gasket.

 

[Rudlzavedno]

I cannot see the etsy page without an account, but I assume it is the same as this one. I can see the edges of the panels, too. It is loads better than the V1 gasket.

It's this one from haptic-prints.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Nice. When I got mine I had to source the padding and the magets myself, and the print is just okay, rather rough and one of the magnet slots is too wide. I had it printed because I don't own a 3D printer.