My HP Reverb G2 helmet is broken. I'm choosing a new one.
- Thread starter Meresiga
- Start date
I replaced my G2 with a Pimax Crystal Light and couldn't be happier.
Once all the settings have been dialed in the image quality is second to none in ED. Biggest WoW moment I've had since the first time I tried my Oculus CV1 in ED all those years ago.
I know there have been a lot of QA issues and poor customer relations with Pimax. Thats why I bought mine from Amazon - just incase there was a problem and wanted to return it within the first month.
Happy to say, no problems - so far - with mine.
Once all the settings have been dialed in the image quality is second to none in ED. Biggest WoW moment I've had since the first time I tried my Oculus CV1 in ED all those years ago.
I know there have been a lot of QA issues and poor customer relations with Pimax. Thats why I bought mine from Amazon - just incase there was a problem and wanted to return it within the first month.
Happy to say, no problems - so far - with mine.
I went with a Pico4U because it's a lot cheaper than Pimax, is reliable, has better visuals than my G2 and has a the Broadcom Snapdragon XR2 processor so that some of the post processing work can be offloaded to the headset rather than being done on your PC GPU. Crystal Light has better resolution and wider FOV but, given the GPU offload to the headset Pico4U, I'm going to guess, with no supporting data, that I'll get better latency and frame rates. E.g. where we have CAS and HMD scaling in the game. Leave CAS off and HMD scaling at x1.0 and let the headset do this in it's own processor. Crystal Light can't do any of this AFAIK.
BTW, IMO the Crystal Light is a great headset and I've been a supporter of Pimax since I backed the 4K in 2016. I bought a Pico4U over the Crystal Light because I couldn't get a Pimax Crystal Super. Plus the Pico4U can do a tonne of other stuff that the Light can't, however I won't go there as it's not ED related. Pico4U has great tracking and doesn't need base stations unlike the Crystal Light but for the Crystal you can buy an optional eye tracking add-on ( I think ) whereas the P4U cannot do eye tracking. The Crystal will also do 120Hz as opposed to the Pico 4U's 90Hz but good luck getting 120fps in ED VR.
Pico 4U happily uses wireless with no addons but also USB-C, both of which are less cable weight than display port. If you really want, you can plug pretty much anything into the USB port, storage, power, power+streaming.
Also, my Pico4U is BT paired to my Bose sound system so I have both the directional sound from the headset and ambient sound from the speakers at the same time. I don't 'think' the Crystal Light can do this.
I could go on. In short, for the extra cost IMO, the Crystal Light isn't even slightly worth it over the P4U and loses too many features.
However, that being said, as soon as the Pimax Crystal Super is out, I'll have it.
BTW, IMO the Crystal Light is a great headset and I've been a supporter of Pimax since I backed the 4K in 2016. I bought a Pico4U over the Crystal Light because I couldn't get a Pimax Crystal Super. Plus the Pico4U can do a tonne of other stuff that the Light can't, however I won't go there as it's not ED related. Pico4U has great tracking and doesn't need base stations unlike the Crystal Light but for the Crystal you can buy an optional eye tracking add-on ( I think ) whereas the P4U cannot do eye tracking. The Crystal will also do 120Hz as opposed to the Pico 4U's 90Hz but good luck getting 120fps in ED VR.
Pico 4U happily uses wireless with no addons but also USB-C, both of which are less cable weight than display port. If you really want, you can plug pretty much anything into the USB port, storage, power, power+streaming.
Also, my Pico4U is BT paired to my Bose sound system so I have both the directional sound from the headset and ambient sound from the speakers at the same time. I don't 'think' the Crystal Light can do this.
I could go on. In short, for the extra cost IMO, the Crystal Light isn't even slightly worth it over the P4U and loses too many features.
However, that being said, as soon as the Pimax Crystal Super is out, I'll have it.
Alternatively, if you still like your G2 and you're in the UK, you can have mine plus... my spare 3m ( or is 6m, can't recall ) headset connector cable ( unwrapped ) all for £50 plus shipping. That'll get you however many years provided you either stay on Win10 or just don't put the W11 24H2 build on ( can still keep patching though, I've done this on another PC to keep WMR ). P4U was a boredom purchase and I'm happy with it now.
Not sure where you heard this but the CL tracking works great without any base stations.
If I were buying a new headset today, I'd rank them like this:
Let us know how the P4U works out though!
- MeganeX Superlight 8K
- Somnium VR1
- Pimax Crystal Light
- Used HP Reverb G1 or G2 (if you plan to continue using Windows 10)
Let us know how the P4U works out though!
It does indeed just say preorder on their website, but I think they've started shipping. I've seen regular people posting on iRacing and r/virtualreality after receiving theirs.
en.shiftall.net
MeganeX superlight 8K
The MeganeX Superlight 8K is not just another VR headset. It stands out with its ultra-lightweight design, 4K micro OLED displays per eye, and SteamVR tracking compatibility. This unique combination ensures unparalleled lightness and comfort, making it a top choice for VR enthusiasts. The 10-bit...
en.shiftall.net
I bought and set up a Pico 4 Ultra helmet to play Elite Dangerous (in full VR mode, and with audio in the helmet itself).
Before that, I had an HP Reverb G2 helmet and all the settings in the game were already set to high-quality VR (video card in an RTX 2080 laptop) and for the game to work in a 3D helmet and output sound to the helmet. That is, all the settings in the game for VR mode have remained the same.
To center the image output of the game itself in the helmet, I use the F12 key (when SteamVR is running).
The image is excellent! Even better than it was in the HP Reverb G2 (naturally– because in the Pico 4 Ultra the resolution itself is higher).
Well, since I play with glasses, I bought an additional mask with higher ventilation, and glued protective films on the lenses inside the helmet).
Now I'm completely independent of Microsoft Mixed Reality, but I'm playing Elite Dangerous in VR mode.
Before that, I had an HP Reverb G2 helmet and all the settings in the game were already set to high-quality VR (video card in an RTX 2080 laptop) and for the game to work in a 3D helmet and output sound to the helmet. That is, all the settings in the game for VR mode have remained the same.
To center the image output of the game itself in the helmet, I use the F12 key (when SteamVR is running).
The image is excellent! Even better than it was in the HP Reverb G2 (naturally– because in the Pico 4 Ultra the resolution itself is higher).
Well, since I play with glasses, I bought an additional mask with higher ventilation, and glued protective films on the lenses inside the helmet).
Now I'm completely independent of Microsoft Mixed Reality, but I'm playing Elite Dangerous in VR mode.
VR is dead they said.
Elite is on maintenance mode they said.
The pessimistic say alot of things.
I'm so glad they're wrong.
VR headsets are being developed and released. Elite is in bloom... never has there been a better time to buy a VR headset and just take in the visuals Elite has to offer.
So whatever headset you have, or intend to buy, go ahead enjoy this not so perfect, yet wonderful game.
Elite is on maintenance mode they said.
The pessimistic say alot of things.
I'm so glad they're wrong.
VR headsets are being developed and released. Elite is in bloom... never has there been a better time to buy a VR headset and just take in the visuals Elite has to offer.
So whatever headset you have, or intend to buy, go ahead enjoy this not so perfect, yet wonderful game.
The death of VR has been prophesied since before the first (modern) consumer headsets got released - and here we are nearly ten years later.
I play in VR every day that I can. I’ve been playing computer games since 1979 and putting on my first HMD in 2017 was the biggest paradigm shift I’ve experienced in computer graphics/interaction.
It’s always nice to read someone’s experiences with new headsets - clarity and resolution are always on the up-and-up
Wholly agree. Like you my days go back to that era when pixels were as big as a half penny piece. On a tv the size of a small car hehe.
Things were much simpler then.
Now we have to research everything we buy, watch our retailers as some are not legit, taking stock of upcoming tech that we want oh so badly.
I recently treated myself to the all new 9070xt. It arrives tomorrow superceding my trusty 3090fe. And like a 10 Yr old boy opening a present under the Christmas tree, it's as exciting now as it was back then.
Heh heh, you are going to have soo much fun. IMO, pay the fee and download Virtual Desktop. It gives you fine grained control over communication protocols, bit rates etc. The only downside to VR Desktop is that you 'have' to use the controllers. If you use the native tool, I very quickly left the controllers in the box and just do everything with hand gestures.
IMO, set the light filter option to reduce blue light, it really helps with eye strain and fatigue.
If you're as OCD as I am, you're going to spend hours rebalancing GPU driver settings, game settings and headset settings to decide what compute effort should go where.
Don't forget; 'PC gaming is dead', 'Mac's are going to replace PCs' and the timeless, 'Linux will replace Windows'.
![[VR] DDM_Reaper20](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/44/44021.jpg?1588332101){kind=avatar}
If money is absolutely no issue, the Somnium is undoubtedly a great choice. Not everybody has the dough to plonk down between 2,000 and 3,000 dollars for a VR headset, though.
The MeganeX Superlight 8K plays in a similar league -- 1,999 bucks for the headset,controllers and base station not included.Next time, do an old fart a favour and give prices right away. I hope my insurance pays for heart attack treatment following price shock.
What is the difference between the image in VR mode in the Reverb G2 helmet and in the Pico 4 Ultra helmet?
The Reverb G2 helmet has a better image in the center for two reasons:
1) Due to the uncompressed image being used via a DisplayPort cable.
2) Because the field of view (FOV) is smaller: - with the same number of pixels, there will be more pixels by one degree.
However, the Reverb G2 has Fresnel lenses. Therefore, to the left, right, top and bottom of the image center is the image it stops being sharp and is inferior to Pancake lenses (such as the Pico 4 Ultra helmet and the Quest 3 helmet).
If the graphics card is not too powerful, then both advantages will be insignificant due to the poor image from the games, as there will be no "WOW" effect from either DisplayPort or Pancake lenses.
And the image can be bad because of a bad wireless router that has a low speed over Wi-Fi (you have to set a low bitrate and a low resolution).