"Ultra" graphics settings in VR - actually makes things look worse? (Rift CV1)

[maxxs]

Also just posted this in the reddit elite dangerous sub forum, but thought it would be useful here too -

I've been doing a lot of fiddling trying to clear up the image in my Oculus Rift CV1 the colors seem washed out, etc etc. I have a high end system (i7 6700, gtx 1080) and noticed myself during experiments that flipping to low settings paradoxically produced a somewhat clearer image, especially in space stations where high settings made everything look foggy, which causes some eye strain. I should add that with ultra settings I get 90fps everywhere with supersampling set to 1 - I've tried various other supersampling settings via debug tool and in-game, but never saw enough of a difference to really justify the FPS hit.


Then today I saw an interesting post on the steam forums where someone was essentially advocating for the same thing, suggesting that turning off a lot of the graphics settings helps create a better picture:


https://steamcommunity.com/app/359320/discussions/0/343786195664792551/


Would be interested to hear from other Rift CV1 users on what kind of settings you guys are using - here is the text of the point to save a click-through (NOT MINE):

How to: Min/Maxing graphics settings for Miners (Oculus Rift/GTX1080)


As a real life pilot I enjoy playing Elite Dangerous as a miner. It is a lot like crop dusting; flying very close to the ground, trying to be as efficient as possible; and a whole lot of fun. I bought a Oculus Rift and a GTX 1080 to run it because I need the visual freedom, and really enjoy the "presence" being in VR gives me (great at de-stressing after a day of hospital nursing).


I spend a lot of time looking at rocks and wanted to share my graphics settings to help others in this time of VR infancy. These settings give the highest visual quality while maintaining 90fps so not to get nauseated:


Ambient Occlusion: Off. While looking at rocks, objects are not close enough to each other to cause shadow occlusion.


Antialiasing: Off. The fresnel lens (blooming) and high resolution of the Oculus Rift negates the need for antialiasing.


Bloom: Off. The fresnel lens of the Oculus Rift creates blooming on its own.


Blur: Off. Why?


Environment Quality: Ultra. For a nice backdrop.


Depth Of Field: Off. Why?


FX Quality: Low. Any higher than low and the magenta mining laser fills the cockpit with magenta light that is very hard on the eyes.


Galaxy Map Quality: Low. The galaxy map kills FPS.


Material Quality: High. The limiting factor is the FPS dip while going inside a space station and during the landing inside the space station.


Model Draw Distance: (Full right slider). Need to be able to see pirates as far as possible.


Reflections Quality: High. Metallic rocks are "reflective".


Shadow Quality: ULTRA. Must be ultra for rocks to cast shadows on each other. This is a must have feature and can save a collision while working rocks that are in close proximity to each other.


Supersampling: x1.0 No need to supersample (in Elite Dangerous settings or using the Oculus Debug Tool). For improved reading of the HUD text, just put the HUD brightness on minimum (set in-game, with the HUD settings) to minimize the blooming effect of the Oculus Rift fresnel lens.


Terrain Material Quality: Ultra. For interesting to look at rocks.


Terrain Quality: Ultra. For interesting to look at rocks.


Terrain Work: (Full right slider). Seeing any rock modeling & shading work being done breaks the VR "presence".


Terrain Sampler Quality: LOW. This is only antialiasing of the terrain shader texture. The fresnel lens and high resolution of the Oculus Rift negates the need for antialiasing.


Texture Quality: High. For interesting to look at rocks.