Valve Index VR headset

And if you watch to the end, Seb of MRTV comes down unequivocally and repeatedly on the side of the Valve Index over the Pimax 5K+ and 8K. Based on that and some other reviews I've read, I've reserved the Index on the Steam Store. There's no obligation after all. I was quoted 30th September, so am hoping that they are under-promising.
 
Is there any reason to get this one instead of Reverb?

I don’t have either but the Reverb has some serious quality issues at the moment. Many are being returned and from what I’ve read things are so bad they have temporarily stop selling them.

If you are thinking of buying one then I’d hold off for a while though I don’t think you’ll be able to buy one for a while anyway.
 
I reserved an Index on 30th may.
I received an email confirming my reservation. It said I will receive an email when my order is available, then I need to confirm and pay. Some of you guys are being quoted delivery estimates. Where do you get that quote?
I don't see anything on my email giving me any idea of when it may be available.
 
I reserved an Index on 30th may.
I received an email confirming my reservation. It said I will receive an email when my order is available, then I need to confirm and pay. Some of you guys are being quoted delivery estimates. Where do you get that quote?
I don't see anything on my email giving me any idea of when it may be available.
Good Q, Sept 30th was quoted when I was booking the reservation but now that I log back in I see no way to view my reservation and track the ETA.
 
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Do MRTV and SweViver review anything that isn't Pimax without bias?
I must be biased too, because I can confirm noticeable glare/godrays in Index.
Another biased description of godrays, from a reddit post:
"Bad news time; the godrays are there, they're noticeable, and they're not going away. This won't be a great headset for super high contrast applications. The godrays are much "softer" though, if that makes any sense. Back in the Vive, you can see the ridges and the exact sort of sharp shapes that the Fresnel lenses make in the godray pattern; but in the Index, its more like a light smear instead of a ridged reflection, if that makes any sense. It feels more like some light leaking in rather than a shaped artifact."
 
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I must be biased to because I can confirm noticeable glare/godrays in Index.

The glare/godray thing is where I am getting conflicting reports from trusted reviewers that I cannot explain. I'm most interested in hearing from fellow ED CMDRs: how would you compare them to other headsets that you've used?
 
I added that quote from Reddit because it describes what I am seeing. Believe me, the glare is there. I have zero reasons to make it up.
Also see UploadVR review:
"The lenses still catch god rays, too, but they seem reduced compared to 2016 headsets and generally disappear in bright scenes."

Another review:
"Unfortunately the new lens design brings quite a bit of glare with it, which illuminates the edges of the lens when there’s bright objects against darker backgrounds. At times this can be as bad if not a little bit worse than the original Vive, but as with pretty much any headset, you won’t see it unless you’re looking at something high contrast. The glare seems to concentrate toward the edges of the lens and you can reduce it somewhat by dialing back the field of view a bit."
 
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I must be biased too, because I can confirm noticeable glare/godrays in Index.
Another biased description of godrays, from a reddit post:
"Bad news time; the godrays are there, they're noticeable, and they're not going away. This won't be a great headset for super high contrast applications. The godrays are much "softer" though, if that makes any sense. Back in the Vive, you can see the ridges and the exact sort of sharp shapes that the Fresnel lenses make in the godray pattern; but in the Index, its more like a light smear instead of a ridged reflection, if that makes any sense. It feels more like some light leaking in rather than a shaped artifact."

Relax, I'm not really sure why you would think I'm saying your bias? MRTV and Sweviver are well known Pimax circle jerk youtube saddos, they demonstrate a clear bias toward Pimax and me personally, I wouldn't trust a single word coming out of their mouths but each to their own.

Much like my own impressions of the device a lot of reviews I'm reading tally up with my own experience. How close do you have the lenses adjusted? I have mine as close as possible without them being uncomfortable (one notch off the max) and see zero god rays in Elite (or anything else I've played) - do you have yours dialed out quite a bit? I noticed if I did that I could then see some glare around the outer edge of the screen in some scenarios. I personally have no reason to not have the lenses adjusted to be as close to my eyes as possible so perhaps this is why I'm not seeing what you are. Elite looks very clear, pretty much on par with my V-Pro + GearVR lens swap and I certainly recall how bad the game looked through a CV1 and a stock V-Pro, the god rays were really bad from all of the lights in the cockpit, this simply does not happen on my Index.
 
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Every review mentions glare. Guys from VR Round Table are sceptical of Pimax and they also experienced glare. VoodooDE also. Luckily it's limited to bright elements on a dark backgrounds.
MRTV says Index is better than Pimax overall, so in fact Pimax must be better because you can't belive a word he says.

I only tested Index at a friend for an hour because mine did not arrive yet (I had them almost touching my eyeballs ;)) . When I get it I will be able to investigate glare in more detail and will share my findings.
 
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The glare/godray thing is where I am getting conflicting reports from trusted reviewers that I cannot explain.

maybe it's also a subjective/circumstantial thing. i'm using a plain rift (with my prescription glasses) and never have been bothered by glare (unless my prescription glasses needed cleaning) or god rays. heck, i even had to see a depiction of them to understand what people meant by 'god rays'. no, never seen those.

so if i did a rift review you guys would no doubt flag me as a shill, maybe i just have poor vision :D
 
Is there even a single trustworthy reviewer that claimed Index has no glare/godrays?

I watched MRTV review and It was well balanced, he said it's the best HMD currently, overall.
 
Is there even a single trustworthy reviewer that claimed Index has no glare/godrays?

I watched MRTV review and It was well balanced, he said it's the best HMD currently, overall.

I concur and the VoodooDE review (both of which I find very well balanced) drew the same conclusion.

But there's an increasing number of commenters on both reviews suggesting that on the Valve Index it makes a huge amount of difference to get the lenses completely on-axis by dialing the IPD and FOV sliders and getting the x-y alignment of the HMD on your face just right.

If the headset is very sensitive to x-y alignment on your face then this might explain the very big discrepancies that people are reporting re glare and god-rays.
 
MRTV says Index is better than Pimax overall, so in fact Pimax must be better because you can't belive a word he says.

I find that unfair and illogical. I really do think that he calls it as he sees it. When Pimax was the most promising option, he favoured it. Now Index is more promising and he has told it like it is.

He does have an annoying tendency to say every sentence twice in his spontaneous reviews, but if you think he's in any way biased then his last two vids should dispel that.
 
I find that unfair and illogical. I really do think that he calls it as he sees it. When Pimax was the most promising option, he favoured it. Now Index is more promising and he has told it like it is."
It was ironic reaction to this:
MRTV and Sweviver are well known Pimax circle jerk youtube saddos, they demonstrate a clear bias toward Pimax and me personally, I wouldn't trust a single word coming out of their mouths but each to their own.
So if you don't trust a single word out of MRTV's mouth and he says that Index is best then it means Index is not best, right? ;)


He does have an annoying tendency to say every sentence twice in his spontaneous reviews, but if you think he's in any way biased then his last two vids should dispel that.
I don't think he's biased. I said in previous post that his review is balanced.
 
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So if you don't trust a single word out of MRTV's mouth and he says that Index is best then it means Index is not best, right? ;)

Not really no, I honestly fail to understand why me not personally liking that tool and his jerk off buddy is a problem. I don't trust what he has to say, I don't and won't watch his videos, I think the guy is a moron. I'm not saying you or anyone else has to have the same point of view. For me, anything he has to say means less than biowaste.
 
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Sweet spot seems pretty nice to me and easy to find, coming from OG Vive. God rays are way reduced and less defined.. will give Elite a good run through on it later and report back.
 
Mine arrived too. Very quick impressions based on steamvr home. DISCLAIMER: I love it! Listing cons first to get them out of the way:

Gotta say one thing: the glare on this thing is definitely worse than the original Vive. In SteamVR home I get reflections all over the lenses, although they are blurred and not intrusive like god-rays. It's hard to explain really, think of it as a bloom effect or a diffusion of light in glasses maybe? It's not a deal breaker for me, but it's definitely there and no amount of adjusting headset will help that. It seems to be internal lens reflection, a price we have to pay for the clarity and no SDE vs og vive. And your brain adjusts to that quite fast and you stop noticing it.

What can be affected by adjusting headset on the head are some god rays present. They're not as pronounced as on the Rift CV1, definitely smaller, but are there. To some extent this effect was also present in original vive. Adjusting minimises them even more.

And all else? It's great. Sweetspot in terms of sharp picture visible by your eyes is HUGE. SDE is not visible so far, picture is nice and crisp. Colours are really nice, I expected more washed out image like with pimax 5k+. Blacks are really not so bad, although I only tested in default vive "this is real" environment. I'd say they're on par with an LCD TV. Testing in Elite will be conducted later on.

Audio is a masterpiece, and blows away htc deluxe audio strap by miles. There's bass and nice trebles. Gonna try BeatSaber now :D
 
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But there's an increasing number of commenters on both reviews suggesting that on the Valve Index it makes a huge amount of difference to get the lenses completely on-axis by dialing the IPD and FOV sliders and getting the x-y alignment of the HMD on your face just right.

I'll go so far as to suspect that, in the same sort of manner as with the similarly canted optics if the Pimax 8k/5k series; IF you can not get close enough to the lenses that you hit the sweet spot on the Z axis, you'll probably need to add 1mm to the lens spacing, for every 11mm excessive eye relief.
 
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