Pimax VR

[Thomas Brain]

Does pimax 5k plus give better immersion 

[TetraSky]

The higher the resolution, the better for VR immersion. (Along with other things. But resolution helps a lot to get rid of the screen door effect.)

 

The Pimax 5k has 2560*1440 per eyes, a refresh rate of 144hz and 200 "diagonal" FOV. Whatever that means.

The vertical resolution is kinda low IMO. You'd basically have a rectangular box in front of your eyes instead of a more natural "square"-ish shape that fills your whole vision.

 

The HP Reverb G2 might be a better deal at 2160*2160 per eyes, which is nearly 2 million more pixels, but "only" 90hz.

 

Overall, if you really want the most "immersive" VR, with as little screen door effect, the Pimax 8k would probably be a better at 3840*2160 per eyes. But considering it's essentially two 4k monitors that you need to run... You need a BEEFY computer to game at 90+hz.

Then there's the controllers and everything else to consider... But it uses the Index's controller (sold separately), so it should be good.

 

Personally, I got the Quest 2, because I don't want to be tethered to a cable and be able to move around the entire room without any issues. It's also cheaper than the Pimax 5k Plus, all while having nearly as many pixels (7m vs 7.3m) but higher vertical viewing.

[Thomas Brain]

I jst want to buy a vr headset one time..... That's why i want to buy one by which i wont regret in the future..... So doesn't the 200 degree fov of pimax alone give the best immersion? And for the htc vibe and occulus headsets does it feel immersive enough when u jst look through 2 circular lenses (unlike pimax's big lens)? Will i get the best immersion seeing the edges of the headset though the lens? 

[trufret]

On 11/23/2020 at 9:26 AM, Thomas Brain said:

I jst want to buy a vr headset one time..... That's why i want to buy one by which i wont regret in the future..... So doesn't the 200 degree fov of pimax alone give the best immersion? And for the htc vibe and occulus headsets does it feel immersive enough when u jst look through 2 circular lenses (unlike pimax's big lens)? Will i get the best immersion seeing the edges of the headset though the lens? 

I have a Pimax 5K+ from the kickstarter

While the extra FOV is nice and a noticeable upgrade over the FOV of other headsets it does have it's downsides as well.

The clarity is blown away by the HP Reverb and probably more so by the Reverb G2 with it's better lenses.

The Headset with the pimax modular audio strap does feel a bit heavy and bulky on my head compared to how light the Reverb is.

I think i preferred using it with a Vive deluxe audio strap and 3D printed adapters.

The PiTool software can be a little finicky at least it was for me but the latest build seems to be more stable now.

Some games don't handle the extra wide FOV well as they weren't designed for it so you have to adjust the FOV or other setting in PiTool to avoid performance or optical issues like crossed eyes while zooming or objects not rendering at the extreme edges.

There is also a bit of distortion at the extremes of your peripheral vision but that hasn't been too much of an issue for me.

The 8KX should have a similar resolution and clarity to the Reverb but its also over twice the price.

 

It's not all bad though it's got the great FOV obviously, the 5K+ can also hit 144hz, The tracking is great with the valve basestations, the display quality is 2nd only to the Reverb currently.

I'm sure in 3-5 years there is going to be a much better version out so I wouldn't call it a buy once and your done headset. Realistically these are Pimax's first attempt at building headsets so if they get to 2nd or 3rd generation they will likely be a lot better.

 

 

 

[Thomas Brain]

Does it feel like ur seeing through 2 lenses in that headset? And do u see the headsets edges or do  u only see the screen due to the 200 degree? 

[trufret]

13 hours ago, Thomas Brain said:

Does it feel like ur seeing through 2 lenses in that headset? And do u see the headsets edges or do  u only see the screen due to the 200 degree? 

For me it feel like looking through every other VR headset i've tried but with a much wider horizontal FOV and a bit wider vertical FOV. I can still see the edges of the screen but they are much further into my peripheral vision than the scuba mask feel of regular headsets.  In PiTool you can pick from multiple FOVs depending on what your PC can handle but it acts like letter boxing on a TV where the screen is black in the far edges but you can still see it's backlit.  I tended to keep mine on normal (140 degrees i think) as I was getting too big of a performance hit on full FOV with my 1080ti.  There was still a bit of image distortion at the edge of the lenses so it was better for me to have that area blacked out anyway. Human vision is over 210 FOV and the 200 degrees of pimax is measures diagonally so like a TV it's actual width is a bit less. Probably around 170-180 degrees usable

They have a 5K XR version that uses OLED panels so you get richer colours and deeper blacks but you loose the high refresh rate screens so it's a trade off.

[Thomas Brain]

Thank u all

[Thomas Brain]

Ok last question for all..... Which headset(among all models) will give me the best immersion between htc, occulus and pimax

[trufret]

That's a subjective question as only you know what you experience,

I'll Say Oculus Quest 2 with link cable is the best bang for the buck as far as visual and tracking go but you have to deal with a mandatory Facebook account which I will not do. you're opinion may vary

 

HTC has a wireless option via a PICe card for the Cosmos Elite but it's pricey and the old vive controllers it uses are dated. If you want to mix and match the Cosmos Elite with a pair on Valve Index controllers and base stations it can be a good wireless PCVR experience.

 

Valve Index would give you pretty much all the benefits of the Pimax with less complicated setup as you don't need PiTool but the FOV isn't quite as wide. It's still wider that the HTC, Oculus, or HP Reverb G2 but not as wide as the widest pimax can offer

 

Pimax can give you a great FOV and tracking but you should be a tinkerer at heart as you are going to have to adjust settings to get things working well. You will also have to make sure you get a combo or buy some Index base stations and controllers separately as they generally sell just the headsets on their site. It's also by far the most expensive setup especially if you go with the 8KX but might be the best for flight/driving sims if money is no object.

 

HP reverb G2 has the best visuals but the same FOV as the oculus and HTC. the new tracking can be decent but still is the worst of all of them. Much better than Reverb 1 tracking though.

[RocketScott]

i have an 8kx.  the field of view truly is quite immersive.  i have tried switching to the small fov mode for performance and it just feels terrible.  i quickly go back to large fov.  the 8kx native 4k x2 displays are very nice and my 1080ti has no trouble pushing those pixels at standard quality levels. 

 

that being said..  you are taking quite a gamble..  many of the headsets have been faulty.  mine has a tracking jitter that is unbearable in most games.  The customer service is absolutely awful.  ive been waiting for rma approval for 3 months.  in that time they stopped doing hotswap rma,  meaning it will be a month without a headset.  no guarantees about repaying the $100 vat to canada.  etc.  there are plenty of these horror stories on the openmr pimax forums.

 

In my opinion pimax is fairly shady.  it has been over 3 years of empty promises.  the pimax website 8kx page shows off an 8kx with a 4.8ish star review.  rubbish!  where did my review go?   why are there no bad reviews?

 

pimax will solve all the sofware and quality issues and hopefully be better at supporting there products after they ship.  unfortunately that wont be before index2