Supmua

Not sure the wrapper is needed for Steam's OpenXR route as it wasn't needed before the hotfix update when OpenXR was the default output. fpsVR is also compatible with Steam's OpenXR mode, so maybe try that if you don't want to use the wrapper. It's my goto route anyway because the convenience of accessing desktop overlay and running concurrent SteamVR apps.

My new simple OpenXR current settings (using mbucchia's wrapper). I was getting a lot of crashes/freezes with OXRTK when trying to change various parameters so it's not being used for now. OpenXR provides superior frame pacing, so even when the fps dips into the 80s the stuttering remains minimal vs 90 fps. And this API seems to be the future of VR so you guys might as well start using it. Other older VR titles that got updated (theBlu, etc.) are also switching to OpenXR now. Varjo Aero: -Resolution Quality: Higher (3608x3092). At this setting DCS shimmering/aliasing artifacts are really minimal. Default Varjo resolution gives better fps but moderate shimmering in distant objects, and Highest resolution taxes the performance too much. -V Sync: disable DCS: -PD 1.0. -Preset: VR Preset. I always use this to standardize things during testings, so use whatever you want based on your need. -DCS Gamma: 2.0 I've been using mostly Steam's OpenXR, just so I can have screen overlay for Windows desktop access without taking off my headset.

The CPU frametime numbers mirror my findings with the Varjo Aero, slight increase with OpenXR. I got similar GPU frametime numbers with both APIs though. This is just initial observation, reproducibility remains to be seen.

I've been testing mbucchia's new wrapper that disables the quad screen output and it works really well for the most part. This pretty much allows us to play DCS in both Varjo's OpenXR or Steam's OpenXR. Varjo's OpenXR: -Pros: bypassing Steam GUI which may increase performance (haven't really seen it myself). -Cons: no Steam overlay due to above, fewer options in terms of resolution settings limited to VB setting (only 6 options) or DCS PD setting. This also exposes some shortcoming with Varjo's current software, why only have 6 fixed resolution settings rather than providing options for customers to dial in any resolution they want like SteamVR or WMR. Steam's OpenXR: (disable Varjo OpenXR in the base, and also enable Steam's OpenXR in settings/Developer menu on SteamVR GUI). -Pros: fully functioning SteamVR GUI, meaning you can use steam overlay, placing desktop window/browser/pdf file inside VR games, etc. fpsVR works. It's also more flexible permitting granular resolution settings via SteamVR. Varjo's framerate lock via VB also works in this mode. -Cons: may reduce performance slightly due to additional SteamVR GUI layer (again I haven't seen any significant differences during my testing). OpenXR Tool Kit: is currently quite finicky with these new OpenXR output options (both Varjo and Steam's). For one it does not like resolution override, this will cause the pop-up menu to bug out and disappear. So if you like running your Aero at Max resolution the performance will suffer unless you reduce PD setting in DCS. I've tried PD 0.7 with VB max resolution (4.1K horizontal pixels) and still got pretty sharp images with fps mostly 90 (F-16C Syria Freeflight map). I'm also not sure if this wrapper will cause issues with OXRTK in other games. More testings to do. I also cannot thank mbucchia enough for providing this tool for the community. This has been an option that I'd wanted to see for months. There's no reason for us to use quad screen output for regular gamings because the performance hit is too much and the headset's native resolution is already more than good enough. Having said that, all these get around things that we have to do is far from ideal. We should be able to put on any VR headset, double click DCS icon and be ready to fly. There's no reason for anybody to have to mess around with creating shortcuts with command line, installing custom dll file, etc. Imagine if you have to do this with more mainstream games such as MSFS or Call of Duty, well I can't because it would've been hell for customer support--this community is very forgiving unlike the rest of the world.

This is great news. I had asked Varjo in the past for an option to disable quad output and they said not possible lol.

May be some of you guys who have free time can test the different OpenXR modes and see if there's any performance difference. Route 1: --force_steam_VR > Opencomposite OpenXR (dll installation) > Varjo OpenXR (toggle OpenXR switch ON in VB) Route 2: --force_OpenXR > Steam OpenXR (Toggle OpenXR switch OFF in VB) Route 3: --force_OpenXR > Varjo OpenXR (OpenXR switch ON in VB). Quad rendering with this one so expect bad performance.

No idea on the current performance of each VR mode. I won’t get to do some more testing until weekend. At least now OpenXR is officially supported so you no longer need the Opencomposite wrapper. The good news is that the old methods should still work. The bad news is that we still have to figure out how to get around to make things work better, especially with the Aero.

What we need is a toggle option in the DCS setting that allows you to pick and choose among VR modes (OpenVR Steam vs Varjo, Opencomposite Oculus, OpenXR Steam vs Varjo vs WMR, etc.), instead of via command line. OpenVR or OpenXR via Varjo has been borked due to Quad screen rendering rather than Stereo so these are not good options for Aero owners so we are limited to using Steam’s OpenVR or XR implementation or Opencomposite OpenXR wrapper to circumvent this problem.

Yeah, the OpenXR Steam incurs 1ms CPU frametime increase (vs OpenVR Steam) anyway.

yep it does, back to what it was before meaning default quad views for the Aero.

The newest update changes everything back to square one. Which means you get quad screen no matter what with default launch, so we will need to run DCS via command line again to bypass this.

^This. How would one run OpenXR now without resorting back to the OpenComposite translator? Can you provide all the available command lines?

Yeah, no hacks involved, no messing around with DSC installation or editing DCS.exe shortcut. All you have to do is use Steam's OpenXR with DCS instead of Varjo's and that's it. I don't see any performance loss at all (I also don't see performance loss running MSFS via Steam's OpenXR). This is basically the same issue that we've had with Varjo's OpenVR and DCS, just redirect the output to SteamVR and it works better without Quad rendering issue. EDIT: so far I'm seeing slightly better CPU frametime with the old Steam's OpenVR (via command line) vs this OpenXR via Steam by around 1.0ms. GPU frametimes are pretty much the same. So the old method with Steam's OpenVR might yield slightly better performance in CPU limited situations such as on MP servers (most of the time I'm GPU limited in SP missions).

No need for that now Don. 1. Run SteamVR GUI and go to settings/Developer section and make Steam the default platform for OpenXR. (You might also be able to do this by just toggling Varjo OpenXR to OFF in VB but I haven't confirmed this). 2. Run DCS without command line, straight from Windows Menu or Start menu, etc. like you'd normally do with other games. 3. Change rendering resolution in SteamVR, as needed. 4. Use OXRTK if you want for postprocessing, frame manipulation, etc. Some options don't work correctly (resolution change) and CPU frametime report is wrong, at present. Edit: right now if you use resolution override in OXTRK it will cause the OXRTK pop-up window to disappear after restarting DCS. To bring it back enable Safemode in OXRTK via companion app then reset the settings with CTRL+F1+F2+F3, and restart DCS again.

Isn't it juat easier and more efficient to use OpenComposite? This isn't a hack like OpenComposite so I think it will be at least as efficient if not more as this is pretty much OpenXR output from DCS directly to SteamVR (skipping the OpenComposite to OpenXR translation stage) and it's working as intended and I'm still getting 90 fps in free flights with current DCS settings. OXTRK works, I'm using it right now with all kinds of image postprocessing such as contrast/exposure/color balance changes (Overriding resolution doesn't work but you can change resolution via SteamVR, CPU frametime is wrong but it's been like that for OXRTK). I also have fpsVR working in this mode also. This actually makes it simple for new Varjo Aero owners to run DCS. All they have to do is set SteamVR as default for OpenXR then run DCS normally, as this will disable Varjo's OpenXR. No command lines, no extra steps.

Okay I did some testing. The best way for me to run OpenXR right now is via SteamVR. So what you do is enable Steam OpenXR in SteamVR Settings/Developer/SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime. This will disable Varjo's OpenXR. Then run DCS normally (not via command line). This way OXRTK works, fpsVR also works since everything runs via Steam's framework, and no Quad rendering with good performance as before. The bottom line is, avoid using Varjo's OpenXR with DCS right now and use Steam's OpenXR instead.

What’s bothering me is that no other VR games have this specific quad rendering issue with the Aero (OpenVR or OpenXR).

All we need is a way to manually disable quad rendering mode, don't really need it.

It could still be compressed video issue, unless your DCS gamma setting is too high. You can test for this by going to any LCD/display test website in VR and check the page that has black levels chart or gradient. Also, NVCP gamma setting has zero effect on VR display.

Some Bestbuy stores had open boxed ones that were as low as $1200 the other day. In-store only though.

For flightsim VR the most important specs are screen resolution, panel type (OLED, LCD, etc) and the type of lenses use (kind of like digital camera, image fidelity depends on megapixels, sensor, and quality of lenses). For flightsim you will want screen res >2K per eye, but in general the higher the better to minimize shimmering artifacts and to have enough resolving power to display little texts in the cockpit or distant detail. The very best panel type currently, imo, would be OLED since that gives the best blacks, followed by miniLED. In the future we may see microLED panel if they can make that cheap enough (basically OLED replacement without risk of screen burning--the cheapest microLED TV last year costs >$80K). For lens type, either aspheric or pancake (newest tech) will give the best image quality, fresnel lenses that are used in older gen headsets have numerous rings on the lenses and tend to cause suboptimal visuals including glare and godrays. Your headset is also as good as your PC. A high res headset would be no good unless you have a setup that's powerful enough to drive it. VR HMD preference is highly individualized, because there are other factors such as form factor, comfort, FOV, ease of use, etc. I'm going to avoid recommending a specific headset but if you are new to VR it might be better to spend little on your first headset just to test the water then go from there, and in that case either a Quest 2 or Reverb G2 will not break the bank.

The cooling system in rtx 4090 is over engineered so any brand is good as thermals will not be an issue at stock setting (mine never goes above high 60s—high end models might go higher depending on the BIOS). The only catch is that you need to make sure the PCIe cable goes all the way in (should hear a click), to avoid burnt socket.

There’re recent mods for example SkyrimVR upscaler that include upscaling techs such as DLSS2, FSR, NIS with fixed foveated rendering within the same package. So this is definitely doable, and it also works incredibly well. For example, in Skyrim VR I’m able to run max res on my Aero with fps >90 with complete elimination of shimmering on objects such as grass and foliages. I’m not sure if and how DLSS3 will work in VR as reprojection is already a type of frame generation. DLSS3 from my own personal experience works quite well in nonVR games when coupled with low latency tech such as NVIDIA Reflex though. These AI techs are beneficial and will keep getting better with time.

For me this was typically due to loose connection at the USB-C port in the left upper compartment of the headset. But it could be anything related to the port, the cable or the USB-DisplayPort adapter interface. Contacting tech support is your best bet because there’re too many possibilities and they can help narrow it down.

Why in the world would they use 2.0 when we have 2.5.1 right now and it’s working incredibly well with other VR games?