Supmua

Did some short flights and OpenXR mode is more stuttery now when you look 90 degree left or right outside and down at the ground. Steam OpenVR mode on the other hand is pretty smooth with motion blur ground effect, and this is without fps lock. Try Steam OpenVR mode and see if you have similar experiences. This is just prelim findings though, I haven't had the time to do long play. I also tried Varjo OpenVR and it's still doing quad rendering. The image quality is insane but you still get double mouse cursor in cockpit and when you move your head around things becomes disorienting because I don't think it (quad rendering) is implemented correctly. Are you sure you weren't in this mode instead of OpenXR? Take off the headset and look at the monitor, if you see quad mirrors then it's Varjo OpenVR mode.

My VR Optician lens inserts came in today, much better than VR Rock version which is what I'm using currently. These have better fitment and higher index (thinner) lens. So far these are the best one that I've tried, and the shipment is actually very fast with FedEx option (Ordered Fri, received Wed).

It’s much harder to see in gaming, but very noticeable when using the headset as a regular monitor doing regular chores such as web browsing or checking emails. Once I put on my Aero I typically don’t take it off and use it for everything until PC shutdown because the clarity is that good (with the old software).

That’s good for you I guess. In my case using web browser in dark mode is unbearable with white texts showing both chromatic aberration and blur, after switching to the old 3.5.1 distortion profile everything is nice and sharp again without color fringe. It may be that people with preexisting visual conditions are more prone to these, I do have astigmatism as well as myopia but these should be corrected via lens insert.

Double cursor I believe is only seen with Varjo OpenVR which now uses Varjo’s quad rendering instead of the simple stereo mode. Double check and make sure that DCS is run via force steam VR command only to avoid this. Beats me as to why it only happens with DCS and not other games, and it wasn’t like this at all when the headset first came out…everything was nice and dandy other than slight edge distortion. Now the distortion is gone, but we have this problem plus the blur and chromatic aberration with the new software. I’m currently using the hybrid software version mentioned in my post, this helps a lot with sharpness especially in MSFS more than DCS.

DCS update or repair will overwrite Opencomposite’s openvr_api.dll (with the original dll) so it’ll break OpenXR. Remember that OpenXR is a hack (or mod if you will) that is not an official solution by ED as DCS was developed for OpenVR platform. The fix is really simple (to regain OpenXR mode) by replacing that file again with the one from Opencomposite site or from my original post which really takes a few seconds. I also don’t have any performance issue with Steam OpenVR mode, even run Reshade 5 on top of it.

Varjo’s motion prediction will require depth info from that particular software so it probably won’t be universal unless they choose to step down and go SteamVR route. No idea if DCS does provide that, but there’s this depth option in MSFS beta now. Varjo also complicates things further by rendering 4 different zones on their dual screen so each eye sees two different resolutions between the center and periphery. It will likely tank the fps if anything. Don’t get me wrong this is great for business projects such as CAD or visualization of objects in VR, but remains to be seen for action gaming when fps matters.

Waiting might be the right thing to do. The Pimax Crystal has similar specs and should be an interesting competitor to the Aero. Quest Pro is also coming and the resolution and specs might blow away everything else on the market. There are also Apple whose headset hopefully won’t be limited to the Mac system, Valve Deckard (Index2), Pimax 12K, etc. I’m waiting for the Sony’s headset myself, probably not for DCS unless it’s also PC compatible, can’t go wrong with OLED VR that’s why I still keep my Vive Pro1. The Sony ticks all the boxes for me both in design and features, and will likely be very good for console VR.

The guy I sold my VP2 to said he had no performance issue and he’s running 10700K/3070. It’s all about adjusting the settings to get the fps that you want. Performance in DCS should be similar to the Quest 2, perhaps a little less since it has to go through SteamVR. I used to do back to back comparison and didn’t notice any significant performance difference, visuals are better on the Vive though due to higher res and very little video compression (DP1.4 has much higher bandwidth than USB 3.1).

Glare depends on the scenery, you only notice it in high contrast scenes. Vive Pro/2 can do OpenXR but only through SteamVR (Steam OpenXR) last I check. Opencomposite as far as I know requires the output to be shunted away from SteamVR so probably won't work unless Vive provides direct support for OpenXR (i.e. Vive OpenXR) for the Pro2. They can since they did it for the Focus, but not sure if they will...maybe if people keep pestering them. Official response --> Will Vive Pro 2 receive support for Vive OpenXR in the future? - Vive and Vive Pro - Community Forum (htc.com)

No experience with Kegetys. I only use Reshade 5 or OXRTK depending on which API I'm running DCS with, both are fantastic for improving visual quality.

Thanks for your kind words. I pretty much use default NVIDIA settings these days except Prefer Maximum Performance. For fps gain, reduce your rendering resolution either via SteamVR or OpenXR res override. With the Aero I found optimal horizontal pixels to be around 3200 for clarity, but you can lower to 3000 as needed for extra fps. Start with VR preset in DCS setting, PD 1.0, but I would keep shadows on flat and visibility on medium. Textures should be medium for Apache for now, high may cause stuttering. Run DCS with real-time CPU and GPU frame times monitoring (fpsVR for OpenVR, or OXR toolkit advanced overlay for OpenXR), fly around and observe your frame times and frame rate to see what's the limiting factor that affect performance (CPU or GPU), also see if there is any sudden spike in those numbers. Increase or reduce graphics setting in DCS as needed to get the fps or frametimes that you want. For the Aero you want fps to stay above 45, or below 22.2ms in frame time, for smooth gameplay (this may not always be possible in congested areas or in MP). Personally I like Water on high as reflection looks much better than medium but that would also negatively affect fps.

I had the Vive Pro2 for awhile and sold it to my friend after I got the Aero. It offers quite good visuals if you set it up correctly, Vive HMDs are the only headsets that will fit my eyeglasses comfortably. If it’s got aspherical lens I might not even consider the Aero because it’s more versatile (optimal wireless module, face tracking, eye tracking). There’s glare issue associated with fresnel lens. The other downside is that there is no direct OpenXR mode (this might change hopefully since Vive Focus offers this). Direct OpenXR mode can help improve fps vs Steam OpenXR. Not sure it’s worth the full price currently, but compared to the Aero it’s much more reasonable.

If you're coming from the Quest 2, I would consider Reverb G2, Vive Pro 2, Pimax 8K, or Varjo Aero because everything else might be more like a side grade. You will be able to utilize your VR headset better in the future with DCS if anything, unless you're planning to keep the new headset for just another year. The recent beta engine update on the other flightsim with DX12 and DLSS is a massive game changer in terms of performance, and when DCS gets its own update in due time it should be pretty good in VR too. Having said that I really don't have any performance issue with the Aero (I also own a Quest 2) which is the best headset I've used so far, and your PC specs are similar to mine. The Aero is a massive upgrade in terms of visuals from the Quest 2, but it's got several quirks that have yet to be fixed so imo only for hardcore enthusiasts who don't mind going extra steps to get around the quirks. Another option is to just wait for newer gen headsets and keep using theQuest 2 for now, none of the current headsets are perfect and newer techs are coming (varifocal optics, improved tracking, resolution, etc.)

Yeah lens inserts is the best option if you want to experience maximum sharpness with the Aero. When I wear soft contacts the very small cockpit texts aren't tact sharp compared to lens inserts of the same prescription, so I'm thinking about switching to gas-permeable contacts which is still probably not as good as corrective optics. There are owners who still don't realize how sharp this headset is, which is really sharp (except with VB 3.6.1, in my case lol), but your corrected vision also has to be optimal even at high res setting.

Try to set it so that it's 1:1 tracking until you turn your head past 80-90 degree. You only need accelerated turning when checking six so it should feel natural most of the time.

Use necksafer instead, the link I listed is for the OpenXR version but there's OpenVR version also. You can set it so that VR tracking is 1:1 up until you turn your head past certain degree angle then it becomes accelerated. Norbert Siepenkötter / XrNeckSafer · GitLab

I recently tested Varjo’s OpenXR vs Steam’s OpenXR with the other flightsim game due to the new DLSS support (not possible to use Steam’s OpenXR with DCS currently), and to my surprise there is no significant difference in performance. I actually expected to see better fps with Varjo’s OpenXR but that isn’t the case here, this is with DX11. This also goes along with the performance of Steam’s OpenVR that I’ve been getting in DCS, which is pretty on par with OpenXR, at least on my setup. And interestingly, NVIDIA DLSS when used in combination with AMD FidelityFX sharpening can produce really good visuals while yielding great performance. These options are provided natively within the software itself without external mods, and this is the right way to do it because it is immediately accessible to everybody. New users can just choose these options and boom done, no need to fiddle around with anything else to make it work. Update: Things changed when using the latest VB software. With VB 3.6.1, using VarjoOpenXR with DX12/DLSS yields significant performance uplift with MSFS (15-20 fps!) over Steam OpenXR. So, with correct settings things can improve dramatically. Hoping to see similar performance increase with Vulkan/AMD FSR2.0 with DCS in the future.

I think some of us are more sensitive when it comes to having no reprojection. I was also like that when I first moved from Index/Vive Pro2 to Aero, but now I'm so used to not having it and it really doesn't bother me anymore. It's the stuttering that I can't tolerate, and there's none of that once you can lock frame to 45 fps. For me clarity pretty much supercedes everything.

They're dropping the facebook requirement on the Quest, so at least they're listening to the complaints. My Aero at 35 PPD (without foveation) is already pretty good, can't imagine what a 55 PPD headset like that would be like...probably a whole new level of VR experiences. The future looks good.

Popularity aside, they're one of the very few companies with enough money to sink into R&D and push forward the VR technology and with enough clouts to reshape the VR industry. Their software alone is at least a few years ahead of everyone else, and the upcoming hardware should be fairly exciting also. The vid is a few weeks old but the upcoming Quest Pro or whatever it's called should be packed with some new hardware tech.

I use Reshade with OpenVR on my Aero and that's my preferred mode of running DCS at the moment, I do swap back and forth fairly often though to check on things. Let me clarify, Reshade can't be used with OpenXR, but can co-exist and doesn't need to be removed and will be available whenever I switch out of OpenXR mode. For the G2 it might be better to stick with OpenXR, but again I do not have that headset so can't comment. On the Aero I only lose 1-1.5ms of frametime with Reshade/OpenVR vs OpenXR so it's a nice tradeoff for really good image quality.

OpenXR toolkit has some image post processing options but it’s not Reshade which is a different engine made just for this purpose. I don’t think that would work in 2D though (OXRTK). Reshade 5 even uses different api layers between 2D and VR mode so what you set in 2D will not affect VR and vice versa. Not sure how it would work with your headset but I have no conflict between Reshade and OpenXR with the Aero. So whenever I switch from OpenXR to OpenVR or flatscreen, Reshade is always available. OpenVR is the default VR api that is used by DCS (typically via SteamVR unless you use Oculus). If you are using OpenXR toolkit then you are using OpenXR mode which bypasses SteamVR. Reshade 5 requires OpenVR api and also SteamVR overlay to make adjustment so it won’t work unless you switch back to OpenVR, but sticking with OpenXR will probably yield better performance for your G2 headset.

Reshade especially version 5 is OpenVR only for now. Devs are considering OpenXR port but will likely be awhile as VR is not their main interest. I pretty much use Reshade in most of my games with hundreds of custom filters out there you can do all kinds of post processings. You can even play games in Stereoscopy using VR headset with a filter (OpenVR only though).

The crosseye window will keep popping up unless you create a lua file by clicking save (an interesting design choice). Save isn’t available unless you make an initial adjustment. You can quickly adjust one of the sliders and move it back to original position then click save, then the adjustment window will no longer appear after DCS is started (click reset if you mess up). For the Aero I actually prefer to move R_out and L_out slightly higher than default positions for sharper image (increased stereo overlap, I think). For me personally the left eye image is rendered slightly lower than the right eye on the horizontal plane so I adjusted it manually to make it even also. You can do lots with this tool, for example increase stereo convergence to make things more 3Dish (at the expense of eye strain). The created lua file will be hedy.lua for Steam OpenVR mode and oculus.lua for OpenXR mode (don’t ask me why), delete these files from the DCS save folder if you want to readjust the parameters after save. If you use OpenXR there is no need for the crosseye tool unless you want to play with rendering parameters for each eye, so the crosseye command line can also be deleted from autoexec.cfg (or change true to false). For OpenVR however you need the tool to swap top and bottom for each eye to correct positioning in VR especially after recenter.