Secoda

There really needs to be a good AMD (or other) GPU competitor out there forcing them to push the envelope a little faster and to keep the prices to a more reasonable level. $1200 for a graphics card is ridiculous IMO. The main mistake I made, however, was not hanging on to my NVIDIA stock. I owned 1000 shares in 2014 at just $19 just to speculate and got nervous and sold it at $99 (5X is not bad at all and I felt pretty good at the moment). It peaked at $281 last September. $243,000 in 4 years buys a lot of graphics cards. I nearly bought it again recently at $129 but the numbers aren't as good as they once were. If VR headsets takes off finally it could propel the need for faster cards. 8K res is helping. Finally, AMD is causing some downward pressure on price for a change. NVIDIA's De Facto Price Cut Sets Up a Battle With AMD https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nvidia-apos-facto-price-cut-235200943.html "When NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) launched its RTX 20 series of graphics cards last year, the company's pricing strategy didn't give gamers much value for their money. While the new cards were substantially faster than their predecessors, bloated price tags made them questionable upgrades. NVIDIA was only competing with itself in the higher-end portion of the market at the time, but high prices contributed to weak demand for the new cards. While NVIDIA still owns the ultra-high end, the mid- to high-end portion of the graphics card market appears to be up for grabs for the first time in many years. AMD's new graphics cards won't fare quite as well against NVIDIA's faster SUPER variants, but price-to-performance should still be in the same ballpark for both AMD and NVIDIA."

One article said the 2080 Ti Super was going to be announced later after this initial Super roll-out. I took it that meant in the fall or early winter but no dates were given. I also read it makes no sense to go from a 2080 to a 2080 Super. The differences aren't that great. The Super seems to be a marketing ploy to update the existing product slightly but I would bet that there is little change in DCS VR FPS going from one to the other. I have been watching for the 1903 fix closely. They couldn't drag it out any more than they have. I just hope they don't break something else worse as Microsoft is so well known for messing around in WMR. :-)

I tried putting the headset on half a dozen times to try to figure what you are seeing. Nothing strange for me. It comes from a blank into the cliff house with the desktop open ready to go solid as a rock and clear as a bell as it starts up. Maybe I am not understanding?

What is your IPD? Mine is 64 mm and the Reverb is about as good as it gets I think in terms of fit, clarity, sweet spot, working with glasses, and FOV. No halos or anything unusual. That is the problem with headsets that are not adjustable for IPD. Those issues you mention are ones being addressed by HP along with others. Have you tried reprojection? Knowing what I know now about the HP Reverb and Valve Index I would only go to the Valve Index if I had to have the adjustable PD because my eyes were just too wide or narrow for mainly exclusive use in DCS.

I spoke to HP Tech support in the US (again lol) for about thirty minutes yesterday because I am waiting for a replacement cable (even though my unit still works fine most of the time). I asked a lot of questions and got a lot of the low down and will give more details when I get the cable. I suspect they don't want to do anything until they are absolutely sure there are no other problems but in the meantime there is a delay while cable replacements are being manufactured. Clearly, they released the unit without enough testing that included the long cables. Probably, some executive's bonus was on the line to beat the Rift S and Valve Index OTD. Who knows. They gambled and lost. Retiring from a giant US corporation I can just bet that someones head rolled on this one. I am sure they will make it right but the horse is already out of the barn on a botched product release.

I am only familiar with WMR headsets but many of us found it much more efficient to do the super-sampling outside of DCS in SteamVR so our PD is always set at 1.0 in DCS which is the native resolution of the headset. Then we adjust the resolution in SteamVR under Video in Settings up. This is very clear (like you are sitting there) and the performance I mentioned above. The cockpit movement should be butter smooth. I would be throwing up right away if I encountered the judder you are describing. lol

With the Reverb and hardware below and re-projection off in the F-18 Free Flight map I see low 60's with terrain in view and 90 FPS skyward. I usually see 45 FPS with re-projection on unless no terrain and then 90 looking at sky. (the green indicator goes on) What are you getting? I know one guy running at 60 Hz that claims it is smooth with his card.

Mine did that as well a few times. No idea why. Today it was back to 90. Go figure. Hard to tell if it is SteamVR or the headset or something else.

HP customer support is only middle of road to boot. Samsung is better and Lenovo is about the worst from the 2019 ratings. Valve customer support has been pretty bad as well in the past. https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/hp-tech-support

By default it is off. You have to go into the VRSettings file under SteamVR to enable it by uncommenting the re-projection line. Just comment it back out. Some basic re-projection is always on.

That sux. I guess they don't have the technical folks to support them yet? Where would you get it serviced? I am lucky to be near the HP service center for the Reverb in the central US. I could drive there in under four hours.

My PC monitor is a Samsung QLED 4K 82" TV/monitor I have in a home theater and it is pretty darn clear with very good qualities (low latency) for sims and gaming. I equate using the Reverb to looking at a 1080P monitor from a few feet away. It's very clear and close to sitting in the airplane. Not as good as the 4K Quantum dots of the $4K Samsung TV but as good as an HD monitor. I would try a Reverb before I would commit to a Valve Index if you can if clarity is important to you like it is to me for a sitting flight sim. (Sebastian from MRTV is not a DCS player and doesn't quite realize how critical clarity is in the sim IMO. I have followed him a long time) I guessing in about two years we will see the VR headsets quadruple in resolution since the 8K standards are already set.

At least on Reddit folks getting replacements have not had issues with the new ones for a while now. This guy worked with HP Tech support a few weeks ago now and he received his original Reverb when I did mine. Again, it sounds like the cable/connector was the issue (even though wiggling it or the USB plug won't always show a problem) and his replacement has worked fine. Now, I know they are shipping new cables instead of replacing some but I am not sure that fixes everything yet. He was forced to buy a Rift S while the Reverb was being replaced to use for a few days so he didn't miss sim racing. I guess he returned the Rift S when he got the replacement Reverb. :) It sounds like replacements eating up stock have delayed additional new shipments until later in July. I wonder what the demand truly is and how large the backlog is. They also said every unit is being tested but some problems didn't show up immediately. After initial reviews on the Valve Index it does not sound like the Index clarity/SDE replaces the better clarity of the Reverb so sim folks are waiting for Reverbs. As was mentioned only the Acer Ojo ConceptD (2160 x 2160) will likely be competition for the Reverb clarity.

Looks like Best Buy has the Consumer version coming or is it. It says one cable but the picture looks like the Pro with the leather padding. Since it is near my birthday (and I am an Elite Plus Best Buy member) in July they offered it to me for for $539 through July 31 but there just aren't any. Just a Notify Me button which I pressed. I could return the Pro version and get the BB version and save $110. Of course a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Also, only one year warranty through BB and no initial setup help. (I think I will stick with the 3 year warranty on the Pro from HP direct plus the two day turnaround guarantee). Their customer services so far seems pretty good on the VR headsets. I added a review for 25 BB Reward points. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-reverb-virtual-reality-headset-for-compatible-windows-pcs/6346254.p?skuId=6346254# Amazon has never relisted it although I have the link to where it is - you can't find it on a Search.

Good point. I had read about the power management switches somewhere early on and had changed those (including the Reverb itself under Mixed Reality Devices) before even using it much. Maybe that is why my experience with the Reverb was so smooth.

I posted this under the Index. Compares all of the headsets on clarity. https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3966115&postcount=359

This comparison was posted on Reddit. It includes sub pixels and is per eye. IMO it puts thing in perspective a bit. The FOV is just claimed. There is still quite a clarity gap until the Acer Ojo ConceptD shows up with the Reverb.

Someone posted this above but I fixed the link. Too bad he didn't have a Reverb. He really doesn't like the glare/God Rays with the Index and considers that a big disadvantage. (I wonder if that can be helped later on?) I was surprised/disappointed when he measured the actual FOV's. Not nearly what some of the subjective comments have led us to believe about the Valve Index although enough to be noticeable (really no change in the vertical FOV). It does seem that the other manufacturers are fibbing about the FOV's but there is a lot of variability depending on how you wear it and somewhat because of the shape of one's head. He also mentions that by tightening the straps and putting the lenses closer to your eyes has a big effect on actual seen FOV so that could vary from person to person quite a bit. I would love to know where the Reverb actually is. It seems a bit wider than my Lenovo Explorer which claims 110 degrees. If you wear glasses the Reverb headset is very good IMO. I just rotate up the strap and put them on with no other adjustment necessary. The Index requires an adjustment so you don't scratch the lenses. That is a problem with the Lenovo Explorer where the glasses can mar the lenses. I suspect the FOV is better because of how close the Index usually puts your eyes to the lenses. I would think that the FOV is less with glasses on since you must adjust the lenses away from your eyes. The Valve Index has a cable connector as well. To me it looks to be better than the one on the Reverb since at least it is placed where it cannot flex so much (right on the headset). Only time will tell if it is good. The last thing that surprised me was how hot he says the Index is getting. He said his head is really sweating a lot. My Lenovo gets warm but my Reverb stays pretty cool even after three hours. (I heard at least one person say their Reverb got hot but I think that is a problem with that particular Reverb). The Reverb is just a lot more clear with no SDE that does still exist in the Index making it tougher to spot planes and things. While I am still in the window to swap the Reverb for the Valve Index I just don't see any reason to for primarily playing DCS. In fact the opposite seems to make more sense - especially once they work through the Reverb bugs. I love that the rubber nose cover can be removed on the Reverb which I did right away so I can peek at the keyboard. The Valve Index does seem to have the best controllers out there if you play games that needs them. It seems the best choice for mobile use. For me in DCS, however, clarity is the most important thing. I don't use controllers for DCS.

Also, most folks playing DCS are generally adults with enough discretionary income to choose what fits their needs the best if the cost is within reason. There is such a wide disparity in prices that may have a huge effect on what market share each garner in the end. $400, $600/650, or $1000? : There is a lot more competition with so many headsets coming out and all of them may not survive. Is the Valve Index really 250% better than the Oculus Rift S? If a parent is buying a set for his kid - which do you think they might buy? :cry:

Most military pilots. My squadron is loaded with pilots.

Yes - that was just my preference. I personally was hoping for a huge boost in spotting planes and targets at great distances (also lights at night like the carriers) besides being able to read all of the gauges and fine print, and that is exactly what I got with the Reverb. The large boost in resolution basically eliminated the distracting SDE. That may not be as important as other things to many. There are other preferences or requirements folks may have like an adjustable IPD or HDR colors from OLED or a larger FOV. Folks may be using their headsets for things other than DCS much of the time. It just depends on what you want and need.

Too bad the Valve Index didn't go to 2160 x 2160. I think it would rule VR across all uses. It could always be set down for lessor hardware. I am not crazy about external tracking and base stations but would live with it. I still think the Reverb gets the edge for a resolution sensitive sit-down sim app like DCS but the Valve Index is better in other ways. The controllers should be good for what it cost. I guess 4K panels would have kicked the price up even higher. I was just flying the Huey around Dubai in a mission. The Reverb is really amazing compared to my Lenovo Explorer. I put one of the custom Uncle Sam skins on it and I think in VR the colors look great. I keep reading that there may be a file missing in SteamVR Tools if you are seeing washed out colors and to do some kind of an integrity file check on SteamVR. Anyone know any specifics on that? It's not really Reverb specific but does seem to have a big effect on LCD panels. It really looks the same in the Reverb

With 4K just arriving in VR and 8K standards already set I think it is. The immersion gap between a flat screen/TrackIR and a 4K VR (I have both) has become huge. As an IRL pilot for the first time now with the clarity of the Reverb I really forget and feel like I am in the plane. Call it what you like. :smilewink:

This works most of the time but not all of the time for me. No crashes but more weird control issues like the mouse, etc..

Something is missing between Steps 3 and 4. The only way I have launched DCS from the SteamVR room is by hitting CTRL and Esc bringing up the WMR control panel and clicking the Home symbol at the bottom which launches the cliff house and desktop. Then I launch DCS. You must be launching DCS direct in the SteamVR room if your headset is on? How?