HTC to announce two new VR headsets

[Greekbull]

Have this on order...excited to compare it to my G2...hopefully it's a nice step up!

 

[Greekbull]

On 5/13/2021 at 11:17 AM, Headwarp said:

 

You seem to have a lot of headsets as it stands. 

 

It's my understanding that the dual lens design to achieve the 120 FOV is the same method the Index uses for it's claim of 130 degrees of FOV. 

 

The Reverb G2 is no slouch though with its resolution and as it stands.. while I can't speak for the RTX 3090,    AFAIK Reverb G2 users are already downscaling resolution at least somewhat for performance in DCSW.  

 

Just at a glance on paper.. the biggest difference I'd expect between the two is improved controller tracking from the Lighthouse base stations.. which I never use my controllers in DCSW.   It will be nice for HL: Alyx and Boneworks etc etc, but there are existing workarounds to use the knuckles with WMR headsets as it stands. 

 

I am fully anticipating having to downscale from the native resolution of the Pro 2 looking for that 45fps or 60fps minimum, personally, as I am certainly not about to drop 4 grand on a GPU that likely no longer has a valid warranty.  Even if my 2080Ti was ridiculously priced at MSRP.  cranking the SS% level in my Odyssey can get pretty rough at low altitudes.  

 

Not sure where you're getting your info, but before I built my new rig I was running a Reverb G1 at full resolution with very high settings with almost the same rig you have now...8700K, 2080Ti, etc...  I run the G2 over native res with very high FPS with my new rig and expect to do the same with the Pro 2 as it should really benefit from being native to Steam VR and not having to use the terrible WMR work through that we need to do with the G2 and others...

Edited May 17, 2021 by Greekbull

[dburne]

53 minutes ago, Greekbull said:

Not sure where you're getting your info, but before I built my new rig I was running a Reverb G1 at full resolution with very high settings with almost the same rig you have now...8700K, 2080Ti, etc...  I run the G2 over native res with very high FPS with my new rig and expect to do the same with the Pro 2 as it should really benefit from being native to Steam VR and not having to use the terrible WMR work through that we need to do with the G2 and others...

 

 

Vive Pro 2 is also going to be using what they refer to as a loss less compression method.

Which supposedly should help in the performance department - remains to be seen.

[Headwarp]

7 hours ago, Greekbull said:

Not sure where you're getting your info, but before I built my new rig I was running a Reverb G1 at full resolution with very high settings with almost the same rig you have now...8700K, 2080Ti, etc...  I run the G2 over native res with very high FPS with my new rig and expect to do the same with the Pro 2 as it should really benefit from being native to Steam VR and not having to use the terrible WMR work through that we need to do with the G2 and others...

 

 

I'm getting my info from experience.  Raising the SS% in my odyssey to as close of a resolution as I can as the Reverb G2 with a 2080Ti that boosts to around 2040, an 8700k @ 4.9ghz and 32 GB of ram.    Sure it will maintain 45 and even 60 fps through the majority of the flight but on the ground on a busy MP server or flying low over trees and especially in a bank or inverted DCS will start to dip below 40 FPS. 

 

Frankly if you haven't been struggling with balancing performance since the 2.5.6 update at those kind of resolutions kudos to you but it's been a pretty heavily discussed topic on the forums for some time now.   2.7 seems to have offered some improvement in that regard but I'm still running into points on the ground in certain busy servers where my frames start dropping into the high 30's and my best guess is that I'm hitting VRAM limits as neither my GPU or any single core of my CPU are maxed. 

 

I run with 60hz in the odyssey and 99% of the time am at a solid 60fps that maybe drops to 55, meaning I probably run at more than 60FPS at about 150%.   Even that can dip below 40fps until I get in the air on a busy server.   It might not dip below 60 at another location on the map.   But it happens here and there. 

 

@ 170% SS in the odyssey I'm rendering 1864x2320 per eye or about 4.5m pixels per eye which is maybe a couple hundred thousand pixels per eye off from the Reverb and it can still struggle.

 

Perhaps you're not flying in the same scenarios as I am.. and hey, now you're running a 5950x and a 3090.     I mean.. why build a new rig if performance was fine?"

 

Let's not discount that we're still compensating for a lack of capable hardware/software, even with lower end headsets,  with tricks like motion reprojection, motion smoothing, asw.   For now, DCS is not going to be a title that takes full advantage of that 120hz screen, more so with resolution increases.  I for one think it's going to be quite some time for hardware to catch up with DCSW VR. 

 

Until then.  I am making due. 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Headwarp

[Headwarp]

On another note.. I just got my Index controllers from the Steam store and can't use them because HTC hasn't sent out my base stations yet for an order I placed on the 12th. 

I was assured my order was in progress and that my base stations would ship as soon as it was processed, but when I go to view it just says "order submitted"

Edited May 18, 2021 by Headwarp

[Greekbull]

15 hours ago, Headwarp said:

 

 

Perhaps you're not flying in the same scenarios as I am.. and hey, now you're running a 5950x and a 3090.     I mean.. why build a new rig if performance was fine?"

 

 

 

 

Well in JTF-1 we fly in very large dedicated Multiplayer servers every night.  I had a chance to buy the 5950X and 3090 for proper market prices when they launched and I historically will upgrade my PC every 2 years.  It wasn't exactly something I needed to do.  But I do like to have the absolute fastest rig possible and I want to push my VR headset etc as fast as I can.  While I wasn't having issues with the 8700K, 2080Ti, I've never seen performance as good as I'm getting now with awesome FPS on the ground at Incirlik for example with all my settings maxed out etc...

[Headwarp]

So heads up.  Very specific scenario here but if anybody plans to go the route I did, where I ordered the Index controllers from steam and then placed an order for the 2.0 base stations from HTC as well as pre-order my Pro 2.

 

Unless you're willing to wait for any accessories, like the base stations that are currently in stock to ship with your Pro 2 do NOT place them on the same order as your pro 2 pre-order.  

 

I used paypal so they charged me for everything, the same rep told me on two occasions my Base stations would be processed soon.. then sends me an email stating he was wrong and my base stations wouldn't ship until the headset shipped.  So when I went back to their online chat tonight they told me my only option was to cancel the order and lose my pre-order spot or proceed with the order as is.  I requested a supervisor and it wasn't until I pointed out that my order status still showed "Order submitted" that they said they could remove the base stations from my order.   In hindsight.. it's probably related to the fact that the order only accounted for one shipment.  Either way I submitted a separate order for the base stations which included a $16 shipping fee and they've already posted the refund to my bank.  

 

Of course, also specific to my situation, I plan to use the Index Knuckles with my WMR headset in the event I find the Pro 2 isn't for me and there are apps out there to achieve this, along with the right wireless dongles. 

 

But the other concern for me was, what happens if suddenly they run out of stock for base stations?   That's a potential delay on my pre-order.   

 

So, save yourself the hassle imo.  If you plan to pre-order the Pro 2 AND buy any accessories along with it, submit two separate orders and make sure the headset pre-order is on its own order.   

Edited May 19, 2021 by Headwarp

[Lange_666]

Does one need lighthouses for these headsets to work?

[Supmua]

4 hours ago, DigitalEngine said:

When will the Vive Pro 2's start shipping?

The release date is June 3rd.

4 hours ago, Lange_666 said:

Does one need lighthouses for these headsets to work?

You need at least one basestation, for tracking purpose. 

[Lange_666]

2 hours ago, Supmua said:

You need at least one basestation, for tracking purpose. 

 

I'll skip then, need something without basestation like Rift-S.

[Supmua]

1 hour ago, Lange_666 said:

 

I'll skip then, need something without basestation like Rift-S.

Yeah, either go with Reverb, Quest 2, or wait for the new Quest. 
 

The Vive Focus 3 is a stand alone headset like Quest 2, will also support SteamVR with inside out tracking and same 5K screen (except 90 instead of 120Hz), but at $1300 it is not aimed for consumer market. 
 

EDIT:

Forgot to mention Decagear 1. SteamVR headset with inside out tracking and dual 2160x2160 screens. Coming out by the end of the year.  I was actually looking forward to playing with this one but then HTC introduced the Vive Pro 2. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Supmua

[Supmua]

For those who’re concerned about basestation shortage or price, you can also buy used basestations from Amazon for around $100-120 each.  I’m still using my basestations 1 from the original HTC Vive era, and they’re fine.