My Varjo Aero Review

[dburne]

20 minutes ago, Badger633 said:

Looks like you can get the lenses for the Varjo now.
https://vroptician.com/prescription-lens-inserts/varjo-aero

 

Yeah that is what I am planning on. Will be out on Wed in that area so will stop in optician store while there.

[dburne]

Aero uses be aware:

Today's update from Varjo fixes all distortion issues with DCS. This means if you previously used the WMR Debug Tool to swap top and bottom of both lenses, you will need to use it again to swap them back. Otherwise you are going to have a very weird swimmy experience with the Aero in DCS. Once swapped back, no need for debug tool again - it is perfect!

In addition today's update seems to have given me a little performance improvement as well,

Please note after updating with this update to get the new distortion profile, you will need to enable it in Varjo Base - it is listed under System as experimental.

Edited March 7, 2022 by dburne

[Supmua]

Something for me to play with after work, thanks.  Curious about the performance, it’s kinda funny that the other flightsim now gives me better fps than DCS which wasn’t really possible before with that level of graphics.

[dburne]

Just now, Supmua said:

Something for me to play with after work, thanks.  Curious about the performance, it’s kinda funny that the other flightsim now gives me better fps than DCS which wasn’t really possible before with that level of graphics.

 

After today's update I am now hitting 90 fps more in that other sim.

[Flim]

Crazy, I updated everything and deleted the debug hmd file from my config, but still the same... had to go back in and swap again to make it all look right.

[dburne]

4 minutes ago, Flim said:

Crazy, I updated everything and deleted the debug hmd file from my config, but still the same... had to go back in and swap again to make it all look right.

 

When you swap the top/bottom lenses back for DCS you have to be sure and hit save in the debug tool. Otherwise it will not save and revert back to what it was before you swapped them.

[Supmua]

Ok, been testing the new firmware, so far so good the distortion has improved significantly.  Varjo setting at Very High (30 PPD) is mostly as sharp as my 4KTV which is crazy, tested with games as well as web browsing.  I'm running DCS at 68% resolution (2972x2548 per panel) and the visual quality is still just bonkers.  Other than the coloration which isn't as good as OLED TV in black areas, everything else is on par.

[dburne]

I have found today's software/firmware update to have made great strides for the Aero. Very pleased with what I am seeing.

[Supmua]

Imagine if Varjo could just offer system wide fixed foveated rendering options similar to OpenXR toolkit that works with every single VR apps, we won’t really need anything else, and I think this should be doable too.  The eye tracking foveated option has limited practicality requiring that particular software to support it.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Supmua

[Darpa]

Don,

I originally added the "recovery tool = true" line to the autoexec.cfg so I could use the WMR Debug tool to swap top and bottom. Since then the WMR Debug tool does not show up. Would you mind explaining how I get it to run again so I can "unswap" them? Thanks 

Update... I saw your comment about deleting hedi.lua on Discord (I have not been using Discord too often) and that took care of the problem.

So I have 3.5 running now and turned on the distortion profile. I tried all of my 3 main flight sims and all I can say is the Aero is the gift that keeps on giving. I have been pleased with the Aero since the day I got it and it just keeps getting better. I did have a bit of distortion initially but this took care of that. Life is GOOD!  

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Darpa

[dburne]

7 hours ago, Darpa said:

Don,

I originally added the "recovery tool = true" line to the autoexec.cfg so I could use the WMR Debug tool to swap top and bottom. Since then the WMR Debug tool does not show up. Would you mind explaining how I get it to run again so I can "unswap" them? Thanks 

Update... I saw your comment about deleting hedi.lua on Discord (I have not been using Discord too often) and that took care of the problem.

So I have 3.5 running now and turned on the distortion profile. I tried all of my 3 main flight sims and all I can say is the Aero is the gift that keeps on giving. I have been pleased with the Aero since the day I got it and it just keeps getting better. I did have a bit of distortion initially but this took care of that. Life is GOOD!  

 

 

Yeah that update yesterday was almost magical. Amazing what they accomplished with it.

Btw I struggled at first getting the screens flipped till I found out about that hedi.lua file. 

[Supmua]

I've done back to back testings in DCS with and without the new distortion correction, found the new option to cause slight reduction in image quality.  Cockpit and distant details aren't as crisp as before, YMMV.  Will need to check with other VR apps.

 

The distortion correction appears to fix the slight geometric image shift that occurs when you move your head left right up down (similar to the effects when wearing thick high prescription eyeglasses, but not the pincushion distortion around the edge of the image.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Supmua

[dburne]

 

Edit: That guy on the left kept talking about how the warping was still there on the edge of the horizontal fov. I will tell you I can barely see it and have to look really hard to see it. Maybe it is how the headset fits for me but it is miniscule,  I would not see that tiny bit unless I really tried to look for it.

As far as I am concerned after this latest update from Varjo, the entire image displayed is the sweet spot. So really no more sweet spot. The entire image is sharp and clear.

Others who with different head shapes and how the headset fits for them my have different views on this.

Edited March 10, 2022 by dburne

[dburne]

Ok so saw the Optician this morning and got all measurements. My eyes were pretty bad. Getting couple pairs of glasses, one progressive for looking off in distance and one to use as reading glasses for my computer.

Going to wait till I have glasses and try them to make sure they are good for what I want, if so then I will send VR Optician the numbers I have and get them on order. I should have the glasses in about 7 days. Won't be too much longer now, can't wait to see the crystal clear clarity finally of the Aero. And it already looks pretty darn good even with my bad eyes. 

[Supmua]

You should see sharper images unless your current corrected vision is already perfect at 85 cm focal length.  My insert lens give even sharper images than multi-focal contact lens at the exact same prescriptions (but that’s also the case with general use). 
 

As I said before, unless your vision is 20/20 the images might not be perfectly sharp. However, this can be hard to notice unless you do direct back to back comparison since it is already plenty sharp without optimal focus. But when focus zone is optimal, the visual quality is amazing just like typical 4K monitor.  That’s why I said that the sweetspot on this HMD isn’t easy to achieve, even though the nonsweetspot areas already look great. 
 

Now things can get a bit more complicated since the focal length of the headset is 2.8 feet instead of higher number, especially for people with split vision. For me this means I can’t wear the HMD too close, as it will get a bit blurry, so I have to use a thicker face pad. If I want to wear it closer then some sort of magnification (i.e. reading glasses) is needed. But I think lenses from VRoptician will have all this correction done for you, hopefully. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Supmua

[Badger633]

4 hours ago, Supmua said:

You should see sharper images unless your current corrected vision is already perfect at 85 cm focal length.  My insert lens give even sharper images than multi-focal contact lens at the exact same prescriptions (but that’s also the case with general use). 
 

As I said before, unless your vision is 20/20 the images might not be perfectly sharp. However, this can be hard to notice unless you do direct back to back comparison since it is already plenty sharp without optimal focus. But when focus zone is optimal, the visual quality is amazing just like typical 4K monitor.  That’s why I said that the sweetspot on this HMD isn’t easy to achieve, even though the nonsweetspot areas already look great. 
 

Now things can get a bit more complicated since the focal length of the headset is 2.8 feet instead of higher number, especially for people with split vision. For me this means I can’t wear the HMD too close, as it will get a bit blurry, so I have to use a thicker face pad. If I want to wear it closer then some sort of magnification (i.e. reading glasses) is needed. But I think lenses from VRoptician will have all this correction done for you, hopefully. 

 

Normally the VR correction lens companies ask for your prescription for looking into the distance. I assume this will be the same for the Varjo? 

[Supmua]

5 hours ago, Badger633 said:

Normally the VR correction lens companies ask for your prescription for looking into the distance. I assume this will be the same for the Varjo? 

I think so.  The problem or should I say unique feature of the Aero is that the optimal focus isn't distance (not sure I'd consider 2.8 feet distance anyway, for me it would be 5-6 feet away at least).  Lens companies typically work with HMD manufacturers, so this should already be accounted for when you order your lens.  Anyway, we will know soon once people start getting their lens from VRoptician.  I'm planning to order a pair myself but decide to wait for the reviews first.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Supmua

[dburne]

31 minutes ago, Supmua said:

I think so.  The problem or should I say unique feature of the Aero is that the optimal focus isn't distance (not sure I'd consider 2.8 feet distance anyway, for me it would be 5-6 feet away at least).  Lens companies typically work with HMD manufacturers, so this should already be accounted for when you order your lens.  Anyway, we will know soon once people start getting their lens from VRoptician.  I'm planning to order a pair myself but decide to wait for the reviews first.

 

 

As soon as I receive my new prescription glasses from my eye exam and I feel good about them I will be placing my order with VR Options. I could go ahead and order them with the numbers I have but want to make sure everything looks good with the glasses I get first. Should be about a week and hopefully will be placing my order then for the lens inserts. So maybe here in app 2 weeks or so I will have the lens inserts.

Edited March 13, 2022 by dburne

[GPatricks]

10 hours ago, dburne said:

 

As soon as I receive my new prescription glasses from my eye exam and I feel good about them I will be placing my order with VR Options. I could go ahead and order them with the numbers I have but want to make sure everything looks good with the glasses I get first. Should be about a week and hopefully will be placing my order then for the lens inserts. So maybe here in app 2 weeks or so I will have the lens inserts.

 

Don - You've got my finger hovering over the "Order Now" button again, but I still need some sort of mod to allow me to see behind me.. <sigh>... someday!

[dburne]

The guy who developed Open XR Developer Tools just announced he now has Foveated Rendering with Eye Tracking working for MSFS 2020 with the Varjo Aero !

Now we just need him to do it for IL-2 Great Battles and DCS, that would be awesome! Anxious to try this out - finally I will get a chance to actually use the eye tracking of my new Aero!! I am guess since IL-2 and DCS do not support natively Open XR probably not. Plus he is an MS employee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4vgEnzJ_Rc

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by dburne

[Supmua]

This is huge for me, Don.  Can’t wait to try this. I bet I could get good fps (hopefully 45) in densely populated areas with this considering I can get around 40 with the fixed foveated. 
 

OpenXR is the future, hopefully it will gain more traction from VR developers seeing how much this little tool can achieve in very little time. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Supmua

[dburne]

14 minutes ago, Supmua said:

This is huge for me, Don.  Can’t wait to try this. I bet I could get good fps (hopefully 45) in densely populated areas with this considering I can get around 40 with the fixed foveated. 
 

OpenXR is the future, hopefully it will gain more traction from VR developers seeing how much this little tool can achieve in very little time. 

 

Yeah can't wait to try this out with my eye tracking. Going to be awesome I think.

And the great thing - this is not a game Mod. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by dburne

[dburne]

How cool it would be if somehow ED could implement support for this technology we have today with the Aero.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by dburne

[dburne]

I finally got my prescription glasses in today. They are awesome I am so glad I went to the eye doc as it turned out my eyes were pretty bad. These prescription glasses are going to make a big difference for me.  Have been wearing them most of the day. I wore them for one flight only just to see how they did in the Aero. Big difference, image was already very nice and this just tweaked it even nicer for me. I did not want to continue to use in the Aero for fear of scratching the lens' in the Aero.

 

Now that I know this prescription is going to work well for me I will send it on to VR Opticians and get me some lens inserts on order for the Aero. Still have been using the Aero for a few hours every day, still loving it very much. I knew my eyesight was getting worse, just did not realize how bad it really was.

Will update when I get the lens inserts in the Aero and advise how they do for me.

[dburne]

For those of you still waiting for your headsets or considering placing an order, an official update from Varjo regarding current shipping delays.

 

https://discord.com/channels/839478779256897546/953295284841115709/956123149609603164