DCS tested with the Pimax Crystal

[Callsign.Vega]

Lol that guy is a "VR Chat" guy. He's going to prioritize everything opposite a sim person. 

Like my Asian girlfriend critiquing a Ferrari's driving dynamics. 

[ackattacker]

14 hours ago, winghunter said:

TLDW
* Its the best headset from Pimax
* Quite heavy - 1.2 kg
* Head straps break
* Some units ship with plastic lenses, to be replaced later
* Exchangeable lens system seems like a gimmick
* People receive different versions of the cable / copper vs fiber optic
* Resolution and brightness are really good
* Local dimming is difficult to get working, and causes some blooming
* No games seem to be running above 90Hz currently, despite showing 120Hz
* Controller tracking is ok, not great
* Glass lenses have some chromatic aberration
* Headset may work best for stationary simulators, but not for motion based games due to weight and tracking
 

 

Also, small sweet spot and outside the sweet spot causes geometric distortions/ pupil swim. 

People call this guy a Pimax hater but I think he’s just being realistic. A $1600 device that’s a year late and still feels like a beta product. Which, honestly, is typical Pimax. He’s upfront that he’s not a simmer, but really the headset is sold as a do-everything, what with the wireless and standalone capabilities. It really seems sub-optimal for those uses even after the software side is sorted. I’d much rather watch his reviews than Sebastian’s “everything is wonderful” gush-fests. 

[BazzaLB]

12 hours ago, WipeUout said:

Another Pimax hater, who plays job simulator... not the type of reviewer with flight sim credibility.

Well, to be fair, he said its a too heavy but might be perfect for people who play seated like "Sim players". So he even openly states he is NOT a sim player, unlike another youtuber who basically praises every single headset so long as he can peddle some "referral codes" and simply rinses and repeats a different headset every week with some invented perfect purpose.

[WipeUout]

I agree that Pimax goofed it with shipping issues and their glass lenses production.  Sadly it seems that it is becoming a trend in the PC industry unfortunately.  It is the Microsoft way applied to hardware 

But once they have their act together, the product is outstanding.  I have nothing to say against my 8KX, it is damn good, as long as you have the hardware to push it or course.

Seems that things are improving though, nevertheless I will wait a month or two more before pulling the trigger.  

[NAM]

Quite a good review from flight simmer in NZ. Consider that he has plastic lenses.

 

[WipeUout]

9 hours ago, NAM said:

Quite a good review from flight simmer in NZ. Consider that he has plastic lenses.

Good review and very intersting to see the performance comparison between the G2 and the Crystal from a 3080Ti perspective.  

[Germane]

Am 6.6.2023 um 16:31 schrieb Merlin_VFA34:

 Till now I was using a G2 and the picture is compared to the G2 a little bit sharper,ä...

Hi Merlin, 

the picture is only a little bit sharper than the one of the G2? That surprises me. According to prevuous reports, it should be massively better. Thats a bit disappointing...

 

[Merlin_VFA34]

2 minutes ago, Germane said:

Hi Merlin, 

the picture is only a little bit sharper than the one of the G2? That surprises me. According to prevuous reports, it should be massively better. Thats a bit disappointing...

 

That depends how you define sharper. I mean the picture of the G2 is perfect if you would only look at the small inner circle (something like 20°). A Crystal is "increase the 20° to 90°" and make the picture a little bit sharper. It is for example no problem the read the tacan channel of the F14 in that 90° arc. That is impossible if you use the G2

[Germane]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb Merlin_VFA34:

That depends how you define sharper. I mean the picture of the G2 is perfect if you would only look at the small inner circle (something like 20°). A Crystal is "increase the 20° to 90°" and make the picture a little bit sharper. It is for example no problem the read the tacan channel of the F14 in that 90° arc. That is impossible if you use the G2

Hmm, okay. Thank you for your answer.

What resolution are we talking about with the G2? Native resolution or 100% Steam VR? Personally, I'm not really satisfied with the sharpness in the sweet spot. That's why I expected a significant improvement from the Crystel.

[Merlin_VFA34]

3 hours ago, Germane said:

Hmm, okay. Thank you for your answer.

What resolution are we talking about with the G2? Native resolution or 100% Steam VR? Personally, I'm not really satisfied with the sharpness in the sweet spot. That's why I expected a significant improvement from the Crystel.

I have not used steam vr lately. But yes the G2 at 100%

 

A few other observations:

I had some time for more tests and I tryed to use SteamVR but as soon as DCS homescreen pops up DCS crashes (MT Version). The single thread version works and the framerate is the same as MT DCS openXR

If I enable turbo mode in openxr I will allways be limited by the mainthread but even at a framerate ob 90 frames the tracking feels does not smooth

If I don´t start up the headset bevor turning on the computer the headset will not be detected. The only way to fix the problem is a reboot.

[Willie Nelson]

I think the big question for me is simply about the smart smoothing not appearing to work effectively with DCS as yet.
 

If this headset is not able to do some form of reprojection at least for now, then it’s a non starter for the time being. Maybe that changes down the track if Vulkan gets up and running perhaps but I’ve been using my G2 lately with the multi threading to avoid the stutter issue and I’m getting around 65+ FPS. 65+ FPS doesn’t look great I have to say and most of the testers even on a 4090 with resolution dialled right down are getting nowhere near that. 
 

I hope I’m missing something but until I can have my reprojection concerns addressed, I think I will have to hold off. 
 

A friend also appointed out the crappy returns policy constantly being dragged out into the non warranty period and that concerns me too. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Willie Nelson

[Callsign.Vega]

Ugg, Pimax sent me Fedex shipping notification and a day later says cancelled. What the heck is going on over there. 

[Dogmanbird]

I saw it mentioned on reddit that some orders are getting cancelled at the last minute because they were plastic lenses. Instead, they will send a new shipment with glass lenses

[Callsign.Vega]

Oh thank god, don't want no stinking plastic lens. 

[winghunter]

10 REASONS VARJO AERO is BETTER than PIMAX CRYSTAL

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by winghunter

[WipeUout]

8 minutes ago, winghunter said:

10 REASONS VARJO AERO is BETTER than PIMAX CRYSTAL

What a revelation! An HMD that cost twice as much has more built quality and features

I hope he tries the crystal in DCS also... That would be helpful! 

[Gorn557]

I guess his Pimax sponsorship deal ran out He's been shilling for the Crystal for months!

[winghunter]

Peronally i'm leaning more towards the Meta Quest PRO even though i dislike the company. But it seems to be the overall most useful headset outside of DCS.

 

[WipeUout]

26 minutes ago, winghunter said:

Peronally i'm leaning more towards the Meta Quest PRO even though i dislike the company.

Pimax is not so good either at customer service and delivering the promises but going back to tunnel vision is worst for me.  I like my 8kX, it is wide, clear and working fine in DCS.  That's why I will probably stick with Pimax and get the Crystal.

[Tshark]

I found this review helpful.

 

[Callsign.Vega]

I really really hate these Crystal controllers. The tracking is the worst I've ever seen in VR and none of the buttons map to games properly. Any suggestions? Any way to get my Index controller and lighthouses to work independently? 

[dburne]

10 hours ago, Callsign.Vega said:

I really really hate these Crystal controllers. The tracking is the worst I've ever seen in VR and none of the buttons map to games properly. Any suggestions? Any way to get my Index controller and lighthouses to work independently? 

IIRC Pimax had listed the ablilty to use Index controllers with the appropriate tracking as one of it's features - however not yet implemented , I believe it will require an add on module of sort.

[ackattacker]

10 hours ago, Callsign.Vega said:

I really really hate these Crystal controllers. The tracking is the worst I've ever seen in VR and none of the buttons map to games properly. Any suggestions? Any way to get my Index controller and lighthouses to work independently? 

I believe you will have to wait for the lighthouse faceplate. Might be waiting a long time. Other people have successfully merged inside-out tracked headsets such as Quest 2 with lighthouse controllers using some software workarounds such as Open Space Calibrator , but AFAIK nobody has successfully done it with the Crystal, there are some software conflicts. 

[Callsign.Vega]

I ordered a USB Dongle to try and get my Index controllers working with the Crystal. The Crystal controllers are epically bad.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B95LRH7Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Callsign.Vega]

The clarity on the Crystal is amazing... just trying to curb the stutters in VR which drive me crazy. Any tips?