Pimax Crystal - some Smart Smoothing findings after the last Pimax update

[Peedee]

Smart smoothing was broken I think, but after yesterdays update, both Crystal headset firmware and Pimax Play app, it seems to be working. But not perfect.

I tried smart smoothing with headset refresh rate at 72, 90 and 120 hz, meaning I only needed 36, 45 or 60 fps respectivly to make it work. 

Now, to make it work I had to apply Smart Smoothing in Pimax Play app menus (of course!   ), and also in PimaxXR app I also had to tick the box for "Lock to half frame rate (compulsive smoothing). Or else the framerate would be all over the place, breaking the function it seemed. 

Prefer frame rate over latency off in PimaxXR, and Turbo mode turned off with Quadviews companion app. (Or one can edit the settings file for Quadview if one wants). Never tested with any of those two on because I´ve read that smart smoothing doesn´t work with them.

All my nvidia driver settings is at default, except for I have turned on "Use maximum power" - or whatever it is called. You know which one I guess. 

I tried singelplayer, with F16, the Caucasus Map and Marianas Map, selecting Instant Action mission on both - the free "Free Flight" mission.Now here´s what I found:

72hz - worked, but too much stutter. Framerate counter from OpenXR toolkit stayed on 36/37 fps, so it should have been smoother. And it kind of was smooth, but there were a too noticeble amount of stutter. I won´t use Smart smoothing in DCS with Crystal running at 72hz unless some one comes up with an idea to make it work better.

90hz - worked ok. Occasional stutters, but If I couldn´t get 72 native fps on my system (like I can), I could have used this!  "Lower end" systems might want to try this! Yes, there were some ghosting if another plane passed near you, but - yeah - It reminded me how my Reverb G2 used to handle this and my Pico 4. 

120hz - As above. 

[Tusk.V]

6 hours ago, Peedee said:

Smart smoothing was broken I think, but after yesterdays update, both Crystal headset firmware and Pimax Play app, it seems to be working. But not perfect.

I tried smart smoothing with headset refresh rate at 72, 90 and 120 hz, meaning I only needed 36, 45 or 60 fps respectivly to make it work. 

Now, to make it work I had to apply Smart Smoothing in Pimax Play app menus (of course!   ), and also in PimaxXR app I also had to tick the box for "Lock to half frame rate (compulsive smoothing). Or else the framerate would be all over the place, breaking the function it seemed. 

Prefer frame rate over latency off in PimaxXR, and Turbo mode turned off with Quadviews companion app. (Or one can edit the settings file for Quadview if one wants). Never tested with any of those two on because I´ve read that smart smoothing doesn´t work with them.

All my nvidia driver settings is at default, except for I have turned on "Use maximum power" - or whatever it is called. You know which one I guess. 

I tried singelplayer, with F16, the Caucasus Map and Marianas Map, selecting Instant Action mission on both - the free "Free Flight" mission.Now here´s what I found:

72hz - worked, but too much stutter. Framerate counter from OpenXR toolkit stayed on 36/37 fps, so it should have been smoother. And it kind of was smooth, but there were a too noticeble amount of stutter. I won´t use Smart smoothing in DCS with Crystal running at 72hz unless some one comes up with an idea to make it work better.

90hz - worked ok. Occasional stutters, but If I couldn´t get 72 native fps on my system (like I can), I could have used this!  "Lower end" systems might want to try this! Yes, there were some ghosting if another plane passed near you, but - yeah - It reminded me how my Reverb G2 used to handle this and my Pico 4. 

120hz - As above. 

With your specs you shouldn't have ANY stutter at 72hz. You shouldn't be using Smart Smoothing. Something isn't right. Even at 90hz, I can stay pretty much locked at 90 up high and above 80 over the cities in Hornet Syria Free Flight.

At 72hz, I'm staying locked at 72fps in every situation and it's buttery smooth.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Tusk.V

[j9murphy]

I get 90 at altitude as well, but near the ground I get stutters in Syria and the PG.  @Tusk.V could you look at the settings I posted in the 13900k/4090/Pimax thread and let us know where your setting are different?

 

 

[Peedee]

1 hour ago, Tusk.V said:

With your specs you shouldn't have ANY stutter at 72hz. You shouldn't be using Smart Smoothing. Something isn't right. Even at 90hz, I can stay pretty much locked at 90 up high and above 80 over the cities in Hornet Syria Free Flight.

At 72hz, I'm staying locked at 72fps in every situation and it's buttery smooth.

 

I wrote my original post to tell people how smart smoothing was working now, after the update. As it was broken before.  I probably didn’t make this Crystal clear (aaa… see what I did there,,, muuhahah) in my first post. But anyway, my post was about how smart smoothing was working at different panel updates speeds/hz. Aaaand at 72 hz - smart smoothing stutters.   Not everybody has a I9 13900K or better and a RTX 4090 and can run the Crystal at either 72 or 90hz native. 

Before the 72hz update I ran DCS in native 90hz mode, no smart smoothing, but stilll 90 fps and smooth… but with lower graphic fidelity. Thanks to Quad views

Now with the 72hz update I run DCS in 72hz mode in higher resolution.  No smart smoothing of course since I don’t need it. And it looks incredible. Seriously - I didn’t dream about VR looking so good just a year ago

We’re lucky  

[fredclan]

72hz - worked, but too much stutter. Framerate counter from OpenXR toolkit stayed on 36/37 fps, so it should have been smoother. And it kind of was smooth, but there were a too noticeble amount of stutter. I won´t use Smart smoothing in DCS with Crystal running at 72hz unless some one comes up with an idea to make it work better.

 

Now with the 72hz update I run DCS in 72hz mode in higher resolution.  No smart smoothing of course since I don’t need it. And it looks incredible. Seriously - I didn’t dream about VR looking so good just a year ago

 

I dont understand PeeDee...is it good or is it bad?

 

[Glide]

And is Smart Smoothing the exact same tech as Motion Reprojection?  Does it naturally lock at half frame rate?  Or does it work some new way?  I guess it would be nice to see a technical definition of smart smoothing and how it differs from other smoothing technologies.

Some background: https://www.uploadvr.com/reprojection-explained/?ref=uploadvr.com

Edited March 18 by Glide