[PIMAX] All about the VR headsets

I shared you skepticism @SeatTime, and I think there was good reason for it in terms of the technical challenges involved, so am pleasantly surprised with how much progress Pimax has made over the last few months towards what looks like a viable consumer product, at least for the 5K+. I am not sure the 8K, with upscaler issues, has really lived up to the hype.

My pledge is even later than yours, in the mid 4000s.

I am waiting for reviews using the 2080ti, which should be in about a week or so, as that will tell a bit about how much brute forcing the 8K will have, though I have some doubts as I consider the bottleneck is the upscaler chip.

It is a hard choice for me, as my primary reason for taking a chance in Pimax was not simming, but rather as a gen 1.5 upgrade for my own architectural visualisation projects. So near field image clarity is pretty important to me.

At least I am likely to have a while before I have to decide.

The Latest PiTools update improves 8K rendering, though that is with some brute forcing at 1.5 and even then you still get jagged edges on straight lines and less clarity because of the pixel arrangement: http://forum.pimaxvr.com/t/mrtv-pim...mum-quality-settings-supersampling-on/8394/96

Also note that testing of games like PC2 is using the reduced FOV mode, otherwise frame rate is a significant issue.

Latest Pimax Kickstarter update:

Hi Futurists,

We have the final hardware versions ready for you.

Pimax 8K is the next generation headset, the only headset with SDE eliminated and FOV enlarged. We have reached the goal we set for ourselves.

It was a long journey full of challenges and surprises.

The team regards 8K as the next generation enthusiast headset and 5K as a light version of 8K. During the Kickstarter roadshows last year, the gap between 5K and 8K was obvious.

In May 2018, we seized the opportunity to create a new model with the improved panel and spent the next 3 months to test and improve the model. Before the Berlin Meetup, the new model surpassed the expectations of everyone, including the R&D team.

Before we decided to bring the new model to the testers and backers in Berlin, we had an intensive argument internally, quite a few team members thought it might confuse people, thus against the idea of releasing the new model right away.

However, the whole purpose of the team is to deliver the best possible VR immersion experience to backers asap, and whatever fits in that purpose is the right thing to do.

The final decision is not to hide, but to make the new model available for each one of you, our backers.

We named the new model 5K+. You are now free to pick the best model for yourself.

For the first batch, we have prepared both 5K+ and 8K. We will ship the models to you as your Kickstarter rewards based on your choices.

The support team has already reached out to the early backers from 1 to 100 to double check the shipping details. Every 8K / X backer will get the chance to switch to 5K+. Also, every 5K backer will receive the new 5K+ model instead of 5K and have the chance to switch to 8K as well.

You can now start to think about your own choices already:

• If you are an 8K / X backer and decide to keep 8K, we would suggest the graphics cards GTX1080ti or higher for you to run demanding games with 8K.
  
  
• If you are an 8K / X backer and decide to switch to 5K+, we will provide you $100 coupon to purchase accessories (modules etc.) in our online store. Stay tuned for the pre-order of headsets and accessories.
  
  
• If you are a 5K backer and decide to switch to 8K, please contact support@pimaxvr.com to pay the $100 price difference.
  
  
• If your backer number is one- or two-digit i.e. 1 - 100, please let the support team know your decision this week, so we can manage your shipment asap.
  
  
• If you cannot make a decision yet, you are free to take your time. We can skip your backer number for now and manage your shipment later. Contact support@pimaxvr.com when you made up your mind.
  

You may refer to the very in-depth video reviews by our super awesome testers to make your decision.

Steps to ship your rewards:

Step 1: We will announce the details of the new batch to ship via Kickstarter.

Step 2: Every backer will get an email from the support team. You will be able to confirm your choice(s), your address and other shipping details.

Step 3: Based on the info collected from the backers, we manage to ship the rewards.

Step 4: Repeat the steps.

VR Enthusiasts - thanks again for standing by the startup called Pimax. Your passion is the energy to drive the team and the whole industry!

VR Developers - Let's get in touch! Email us at sean.huang@pimaxvr.com, we will add you to a developer-only forums for better support

Best Regards,

The Pimax Team

Through the lens comparison of the 8K and 5K+, focusing on text readability, which is of interest for simulation games:

I would say the 5K has the lead for FPS, black on white text legibility and clarity, but not for coloured text, at the expense of screen door effect and distance clarity, with both of those being better on the 8K.

But keep in mind a camera is not a human eye and does not behave like one, in fact a camera can make things like a pixel matrix appear worse than it would to the human eye, as a camera has its own pixel matrix.

The upscaler does seem to be the bottleneck and my concern is that Pimax can tweak settings once the HMD ships, but it may well be the limitations of the upscaler chip itself that are its Achilles heal.

But there is still tweaking time left and further reviews, though for many it will be a difficult decision to either stay with the 8K or go with the 5K+. I am leaning toward the latter, but that is for my use case which is architectural VR, where close up detail and straight lines matter.

Do you mean reference to the 'Normal FOV' in tests, if so that is a software reduction feature not reduced lens FOV.

As Pimax is finding the more you push FOV the more that eye tracking is required, otherwise you get peripheral aberration that is difficult to compensate for.

From what I have gleaned so far from reviews when it comes to the 8K it is not really the screen door effect that is the real issue, it has less than the 5K, but rather that the angular pixel matrix combined with the upscaler results in a less sharp image in some circumstances, such as white text on black background.