VR Simmers!

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Wozaworld
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Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:59 am

VR Simmers!

Post by Wozaworld » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:40 am

Just bought a HP Reverb.... game changer! 2k in each eye - if anyone was holding off on waiting on VR to catch up to monitors, I give you the HP reverb.

Outstanding resolution!

9/10 would buy again.
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"Always treat your kite like you treat your woman, climb inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back.."

i7 8700K @ 5Ghz H100X Water cooled, Asus Maximus X Hero, 32gb DDR4 3000mhz ram, GTX1080ti 11gb , 250gb SSD, Thrustmaster warthog stick, X-55 H.O.T.A.S, Combat Rudder pedals, TrackIR5, GHD Hair straightners, Quite a nice kettle. Oh! and one of those Oculus majiggy thingys

Paddy
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Paddy » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:21 am

Before everyone gets too excited, note that these retail for £514.80 from HP (https://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Prod ... BB&sel=ACC)

I had heard that HP had the best product, great to see one of us has it in the field. Anyone chance of posting a review with photos Woza?
Cheers,

Paddy
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Group Captain John 'Paddy' Hemingway, we salute you

Wozaworld
Posts: 627
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:59 am

Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Wozaworld » Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:37 pm

No probs Paddy - here goes...

Product: HP Reverb

Price: £514.80

Delivery: Free - Arrived the next day

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Specs:

Headset is outfitted with two 2.89-inch screens featuring a 2160×2160 resolution per eye (4320×2160 combined resolution), a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a 114-degree field of view. Headset is lightweight - and in comparison to the rift, weighs quite substantially less. Controllers are paired via bluetooth (those who don't have a bluetooth on their computers can purchase a USB for around £9.99). The headset uses windows mixed reality - which works in conjunction with SteamVR very well, a welcomed change to Occulus home to which taxes up to 30% of your GPU when in use. The reverb comes with a chunky 4m Displayport cable (not HDMI) with USB and a small 60cm cable for backpack use. The Headset uses two cameras for tracking rather than a receiver/sensor. It also has detachable headphones which have a good degree of adjustment. The headset operates in either 90hz or 60hz depending on what you select (60hz being less CPU/GPU taxing) However, there is no IPD selector unlike the rift - anyone who has visual problems would be wise to try one out first (I had no problems at all)

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First impressions:

The built quality is what you would expect for £500+ similar style to the rift, however noticeably lighter. A welcomed design is the nose guard to which shields out any outside light leaking - you are totally in the headset (Flying beers are now in serious danger of ending up all over my desk). Setup was quick and easy, with WMR being available to download from steam. Once I was up and running the first thing you are taken back by is the clarity of the visuals... even in the home screen of the WMR, gone are the pixels or "honeycomb" you see whilst inside the rift. Unlike the Rift which sits on top of your head - this headset wraps around, once it is on it isn't moving anywhere. I also found it left fewer marks on my face after prolonged use!

So! obviously the first game I setup... il2 Great Battles, I used my Rift settings (120% Steam SS and High in game graphics with only mirrors, shadows and 4k skins reduced). I was hitting around 75-90FPS which was considerably higher than the Rift would achieve, again.. what shocks you is the clarity, I can now read EVERYTHING in the cockpit without zooming in - The visual you see is equivalent to sitting 2ft away from a 32inch 2k monitor screen... Absolutely NO godrays, and the FOV appears the same as the Rift. I need not explain the contact spotting and what not - as it is the same as if you were using a monitor, I can now ID aircraft from a considerable distance. Sweetspot is supposedly small in comparison to Headsets such as the Pimax 5k, however it is barely noticeable unless you look for it.

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I decided to see how far I could push the graphics whilst maintaining playable FPS - I pushed settings to Ultra and raised SS to 168%. The visuals again had improved even further! but achieving 45 - 65FPS and some uncomfortable jerking/stuttering. I then thought about trying to see if the headset used ASW to see if that would smoothen things out.. Turns out the Headset/WMR doesn't have ASW but uses another system for motionprojection.. however there is no setting option for this, instead you need to change the config file to this;

"driver_Holographic_Experimental" : {
// Motion reprojection doubles framerate through motion vector extrapolation
// motionvector = force application to always run at half framerate with motion vector reprojection
// auto = automatically use motion reprojection when the application can not maintain native framerate
"motionReprojectionMode" : "motionvector",

"Motionvector" being the magic line you need to write in/insert (I briefly googled and scanned the forums for this to come to light)

SO! now the headset locks at 45FPS, but.... the game is butter-smooth without a single hitch, or anomaly with anything from rolling to other aircraft flying by. I'm flying with superb graphics and clarity! When I say clarity, I mean I can read off every bit of writing I can see in front of me whilst sat in the Tempest cockpit, EVERY bit of writing. Gauges are crystal clear and the scenery below looks like I am flying on a monitor. Long contact spotting is vastly improved and identification can be done at some considerable range (I would usually confirm ID from say 500ft way with the rift, times that by 10 now...)

After flying for 6hrs (felt like an hour or two) the headset didn't miss a beat. 8 kills and a plethora of ground targets later I come off and marvel at the experience I have just had. THIS is what I have waited a long time for!! I imagine the next generation of Headset is some way off in my hands, as I imagine to improve of this will take one hell of a Quantum computer.

My Specs:

i7 8700K @ 5Ghz
GTX 1080Ti @ 2Ghz
Maximus Hero X board
32GB DDR4 @ 3000Mhz
500GB SSD & 250GBSSD

Pros:

Resolution & Clarity, Lightweight build, Build quality, Ease of setup, NO god rays! Very little heat inside and out the googles.

Cons:

£500+, Chunky cable is a little annoying (noticeable on your back and between 180 movements), reprojection isn't an easy tick box on or off, controllers although a good build - just don't wow me.


This is night and day in comparison to the Rift, Having happily flown with the rift for some 2yrs now and comfortably dealt with the visuals, this has now blown it out of the water and gave me a very satisfying experience. If I'm entirely honest, there is a little improvement to do on the visuals - a larger FOV would be great, and as I said - it is equivalent to sitting 2ft away from a large (32inch) 2k Monitor, if you look hard against a white background you can still make out the pixels - but a million miles away from the rift.

I sold one of my cherished guitars to fund this, do not regret it. (It was only gathering dust)
Last edited by Wozaworld on Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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"Always treat your kite like you treat your woman, climb inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back.."

i7 8700K @ 5Ghz H100X Water cooled, Asus Maximus X Hero, 32gb DDR4 3000mhz ram, GTX1080ti 11gb , 250gb SSD, Thrustmaster warthog stick, X-55 H.O.T.A.S, Combat Rudder pedals, TrackIR5, GHD Hair straightners, Quite a nice kettle. Oh! and one of those Oculus majiggy thingys

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Maltloaf
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Maltloaf » Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:46 pm

Crap! Anybody want to buy my Rift?
"I have never once lost my gratitude for those who were the sentinels and held the line between tyranny and civilisation"

Jonesy
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Jonesy » Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:53 pm

And mine! Last time Woza planted a seed it cost me £2500 :lol:
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Maltloaf
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Maltloaf » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:20 pm

Monday morning job, rift on eBay, don’t use it anyway
"I have never once lost my gratitude for those who were the sentinels and held the line between tyranny and civilisation"

Jonesy
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Jonesy » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:32 pm

I only use it occasionally for a game of "guess that aircraft" in BoS
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Crane
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Crane » Sun Nov 24, 2019 11:33 pm

Thanks for the review Woza. How's the two-cam inside-out tracking compared to the outside-in tracking of the rift?
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Wozaworld
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Wozaworld » Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:06 am

It's been flawless so far, my rift used to sometimes glitch when looking directly behind - or lose the centered picture. Haven't had any issues so far with the reverb, tracks very well!
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"Always treat your kite like you treat your woman, climb inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back.."

i7 8700K @ 5Ghz H100X Water cooled, Asus Maximus X Hero, 32gb DDR4 3000mhz ram, GTX1080ti 11gb , 250gb SSD, Thrustmaster warthog stick, X-55 H.O.T.A.S, Combat Rudder pedals, TrackIR5, GHD Hair straightners, Quite a nice kettle. Oh! and one of those Oculus majiggy thingys

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Maltloaf
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Re: VR Simmers!

Post by Maltloaf » Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:23 am

Oculus has been put on Ebay. Job done
"I have never once lost my gratitude for those who were the sentinels and held the line between tyranny and civilisation"

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