The Vive Pro: Resolution is coming

[Brainling]

The Vive Pro got announced today at CES:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...s-to-an-otherwise-familiar-looking-vr-system/

78% more resolution than the current Vive. The Vive Go also has better screens than the original. There are a lot of rumors that Oculus next enthusiast level headset (the CV2) will be announced soon. We assume it will also take a big resolution jump.

As someone who already iRaces entirely in VR, this is only good news for me. Of course, more resolution = more GPU power so these will need to coincide with Nvidia's Volta architecture that should release in a couple of months. Using the Titan V as a baseline people are assuming the "1180" (whatever the high end Volta card is called) will be 30-40% faster than a 1080 Ti at release. Still doesn't make up the resolution gap of the new headsets, but it's getting there.

This is going to be a great year for VR, especially for those of us already bought in for things like iRacing and Elite: Dangerous.

 

[little P]

Interesting news indeed, I was following CES after the clever "New years resolution" tease by HTC only days before CES.

No word on price yet though... I have read they will be offering it first to current Vive owners as an upgrade (HMD only, use your current basestations and controllers) in Q1 and then later in the summer as a standalone purchase, presumably with the new basestations (able to hook up four instead of two and utilize a 10m x 10m playspace - neither of which interest me) and potentially the highly anticipated "knuckles" controllers.

I already bought the DAS (Deluxe audio strap) and from what I read the new strap and speakers are only a marginal improvement so really the only thing in it for me would be an improvement in resolution.

So, in my case (and many of my friends who are in the same boat - DAS upgraded and not able to use a 10mx10m space) it really comes down to the price. They need to be very careful here as the upgrade path for existing vive owners in Q1 does not really allow you to easily sell your existing HMD. What use is a HMD on it's own? None. You need the box, the basestations and controllers so not many people are going to want to buy a HMD on it's own unless they want a spare. And that's an expensive spare... To buy the basestations, box, and controllers is more expensive than just buying a new vive kit so nobody in their right mind is going to do that.

This renders your current HMD effectively useless if you buy the Vive Pro as an upgrade (only the HMD) in Q1 for anything other than an inferior spare in case the Vive Pro breaks at some point.

So, the pricing for me is key. Lets see what they come up with...

 

[Nejtun]

I will be getting this the second it goes on sale, there were zero thoughts in my head of resale value of part or all of my current vive when I bought it, and I have had it for so long now it is out of warranty, an upgrade is an upgrade. " but what will I do with my old one???" put it on a shelf next to my G27 and my really old thrustmaster wheel and remember how much enjoyment it gave me to be one of the first to take the plunge into VR without knowing if it was going to be any good!

This new one can only be better and I personally think ( I could be wrong ) that it will be less demanding on hardware as there should be no need to push things like supersampling with the higher resolution to get at least the same quality as we have at the moment so this should help with lower end 10 series cards that may be struggling right now.

As for people with higher end cards, it will be nice to see just how far this can be pushed to be even more awesome. can't wait but I of course still want it to be as cheap as possible

 

[little P]

Yeah that's a fair point Netjun I suppose we have had nearly two years out of it. I must admit I am excited by the increase in resolution, it was never really a problem for bespoke VR games but for motorsport sims or flight sims or anything that wasn't built specifically for VR it was an issue. Supersampling somewhat mitigated it but you needed a monster card like yours to even attempt it and even then it was less than ideal.

I agree also with seeing what results can be achieved with supersampling this new base resolution is going to be great. With the 11 series Volta cards coming up we should be able to really push what this Vive Pro is capable of. I read that the screen door effect is almost eliminated completely with the new Vive Pro and is akin to sitting in front of a 1080p monitor, so supersampling that image would be quite something...

 

[Nejtun]

New vive is available for pre order , headset only

£799!
Might as well be 5 bars of gold some uranium and another £30k . Bastards.....

ships on the 5th April
I need a strong drink

 

[ShadniX]

879€ here on the continent. Ouch. Way beyond my expectations, considering the displays are off the shelf parts from Samsung, afaik. The Samsung Odyssey has the same resolution and is available for 500 US$ including controllers in NA. It is using the Microsoft "Mixed Reality" API though, so... meh...

I think I'll keep using my normal Vive a bit more.

 

[little P]

I nearly fell of my chair when I saw the announcement today.

What a piss take from them... absolute piss take.

 

[Brainling]

Wow, what a shit show of a price. 800 bucks USD for just the headset? Are they out of their fucking minds? So basically if you don't already own a Vive you're double screwed because you don't have the required light houses/base station. So you're looking at 800 + the cost of the light houses + more if you want Vive controllers. What an absolute joke a of a price. I hope they choke on it and sell like four units.

 

[Nejtun]

It is very expensive yes (and by that I mean totally effing extortionate!), but what piece of our hardware that we all run is not ?

Cant speak for rift users as that has always been cheaper, but the original vive was the same price as this without the audio strap.

"but it doesn't come with lighthouses or controllers!" , I got those already, lighthouses mounted to the wall and controllers (x3) hanging on the wall not doing much really as most of my stuff is sim related.

"what am I going to do with my old headset!?! " probably put it next to my G27 and thrustmaster steering wheels that have their own space decorating the various surfaces. all of which have had way more than their value.


Don't get me wrong, the price is just horseshit as it could have been way cheaper, but good toys don't come cheap these days it seems, plus I like cheese on toast, or sometimes just toast and there is a lot to be said for the cleansing properties of drinking nothing but water or even rain water, cold showers are good for waking you up and central heating just adds to global warming

Some people will wait until it is cheaper, which is cool. Those who were waiting for the Vive to be cheaper can now get it for 499 of their local currency which is a bargain imo. The original Vive is now two years old though and anyone who waited has very much missed out on a cool experience. I can only hope they continue to step up the game a bit and make these things better and better (and bloody cheaper) Star Trek Holodeck in my lifetime? YES PLEASE.

 

[Brainling]

That's great for you, you already have a Vive. I don't, I have an Oculus, so if I wanted to switch for the Vive Pro I'm in for 1200-1300 USD for all the crap I need if I want the whole experience. It's obscene, and extortion is the right word.

And my Oculus was 599 brand new. That came with everything I needed to use it, including the sensor and an XBox One controller (which I still use as my primary game pad when I play PC games with one). The Touch controllers were another 99 on top of that when they eventually released. So for less than the Vive Pro's HMD alone I got a full VR setup, as an early adopter. An HMD that's not even useful if you don't buy a couple of other accessories (no tracking, no link box, nothing).

e: And the Samsung Odyssey has the same 1440x1600 AMOLED displays and is 499 for the headset plus controllers.

 

[Nejtun]

It does actually come with a link box and the cables required to plug it in. the only things missing are the lighthouses and the controllers, so for Sim users a rift owner would be short 1 lighthouse, anyone that wants to play roomscale obviously needs the rest ( so cheaper and wiser to buy the vanilla vive and the vive pro ) which hefts the price tag up as you say. but for seated only $800 headset and $100 for 1 lighthouse sees you ready.

Maybe it will be cheaper/better deal when the whole package comes around later in the year? or some competition forcing the price down.

 

[little P]

I'm debating whether to sell my vive with deluxe audio strap, all the cables required and my extra lighthouse (with gorilla pod mount) as a sim bundle (keep my controllers and the two lighthouses) as you only need one lighthouse for sim stuff. Then buy the Vive Pro.

I'll stick it on ebay and see if it sells for 300 unless anyone here wants it

 

[ShadniX]

Stumbled across this on Youtube:

I'm still debating with myself if I should buy it or not. Nejt, have you received your order yet and were you able to try it out? What are your impressions?

 

[Nejtun]

Im still in hospital Hans, my vive is sitting at the house waiting to get plugged in. by all accounts I have read so far the outlook is good, not seen anyone with a Titan try to run it yet but I am expecting good things. there is an interesting first impressions thread in the iracing forum where it would seem those who have upgraded are happy . those who want better realise the new resolution lets them see further down the track and text is better.

Many think it is too expensive, (a matter of perspective imo , it costs what it costs lol) I will update this as soon as I get a chance to run it tomorrow probably but I am expecting good things. watch this space!!

 

[Nejtun]

ok , back and a bit groggy but I had to give this thing a try as i wasn't going to wait another day

First up I had to install the latest drivers as I almost had an stroke trying to use the old ones ( had to use old drivers with iracing for the original vive ) going to keep this fairly short as people with VR already have a baseline to compare to.

1. Screen door effect is practically non existent, I had to stop and stare at a spot to make it noticeable. the extra resolution has made it just enough to remove this as an issue.
2 . it is way more comfortable , even if you got the audio strap before for the vive.
3. you can read any text you can read on a monitor, I would compare the image to a good 1080p monitor @ 90hz
4. Nothing is blurry in the distance anymore, its been a long time since I could clearly see brake markers ( or more accuratly what was written on them without question)
5 . the smoothing effect when your frames drop below 90 fps seems to be way smoother, however this may be because my drivers are better than 10 months old , but who cares, smooth for whatever reason is smooth right?

OK , A quick disclaimer:
My system specs are fairly high, so your mileage may vary, however given that I ran everything at baseline settings and not what was recommended I am more than pleased so far. I will be turning this up to the recommended levels over the next few days to see how much more i can get out of it.
SPECS:
i7 6700k @ 4.4ghz
DDR4 Ram 16gig @2666Mhz
Titan X Pascal 12 Gig ( Lastest drivers )

Bottom line for this:

Is it worth the cost to upgrade from the original vive ? yes it is, if you can afford it and want improvements until the next even higher res one comes along then you cant go wrong.
is it expensive ? yes /shrug . so was my PC , so were my peripherals. hobbies are money killers , but i think this one has a worthy enjoyment value.
worth upgrading forgetting the cost ? from a vive , for sure but try it first if you can.
From a rift ? going to cost you a further £100 for a base station if you only do sim stuff but a 1080p monitor to a 4 k monitor is also a super huge step for "no difference" except a better picture.
"the oddessy uses the same screens !!! " does it? ok , I hope that it is nice, I am not going to try it as I don't have the spare moeny to do the test but I don't see how it could be THIS MUCH better and nobody said anything yet.

I am relieved that it surpassed my expectations and if anyone asks if they should get one I would say yes.

hope that helps with anyone on the fence, anything I discover new over the next week or so I will update here.

as an aside, I cannot drive iracing in anger just yet and had to ghost to see it in action , but it gave me what I needed, being ablke to use all the in car telemetry is just one major plus.​

 

[little P]

Stick the kettle on, I'm coming over to give it a go. I'll bring the biscuits.