159th Guards Aviation Regiment

159th Public Forum => General Discussion => : 159th_Archer February 27, 2019, 10:16:28 AM

: DCS: Wags news
: 159th_Archer February 27, 2019, 10:16:28 AM
Wags has posted the notice copied below on ED's forums -plenty of speculation on what it might be over there... -strange that, normally people just sit quietly and wait...

Dear pilots,

With the DCS: MiG-19P Farmer by RAZBAM Simulations to be released this Friday, 1 March 2019, we will be shifting our Open Beta release to Friday this week instead of the usual Wednesday. A benefit of this is that we’ll now have time to also release an eagerly awaited new Eagle Dynamics feature! Let the speculation run wild!

Sincerely,
The Eagle Dynamics Team
: Re: DCS: Wags news
: Mako February 27, 2019, 10:52:22 AM

Should I get Kenny Loggins ready?
: Re: DCS: Wags news -- HP Reverb VR headset
: 159th_pappavis June 08, 2019, 10:25:56 PM
https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3937415&postcount=1080

Virtual Reality Jun-2019

As mentioned earlier, I had an HP Reverb loaner coming this week and it arrived yesterday. Wow! This is truly a banner year for VR and the Reverb is a huge part of that. I can’t and won’t compare to other products, but here are some of my impressions after about an hour in the device:

    As expected, the resolution of the displays really sets it apart. Even in cockpits with very small texts, it is possible to read. Clarity is approaching 2D monitor levels and I could see no evidence of SDE. It is a GREAT VR device for DCS World. I personally did not notice any god rays and the blacks were quite deep.
    I’m personally a big fan of inside-out tracking. I don’t really “do” room-scale VR, so the ease of setup, maintenance of tracking, and freeing up USB ports is a huge plus for me.
    Even with the higher resolution, I did not notice any appreciable performance loss outside of my expectations given the nature of VR. Performance was quite good.
    I really can’t comment on the hand controllers because I don’t use them.
    Comfort was very nice and I felt very “at home”. There was also very little light bleed through the nose area which I appreciate.
    I have a rather narrow IPD (59), but I was still able to get a great setting.

Later this month I will send the device to our team to allow native support (no SteamVR requirement)

There are a growing number of outstanding VR options this year, and I believe it will come down to your budget available and the features you prize most. If outstanding resolution, inside-out tracking, and comfort rank high for you, I can certainly give the Reveb my stamp of approval.

Well done HP!

Thanks,
: Re: DCS: Wags news
: 159th_Axman June 09, 2019, 01:56:16 AM
I read this and it doesn't seem to be a massive leap over my Vive Pro.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3940225&postcount=1260

Originally Posted by imacken  View Post
My thoughts on the Reverb vs Vive Pro after a day or so.

Let me say from the outset, that I am not feeling any kind of wow factor after my first couple of days with the Reverb. It doesn’t feel like a great leap forward compared to the Vive Pro. In fact, in some ways it is a backward step, in my opinion.

My comments here all relate to the Vive Pro vs Reverb. If you are coming from a 1st gen Vive or Rift, then you will be amazed by the difference in clarity with the Reverb, but compared to the Vive Pro (or Odyssey +, I guess), I’m not so sure.

For the purposes of this post, I am not going to moan about Windows Mixed Reality too much, because I am going to put effort into familiarising myself with it for a couple of days before saying anything! However, it just feels really clunky having to load the WMR portal and then SteamVR on top, etc.

1. Setup. The Setup was pretty straightforward. I selected the seating position as I tend to (mostly) play DCS and Project Cars II etc., it downloaded the software and the whole process was painless. Really nice that it only requires a DP and 1 USB cable.

2. Hardware and Comfort. At first, I was unimpressed, as the Reverb felt light and flimsy compared to the VP. It was more like my old Rift. Still, it feels reasonably comfortable wearing it for a long session, but I’m afraid not as comfortable as the VP. The biggest issue is the main cable. It is horrible! It is really stiff and thick, and gets in the way when you are turning or moving your head around. Also, there is quite a lot of pressure near the top of my forehead. I think this is to do with the face being so close to the lenses. A lot of heat seemed to get generated at the top of the HMD as well and that didn’t help either.

3. IPD. A big issue here. As we all know, there is no hardware adjustment, and we were told that is not a problem as it can be adjusted in software. Well, that is true, but Windows only allows the adjustment to go between 59mm and 67mm IPD. Now, I am 69mm and I didn’t feel totally comfortable with the HMD set to 67mm. This needs to be sorted out by allowing a wider range in Windows settings.

4. Audio. First issue I had was that the audio earphones wouldn’t fit over my ears in the correct position. They just wouldn’t go down far enough. However, I loosened the overhead strap and pulled the HMD down a bit and all was well on that front except that the overall position of the HMD didn’t feel naturally correct. I must say that although the audio is pretty good, it doesn’t compare at all well to the High Definition Audio in the VP earphones. The sounds are less well defined and lacking in range in comparison, but I don’t see that as a major issue as the sound is OK.

5. Image Quality. Here is where I struggle. The first thing I noticed, was the lack of dynamic range in the image compared to the VP. Everything just looked a bit flat and grey, with colours not leaping out of the screen at me. I guess this is down to the LCD panels in the Reverb compared to the OLED in the VP. To me, it is very noticeable. Also a slight issue is that you can see the edges of the display panels at times. Not a big deal, but noticeable none the less.

6. Clarity and Resolution. I am struggling again here. I was expecting to put on the Reverb and be blown away by the improvement I would see. Well, I wasn’t. I honestly feel that the clarity as not as good as the VP. I think the issue is that with my hardware I am able to run the VP at high settings and MSAA x2 in DCS with a PD of 1.8. So, my resolution is already quite high. Probably more than the native res of the Reverb. Now, the difficulty here is that with my current VP settings, my GPU/CPU are close to the limit running at 45 fps. What that means is that pushing the Reverb to higher resolutions is not feasible given the current standard of hardware. So, I’m not seeing a great improvement in resolution and given the loss of clarity due to reduced dynamic range of colours, I’m not convinced about the benefit on this aspect over the VP.

7. Performance in DCS. As said above, I am getting a similar performance on the Reverb running high settings, MSAA x2 and a PD of 1.3 to what I see on the VP with same settings but PD of 1.8. In both cases, that gives me around 45fps with motion reprojection on. Does drop down to 35-45 over dense areas etc., but in general 45 is the norm. I didn’t really have any trouble reading cockpit dials and instruments previously, and that is still the case. However, I still feel – like I said elsewhere – that the image quality seems a loft softer and not quite so clear compared to VP. However, let me repeat, if you are coming from gen 1 HMDs like the Rift or the Vive, then you will be amazed at the difference.

8. Sweet Spot. Honestly, I can’t say that it is much improved compared to the VP. It might be slightly better, but difficult to see much of an improvement. Disappointing, really.

9. SDE. When reviewers say that the SDE has effectively disappeared with the Reverb, then they are not telling the truth! It has reduced hugely compared to the VP, but it has definitely not disappeared. However, it is at such a level, that it is not the distraction it used to be, so all good there.

I think in conclusion, I would say I am a little disappointed. I was wanting to be blown away, and I wasn’t. Having said that, the Reverb is a huge step up from the gen 1 HMDs and I would highly recommend the Reverb. Similarly, I would not recommend anyone to buy a VP over the Reverb as the HP is, marginally, a better (and cheaper!) headset, but if you already own a VP or O+, I’m not convinced I would recommend changing.

No doubt I might change my mind on some things over the next few days as I discover some new aspects, so we'll see!