I'm so happy, I've finally got a pixel perfect Pico 3 :-)

[glenimp617]

Finally!!!!!

I noticed Amazon have started selling the Pico 3, so took a gamble and ordered another one. It's perfect

It reminded me why this is my current favourite VR headset after going through so many alternatives.

My Pico 4 is being sold on, but for me the 3 is the better of the two. VR is very much personal taste, but this is fantastic imho for sim racing, and I rate it higher than the reverb g2.

Spent a couple of hours racing in it yesterday. The picture quality and smoothness is just awesome I'm ordering a 3d printed face gasket, as the actual FOV of the screens is on par with the pico 4 (in fact, I think it's 1 degree better).

iRacing with ultra settings, 16x AF and 8x AA 90fps at 40% gpu load lol Not a hint of screen door, brighter, more colourful and the blue sky is free from seeing the subpixel array which annoyed me with the 4. The greys of the track and the skid marks are so clear and sharp which was always an issue with compression over wireless.

Now, this is a weird thing to say, but I've since learnt there is a term for it (binocular overlap?) and the Pico 3 is supposed to be really great at this.....but things feel more 3D in that I get a better sense of depth.

Very happy!

 

[glenimp617]

Pico 3 is also wireless (wifi6) and has virtual desktop. I'm going to use that to play half-life alyx as there's not much room in my office.

The differences are pretty much 1920 res fresnel with wifi+displayport vs 2160 res pancake with wifi. Obviously using pancake makes the headset a bit smaller/lighter but in reality there's not much difference comfort wise.....and pancake lenses aren't as good as what they made out. Pico 4 is a tiny bit sharper, but I tell you something.....that counts for nothing when you lose the displayport. In fact, in game, I think the pico 3 is sharper. It definitely looks much better anyway. The slightly lower res and displayport doesn't hammer your gpu anywhere near as much.

Same CPU, same FOV (despite the tech specs), same sweet spot. There's also less glare for some reason. The only negative is there is a small amount of something called chromatic abberation? think that's the right term. Right at the edges of your peripheral vision, the edges of some grey objects might have a small amount of green/blue. Like a really thin line. That's about the only thing I can call out.

 

[glenimp617]

pico 3 is wireless ?
is that a new thing ?

i bought a pico 4 because it was wireless and better than the Quest 2 (but most importantly comfort) , if i knew that i would have saved money and got a pico 3 instead lol

Yeah it's standalone, same xr2 chip in it

 

[glenimp617]

You got the Pico Neo3 Link right? Which face gasket did you end up getting for it?

I sent an stl file to a 3d printing company to make up. It's coming Saturday so I'll let you know what it's like.

It's got sections for magnets, so I'll put some N52 ones in (nice and strong) and will be using a kiwidesigns foam cover.

 

[glenimp617]

mm interesting have you tried in DCS world ?

I have, and it's great. I'm just waiting for bigscreen now.

 

[glenimp617]

Price went down to £180 so ive bought one before it sold out. currently using a reverb G2 so it will be interesting to see if I notice the drop in resolution. i used the G2 for msfs2020 which was flawless but sometimes glitchy with my steamVR titles so i cant really go wrong at the cost of £180 for a better experience with other games.

How are you getting on with it?

 

[glenimp617]

If anyone has seen my video and got the custom DP drivers, I have just found a configuration that reduces the CA in the outer peripheral

Pico need to get their quality control sorted out, and release a pico 4 with displayport.....or make a pico 5 link with oled/qled panels.

Massive gap in the market, all PCVR headsets coming out are well over a grand, and none of them are perfect.

 

[glenimp617]

@GmoLargey quick question my good man. I've taken a punt on a Chinese imported Pico 3, at £179 just to tied me over until something else comes along.
at that price, I don't really mind any dead pixels or issues.....

I know how to flash the global firmware from within the settings page once all set up, but is there a way I can flash it without setting it up in the first place? I assume it's going to be all in chinese, so I'd rather flash the global one from the off if possible

 

[glenimp617]

Thanks again, I am expecting the port on the top but no cable in the box from reading the reviews. Seems some have got it working ok, will have to see once it arrives, could be £179 down the drain.

 

[glenimp617]

If you can link me to it I can tell you

Cheers, but I'm almost certain I've ended up buying the wrong one Time for a plan b

 

[glenimp617]

I just bought a Pico 4, I was considering a Reverb G2 but couldn't justify the £700 when the Pico is £300. Coming from an original Vive from 2016 the image quality is a hell of an upgrade. Tried Steam VR using steam link and just going to try virtual desktop.

Yeah, it's hard to beat for £300

 

[glenimp617]

it had to go back, issues with the sound and stuttering in steam VR, plus got from Argos and realised it was a returned unit that had already been opened . Other than that worked great and image quality was fantastic, just can't be dealing with them at the moment.

don't worry, all mine had to go back, and I had 9 (10 if you count the aliexpress one, but that was my fault)

after last weeks debacle, I spotted a cheap one on ebay. Messaged the seller to ask some questions, and he replied saying don't bother bidding as a previous buyer sent it back to him with the usual quality control issues. I'm done with pico now which is a massive shame, as if I could find a good one, it would be a cracking headset.

now holding out for somnium or deckard, cancelled my bigscreen due to not liking what I was hearing about glare (worse than pico4) but I'm still on their owners discord. Some customers who recieved last week are moaning about comfort of all things......sigh, the wait continues.

 

[glenimp617]

Im looking at getting this VR headset just for sim racing... is there anyting better right now? these can be picked up for just over £200 so pretty cheap too

for £200 no, not even close. It's brilliant for sim racing.

You could be on the lookout for a cheap pico 4 which has clearer and sharper lenses, but the trade off is an increase in gpu for encoding and compression. The compression for sim racing is annoying to be honest.

The next step up imho is the quest 3, which is £450 plus a decent battery strap and cable. That also suffers from compression though.

Do you have a fixed budget in mind, and is it ONLY for sim racing? No golf or anything?