New headset : Pimax Crystal

melmac said:
I wonder is it something to do with the price of the headset? That they put more effort into the production and quality control of the higher end headsets. And most of the variance in quality happens in their cheaper line of headsets like the 5k models.
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or they are simply getting better at producing their products with knowledge and experience... Crystal will be a good test for Pimax imho
 
tyke_ said:
relay to you the experience ive had with 3 (lol) 8kx's, all have been ok lens and display wise. no ipd issues etc. getting that bit right was as simple as other hmd's for me. but i understand what you're saying as i've read about numerous reports similar to what you say. i don't understand why there is such variance, unless there is variance between pimax hmd's, but as i mentioned the 3 ive had were ok.
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melmac said:
I wonder is it something to do with the price of the headset? That they put more effort into the production and quality control of the higher end headsets. And most of the variance in quality happens in their cheaper line of headsets like the 5k models.
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It's very face shape dependent - I have an average sized head with average IPD (almost to the mm), so within Pimax's stated specs I should have been fine - they also said the 8KX would ship with face foams for different face shapes, mine came with one, the thinnest one obviously for a flatter wider face shape than mine. I found that with the pimax set to the lowest IPD setting, I had to shift the headset left to get my right eye in the sweetspot and that then meant my left eye was all blurry and vice versa, I tried all the different hardware and software adjustments suggested but no matter what I could never get both eyes in the sweetspot and it caused raging headaches within 15-20 minutes of use. When I took off the headset and measured the physical distance between the rings in the lenses that would be the sweetspot, they were 66mm apart, despite the software telling me the minimum IPD of the headset was 60mm - other people had measured and found the same discrepancy and were having the same issue.
The 5K, 8K and 8KX all had the same issue for the same types of people.

Apparently the early prototypes didn't have this issue and the lenses were also praised as being excellent and Pimax deliberately switched to a lens which was cheaper to produce and the guys that were involved in reviewing / testing the release candidate did tell Pimax about this issue and they ignored it because they wanted to use the cheaper lenses.

They also had more than one headset (one of the earlier 4k ones and the 8K) where they stated the headset had a particular resolution (e.g. full 4K RGB panels) but they were actually less than full RGB so had less subpixels / resolution than advertised.

So its not variance in their headsets that is the issue, its just a design flaw that means that the headset isn't to its advertised specs, if you don't need 60mm IPD or you have a wider flatter face then it might not affect you, but if you are buying a Chinese developed product on the assumption that it will fit a European face shape or come with the specs its advertised with then it can cause you a big issue / make it not usable as you'd expect.

I haven't had any similar issues with DK1, DK2, CV1, Quest 2, Vive, HP G2 (all of which I've owned) or any of the other headsets I've tried, so quite why every other headset maker manages to get IPD settings correct for a wider range of faces and just pimax had it wrong, I don't know.
 
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Tl;dr:
he says interchangeable lenses are problematic, (me having owned a Rift DK with interchangeable lenses i completely disagree).
says controllers are poor.
says visuals are very good, no focal point issue.
it's obvious he doesn't think much of Pimax.
 
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I actually agree that the changeable lenses are an unnecessary complication, although not without benefits such as easy replacement of a scratched lens.

That said, I don’t see the problem with them… just because there was a trapped hair in a trade show model that has doubtless had the lens on and off a thousand times demoing it in less than perfect conditions I don’t think you can use that as a reason to hate on them.

DSLR cameras and mirrorless have interchangeable lenses, I’ve changed many in my time and you don’t want dust or hairs getting in the mirror or sensor, or inside the lens there either but it just isn’t really a big issue if you are vaguely sensible.

You also wouldn’t wipe the layer behind to get rid of dust, you’d use a little air blower or similar just like with a camera and no damage to any coating would happen.

I think the biggest takeaway for me there is that the reference qualcom controller tracking package is garbage - it had been my hope that it would at least provide them with a usable baseline.

At least he was positive about the visual experience, which tbh is one of the biggest selling points.
 
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yeh he likes the visuals which are arguably the biggest selling point. but doesn't like the controllers which is a major negative for me, i really don't want to have to use lighthouses and knuckles, in fact if the controllers are getting generally reviewed as being bad, it'll put me off buying it.
 
Though with lighthouse tracking the controller thing is fixable with the add-on IF you already own Index Knuckles and lighthouse base stations, obviously they add a huge amount to the cost.

The interchangeable lens thing I think it irritated Badley but in reality just don't change the lenses or sell the higher ppd ones separately and lower the base unit price.... problem solved?

The main issue that clearly still exists with Pimax is their MO to fix problems with hardware iterations of the same headset so a v1.0 could have a ton of problems and 9months later they are selling a v3.0 but leaving a trail of problems behind them. I think Pimax need some kind of slick warranty return and replacement service to address that and like Apple & Google they send out a replacement and give you 30days to return the old one in a pre-paid courier box.

Doesn't sound like the eye-tracking is switched on yet either.

Good news about the visuals, Bradley is a very critical person so for him to say that means they are doing something right.

For me personally I want wider FoV than my VP2 in my next headset so I'm happy for the Crystal to lay the ground for the 12k, though I feel the dates have slipped already.
 
I don’t think the lighthouse faceplate is expected to be available at launch…

Wonder if in the mean time it can do a hybrid where the headset uses SLAM and the index controllers use the base station. I remember some guys doing that with the G2 but always seemed a bit of a faff to calibrate.

Looking forward to some decent impressions of more final hardware at some point. If they can get the tracking to “good enough”, keep the visuals that everyone is impressed with, and get the rest of the features like eye tracking and wireless options sorted out then they’ll be on to a winner.

Can’t help but think no matter how good it ends up I’ll always be thinking “it’s great, but I wish it was smaller” lol.

Pico 4 is a great form factor imo, something that sort of size with the crystal features would be near perfect (for now at least!).
 
Zeeflyboy said:
Can’t help but think no matter how good it ends up I’ll always be thinking “it’s great, but I wish it was smaller” lol.

Pico 4 is a great form factor imo, something that sort of size with the crystal features would be near perfect (for now at least!).
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Just doesn't exist yet, I mean sure why wouldn't you want that
 
Good news that Pimax have taken on board the feedback about Nvidia only, and have just released this video showing they are working on AMD compatibility.

Will be interesting to see if there are any trade offs (like perhaps no foveated rendering in DX11).

I got an Nvidia card in the end anyway, but this is good to see.

 
That’s promising that even in this short time frame they’ve managed to get him more positive - will look forward to seeing more from the CES headsets
 
I've swallowed the sweviver coolade, i'll be gunning for one of these when they start selling them. Listening back yesterday to MRTV's podcast when they had Martin on, it ticks every box for what i want one for.

Huge reservations over dealing with Pimax gear, but i figure if they go through amazon, there's some protection there.
 
lokiss said:
I've swallowed the sweviver coolade, i'll be gunning for one of these when they start selling them. Listening back yesterday to MRTV's podcast when they had Martin on, it ticks every box for what i want one for.

Huge reservations over dealing with Pimax gear, but i figure if they go through amazon, there's some protection there.
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If you are going down the rabbit hole that is pimax, yes definitely wait and get through Amazon so that you can return it when it inevitably doesn't live up to expectations.
 
they still aren't talking about dynamic foveated rendering and the WiGig module, and what they want an extra £200 for the lighthouse faceplate, you can't trade in a Crystal for the 12k and they haven't properly demo'd the lens fix

definitely a wait and see headset imho, feels like they are rushing it out
 
TheOracle said:
My stupid brain keeps telling me I need to try this. Have they announced a release date?
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About 5 lol… swing and a miss.

In theory the first units should be shipping imminently, though I’ve seen some rumours of “issues” with latest beta testers that will result in more delays.

At this point I’d probably just wait a little longer - we should be seeing some hands on from various people within the next couple of weeks.
 
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