Pico 4, Quest 2 or Pico Neo 3
- Thread starter CalO3822
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The best at PCVR is Neo 3 as it's display port connection so not compressed but saying that I can't notice compression on my Quest 2. Pico 4 has slightly better specs than Q2 but software not as mature. All 3 are good you'd enjoy all of them.
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Can you explain the compression to me please sorry
What GPU and CPU do you have?
Headsets like the Pico 3 and Index use wired Displayport connections to the PC. This gives as clear and sharp an image as the headset and the PC it's connected to can display.
Standalone headsets like the Pico 4, Quest 2 and Quest Pro do not have display ports, just standard USB3 or a WiFi connection.
So to get a PC image across to the headset it must be encoded into a compressed video signal along with tracking data for the headset and controllers.
That can lead to compression artefacts like macroblocking, smearing, and colour banding depending on how good and how fast your PC can get the data across. These generally tend to be more noticeable on wireless rather than when using a USBC cable as wireless has more limited bandwidth.
The quality of the picture you get will depend on how good your GPU is at encoding too. Nvidia 30 and 40 series cards tend to be better at this.
3080 and a Ryzen 7 5800x
Nice. OK, do you have any idea what games you will be playing?
And just a quick note about compression, the less you know the happier you will be, don't go looking for it!!
On that setup most games will work great wireless. Some games with lots of foliage or fast movement benefit from using a wired link where on Quest 2 and Pro you can massively up the encode bitrate.
Unfortunately on Pico 4 the built in link software isn't very good, so you have to use the paid app virtual desktop.
Unfortunately on Pico 4 the built in link software isn't very good, so you have to use the paid app virtual desktop.
Not a clue ill be honest which is why this is so confusing to me just want to be getting the best for my money you know I keep hearing that Pico 4 is lacking behind in terms of software and that no headphone jack it's bugging me lol just wanted you guys inputNice. OK, do you have any idea what games you will be playing?
And just a quick note about compression, the less you know the happier you will be, don't go looking for it!!
Did some testing the other day with Quest 2 which I’ve not used for PCVR in a long time. If I set resolution scale to 1.7 and up the encode bitrate between 200 and 500mps in debug tool I can almost clear away the fuzziness and noise due to compression.
Used Aircar running on my Reverb G2 as a comparison.
At that resolution and bitrate though my 4090 can’t quite cope and was stuttering and reprojection was kicking in.
With the reverb the GPU isn’t having to do all that extra work so stays silky smooth and clear
Used Aircar running on my Reverb G2 as a comparison.
At that resolution and bitrate though my 4090 can’t quite cope and was stuttering and reprojection was kicking in.
With the reverb the GPU isn’t having to do all that extra work so stays silky smooth and clear
Have you tried VR before?
No this will be my first time
That
There is an overhead, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for me, compared to say, running my Index supersampled to match the resolution of my Quest Pro.
I'm on a 3090 and 5900x.
Of course you can always drop the sampling level and refresh rate in demanding games.
There is an overhead, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for me, compared to say, running my Index supersampled to match the resolution of my Quest Pro.
I'm on a 3090 and 5900x.
Of course you can always drop the sampling level and refresh rate in demanding games.
If you knew for definite that you were going to play mainly sit down sim type games I would say get the best wired headset you can afford. However, since you haven't tried VR, you don't know what games you will end up liking to play more than others. If you end up liking room scale games/ standalone games, then the Pico 4 will be a better choice.
Personally I hate wired VR gaming. The only games that I can tolerate the wire is sit down games where I am going to be facing the same direction most of the time. VR is all about immersion and there is nothing that breaks immersion more (imo) than the cable.
Just letting you know that, so you know where I am coming from with my advice.
But in all honesty, since you are completely new to VR I don't think it matters too much. Your first headset will really be finding out what you like and what annoys you. Everybody has different things that drive them nuts in VR. Without actually trying out VR you will never find out those things that are important to you.
That said, I suggest you get the Pico 4. It's a better headset. Combine it with Virtual desktop and you will have a fantastic PCVR experience.
I am going to ask @TheOracle to come in and give you some proper advice. He has used both the Pico 3 and the Pico 4.
Soldato
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This is a really difficult question as each headset has their pros and cons. There's no real good allrounder which includes pcvr. No matter which headset you buy, there will be something which lets it down.
If you don't want things to get silly expensive, and you are adamant that the vast majority of stuff will be pcvr, I'd lean towards the pico 3.
It has a displayport connection and a lower res screen which means your 3080 will be able to manage to hit a constant framerate whilst allowing some eye candy, and some AA to smooth out the flickering/jaggies. I really liked the pico 3. It has a lot going for it.
The pico 4 is as much an upgrade as it is a downgrade. It's wireless only so you drop 10% performance straight away as everything needs to be encoded, plus it adds a little latency. You need to ensure you have a router close by, and pay £15 for virtual desktop. The battery life for pcvr is a bit crap, so you'll need to be plugged into a power socket which defeats it being wireless. The resolution is much, much higher so you will also certainly need a 4000 something, and even then don't expect to be hitting the high/ultra settings. The upside is that the optics are better (not perfect, just better) so it is a clearer image with a slightly bigger fov.
Comfort is subjective, and whilst the pico 4 is physically a lot smaller and lighter, I found the pico 3 to be more comfortable.
That being said, if you wanted to get into VR to play beat saber, star wars, mini golf and do a little pcvr and didn't mind the trade offs with image quality I'd say pick up a second hand quest 2.
Just as a reference to give you some idea. I've had lots of headsets over the years, and the three were talking about, the quest2 and pico4 hammered my 3080Ti something rotten. The pico 3 was a dream, but when I changed to a pico 4, I had to upgrade to a 4090. Now that is much better, but in iracing with the image quality how I like it, it's gpu load is 80%-90%. I drop down some AA where it settles to around 50%-60% and I'm 90% happy with the picture. That's iracing though, which I love.....some other racing games aren't quite as bad.
Don't be put off though, VR is awesome. I've switched completely over now, and have sold my monitors from my simrig. There's just nothing like racing inside VR.
If you don't want things to get silly expensive, and you are adamant that the vast majority of stuff will be pcvr, I'd lean towards the pico 3.
It has a displayport connection and a lower res screen which means your 3080 will be able to manage to hit a constant framerate whilst allowing some eye candy, and some AA to smooth out the flickering/jaggies. I really liked the pico 3. It has a lot going for it.
The pico 4 is as much an upgrade as it is a downgrade. It's wireless only so you drop 10% performance straight away as everything needs to be encoded, plus it adds a little latency. You need to ensure you have a router close by, and pay £15 for virtual desktop. The battery life for pcvr is a bit crap, so you'll need to be plugged into a power socket which defeats it being wireless. The resolution is much, much higher so you will also certainly need a 4000 something, and even then don't expect to be hitting the high/ultra settings. The upside is that the optics are better (not perfect, just better) so it is a clearer image with a slightly bigger fov.
Comfort is subjective, and whilst the pico 4 is physically a lot smaller and lighter, I found the pico 3 to be more comfortable.
That being said, if you wanted to get into VR to play beat saber, star wars, mini golf and do a little pcvr and didn't mind the trade offs with image quality I'd say pick up a second hand quest 2.
Just as a reference to give you some idea. I've had lots of headsets over the years, and the three were talking about, the quest2 and pico4 hammered my 3080Ti something rotten. The pico 3 was a dream, but when I changed to a pico 4, I had to upgrade to a 4090. Now that is much better, but in iracing with the image quality how I like it, it's gpu load is 80%-90%. I drop down some AA where it settles to around 50%-60% and I'm 90% happy with the picture. That's iracing though, which I love.....some other racing games aren't quite as bad.
Don't be put off though, VR is awesome. I've switched completely over now, and have sold my monitors from my simrig. There's just nothing like racing inside VR.
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Soldato
Considering that the q3 is looking like a solid step up on the current standalone headsets, 2nd hand q2 may well be your best bet until that's released. q2 will likely have better resale value when the q3 comes along too.
Really appreciate your reply. So you're recommending the pico 3. Would my 3080 really struggle with the quest 2 / pico 4?
Does the Pico 3 charge whist you use it plugged in?
Soldato
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All depends on the game, resolution and ingame settings. My 3080Ti struggled, but you may be happy with lower settings, or your games might not be as demanding.
Pico 4 for example has a render resolution of (3120x3120) x 2 which is 19.46 million pixels. That's 2.3x a 4K monitor, plus you need to add on another 10% load for encoding with the Pico 4.
The Pico 3 comes with a displayport cable which has a little box near the PC side. This has an input for an AC adapter which you need to buy to keep it topped up.
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