Varjo Aero
- Thread starter Zeeflyboy
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Underboss
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Despite me moaning about the cost earlier in this thread I ordered one from SystemActive about 3 weeks ago, was told 12-16 week wait
That vid says distortion is a problem but varjo reckon it will be sorted. I have a high tolerance for that sort of thing anyway going by my current headset.
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So this is my quick run-down of Pros/Cons versus the Index:
1. Clarity: Obviously the Aero blows the Index away here. Although with the Aero I really cannot see individual pixels, I can still see vertical rows of the pixel structure. So not perfect.
2. God rays: Pretty bad on the Index, none on the Aero.
3. Distortion: Holy smokes a lot of barrel distortion in the Aero. Maybe not as noticeable in flight sims, but really bad in standing/FPS games like Alyx. The Index has a little bit of warping, but almost unnoticeable compared to the Aero's distortion.
4. Smoothness. The Index blows the Aero away here. 144 Hz on the Index and it's smooth as glass. The Aero at only 90 Hz starts at a deficit, and yet there is still some stuttering that I cannot solve. Even in the Varjo Base software, not even in SteamVR I get this stutter. It's super annoying, and if I cannot get it solved with Varjo support, I'm afraid it's heading back. NO way should a RTX 3090 running a VR headset with basically nothing going on in a loading room be stuttering. And I've tried just about every combination of Varjo Base settings to no avail.
5. Fan: Pro is that it helps keep your face a little cooler but con is it's definitely audible with the Aero.
6. Colors: Aero wrecks the Index here. I've always thought the Index looked washed out, but ya the Aero colors pop quite a bit more.
7. Contrast/blacks: Both suck. Non FALD LCD sucks. Grey blacks and poor contrast on both. Really need a OLED. I'll also be looking into the new Panasonic MeganeX.
8. Comfort. Both to me seems to be about equal.
9. Sound. I use IEM on both, so tie.
10. IPD adjustment: Aero's automatic is cool if you have different people trying the headset. But if you are basically the only one that uses it, kind of a waste. You can manually set the IDP in the software, but every time you turn on the head-set, it moves the lenses. Kind of pointless, as it just wears out those motors more for no reason. I prefer the set-it and forget-it slider of the Index.
11. Field of View: Horizontal; they are about the same. Both leave some to be desired. Vertical, the Index crushes the Aero. When I first put on the Aero, I was kinda taken-aback by how small the "view portal" of the world is.
12. Chromatic aberrations. I really really hate you. Aero has a ton of it. Index just a small bit. Basically as much as the god rays in the Index **** me off, the Chromatic Aberrations in the Aero take their place.
13. Usability. With the Aero, you have to manually unplug the headset to turn it off. You also have to manually unplug your base stations to turn them off. There is no Bluetooth communication between the Aero and the base stations for power management like there is on the Index. The Index also powers itself off after you close down SteamVR. I know, super advanced!
So I am pretty torn. There are a lot of tradeoffs with the Aero. In order to get that great clarity, good colors and no god-rays, you have to put up with narrower FOV, Chromatic Aberrations everywhere, only 90 Hz (and with stutter for me, TBD), the same poor blacks and contrast as every other LCD HMD, and barrel distortion out the Wazhoo. For $2,000. I think I am on the fence on returning the Aero, using the Index a bit more until the MeganeX comes out. If I cannot get the stuttering resolved, it's 100% going back. Too me that is too distracting.
1. Clarity: Obviously the Aero blows the Index away here. Although with the Aero I really cannot see individual pixels, I can still see vertical rows of the pixel structure. So not perfect.
2. God rays: Pretty bad on the Index, none on the Aero.
3. Distortion: Holy smokes a lot of barrel distortion in the Aero. Maybe not as noticeable in flight sims, but really bad in standing/FPS games like Alyx. The Index has a little bit of warping, but almost unnoticeable compared to the Aero's distortion.
4. Smoothness. The Index blows the Aero away here. 144 Hz on the Index and it's smooth as glass. The Aero at only 90 Hz starts at a deficit, and yet there is still some stuttering that I cannot solve. Even in the Varjo Base software, not even in SteamVR I get this stutter. It's super annoying, and if I cannot get it solved with Varjo support, I'm afraid it's heading back. NO way should a RTX 3090 running a VR headset with basically nothing going on in a loading room be stuttering. And I've tried just about every combination of Varjo Base settings to no avail.
5. Fan: Pro is that it helps keep your face a little cooler but con is it's definitely audible with the Aero.
6. Colors: Aero wrecks the Index here. I've always thought the Index looked washed out, but ya the Aero colors pop quite a bit more.
7. Contrast/blacks: Both suck. Non FALD LCD sucks. Grey blacks and poor contrast on both. Really need a OLED. I'll also be looking into the new Panasonic MeganeX.
8. Comfort. Both to me seems to be about equal.
9. Sound. I use IEM on both, so tie.
10. IPD adjustment: Aero's automatic is cool if you have different people trying the headset. But if you are basically the only one that uses it, kind of a waste. You can manually set the IDP in the software, but every time you turn on the head-set, it moves the lenses. Kind of pointless, as it just wears out those motors more for no reason. I prefer the set-it and forget-it slider of the Index.
11. Field of View: Horizontal; they are about the same. Both leave some to be desired. Vertical, the Index crushes the Aero. When I first put on the Aero, I was kinda taken-aback by how small the "view portal" of the world is.
12. Chromatic aberrations. I really really hate you. Aero has a ton of it. Index just a small bit. Basically as much as the god rays in the Index **** me off, the Chromatic Aberrations in the Aero take their place.
13. Usability. With the Aero, you have to manually unplug the headset to turn it off. You also have to manually unplug your base stations to turn them off. There is no Bluetooth communication between the Aero and the base stations for power management like there is on the Index. The Index also powers itself off after you close down SteamVR. I know, super advanced!
So I am pretty torn. There are a lot of tradeoffs with the Aero. In order to get that great clarity, good colors and no god-rays, you have to put up with narrower FOV, Chromatic Aberrations everywhere, only 90 Hz (and with stutter for me, TBD), the same poor blacks and contrast as every other LCD HMD, and barrel distortion out the Wazhoo. For $2,000. I think I am on the fence on returning the Aero, using the Index a bit more until the MeganeX comes out. If I cannot get the stuttering resolved, it's 100% going back. Too me that is too distracting.
Hi Vega,
That's a great review of the Aero. Thanks for writing such a detailed one.
The barrel distortion is a big one. It is something that they said they were going to work on. But, I am not sure it's something that can be solved. It's just a limitation of the lenses they are using. Barrel distortion is the reason most headset makers use Fresnel lenses.
The Automatic IPD adjustment, have seen a lot of complaints about this. It sounds great in theory, but, apparently it's a just annoying. Sometimes if the headset moves it does the Automatic calibration again.
Chromatic Aberrations. I think this is also a limitation of the lenses. My guess is that whatever they have done to try and reduce the Barrel distortions increases the Chromatic aberrations.
Stuttering issues. Have you tried turning off the Motion Prediction and Vertical sync on the Aero?
Oh ya I've turned off Vertical Sync and Motion Prediction, some of the first things I tried. I tried adjusting a bunch of things in NVIDIA control panel too. None had any affect.
The scary thing is this weird frame/pacing/stuttering issue happens right in Aero Base. A very simple VR room with nothing going on with a 3090 sitting at like 20% utilization I get this stutter. Almost like it's trying to do Asynchronous Reprojection and failing at it, even with all that garbage turned off.
That's weird. Have you tried another USB port on your computer? Don't know what motherboard you have, but, some use Asmedia or Etron host controllers which aren't great. Maybe try a USB port that's attached to the chipset host controller.
IF that doesn't work, it might be a faulty headset?
I've sent the diagnostic data. I also made a video of what I'm seeing through the headset:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdDZdyge3g
It's almost as if the headset was running at like 45 frames per second instead of 90. I've also tried different USB 3.1 ports on the motherboard, turning off eye-tracking, different Displayports on my RTX 3090. Nothing seems to fix it. Reminding: My Valve Index on the exact same system using the same ports runs 144 Hz with 200% super sampling completely butter smooth.
EDIT: Just tried my Index at 90 Hz and even 80 Hz. Both were WAY smoother than Aero at supposed 90 FPS/Hz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdDZdyge3g
It's almost as if the headset was running at like 45 frames per second instead of 90. I've also tried different USB 3.1 ports on the motherboard, turning off eye-tracking, different Displayports on my RTX 3090. Nothing seems to fix it. Reminding: My Valve Index on the exact same system using the same ports runs 144 Hz with 200% super sampling completely butter smooth.
EDIT: Just tried my Index at 90 Hz and even 80 Hz. Both were WAY smoother than Aero at supposed 90 FPS/Hz.
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Soldato
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it surprises me they've allowed chromatic aberration to occur with the lenses, its not as if this phenomena isn't well known I guess the solutions are less easy to engineer
meanwhile MRTV is praising the Aero for its rainbow effects which he personally enjoys
meanwhile MRTV is praising the Aero for its rainbow effects which he personally enjoys
All VR lenses have chromatic aberration, but VR software drivers correct for this.
For example a recent botched update for the Quest 2 turned off the chromatic aberration correction and this affected a lot of people and made the image quality markedly worse. They've now rolled out a fixed update.
Possibly the chromatic aberration of this headset could be improved in software.
For example a recent botched update for the Quest 2 turned off the chromatic aberration correction and this affected a lot of people and made the image quality markedly worse. They've now rolled out a fixed update.
Possibly the chromatic aberration of this headset could be improved in software.
I get my aero all being well by early feb and i'm very interested to see for myself what users are describing i.e. distorsion. My hunch is that it will not be an issue for me. I say this because i knew about the distorsion before i ordered, edge distorsion doesn't bother me personally, my 8kx has it. But if its more than that then i'll be returning it.
Soldato
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what Facebook went to a black/white image?
Yeah ok joking aside you could make the case that all lenses produce some degree of CA, and that can/should be compensated for in the lens design or software to reduce the effect. Again I would say a £2k bit of consumer electronics needs really to have one of the best CA reduction solutions included...
Come across a youtube channel that has interesting through the lens footage of the aero. Its interesting as it shows little or no distortion (but there will be distorsion on the extremes of the fov where it hasnt been filmed) or CA. Nothing like solid evidence. Ofc there are well known youtuber varjo vids which show the same but some people suspect these are nothing more than promo vids. The linked vid (theres a few more on his channel) are from a normal varjo customer.
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Underboss
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looks blurry to me ?
He does say in the comments on some of his videos that the quality of footage is not as good as it actually is, i suppose its as good as his phone is? Are u watching it at high res (it defaults to a rubbish 240p for me)?
Underboss
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1080p
it just dosent look that "sharp" to me
it just dosent look that "sharp" to me
I think thats down to it being through the lens footage from a cam phone. It doesn't look much sharper than most other hmd's to me either, but 1 thing EVERYONE (even those with issues) who has 1 has commented on is how high the clarity is. I think its something u need to see with your own eyes.
Good luck, I hope they can fix it for you without you having to send it back to them.