Virtual Reality

[Asura]

Damn, those Quest Pro controllers are giving me some grief - they don't seem to like having their environments changed - guardian change seemed to screw everything up stopping the controllers syncing properly with the headset, no matter how much I tried to re-pair them.

Eventually, I did a factory reset on the headset - seemed to clear it. Will see when I boot it up again, but based on that, it's probably just as well the Quest 3 controllers don't have the self-tracking. They take ages to start up, which really doesn't help.

Have you updated the controllers? If not, they might be very difficult to use/temperamental; when they were first released they had lots of problems but these were mostly resolved.

[MartyG]

Yeah, the controllers updated with the headset when I first set it up.

[Asura]

Yeah, the controllers updated with the headset when I first set it up.

That's a shame hope it resolves itself.

The only problem I sometimes have with them is the known issue that, with the Q2, if you wake the device from asleep (as opposed to "off") sometimes the controllers won't connect. It's always fixed by a full reboot but is a bit crap.

I put up with it though because once I got the knuckle straps, the improvement they offer in VR is significant.

[MartyG]

I wanted to give them a go at Beat Saber at lunch, that's when I ran into problems, if I have to keep doing factory resets to get them to sync tho, that's going to be a bigger issue.

[MartyG]

Well after having tried Quest Pro wireless on Virtual Desktop, the performance is worse than with the PICO 4 - waaaaaaay too much controller latency, so Beat Saber simply isn't playable, which is a shame as this was one reason I wanted the controllers. I've tried changing the bitrate, but I'm at well over a Gigabit on Wifi 6 on the connection, so that shouldn't be an issue (it's not on PICO 4).

I'll need to check the version, maybe Quest Pro version is different, not sure - I haven't tried the Quest Link yet, so will try that later.

[Asura]

Well after having tried Quest Pro wireless on Virtual Desktop, the performance is worse than with the PICO 4 - waaaaaaay too much controller latency, so Beat Saber simply isn't playable, which is a shame as this was one reason I wanted the controllers. I've tried changing the bitrate, but I'm at well over a Gigabit on Wifi 6 on the connection, so that shouldn't be an issue (it's not on PICO 4).

I'll need to check the version, maybe Quest Pro version is different, not sure - I haven't tried the Quest Link yet, so will try that later.

Hmmm, interesting. Please update on how you get on.

I've never had problems using my Q2 with them on Virtual Desktop. However, I haven't tried to play Beat Saber, which, being a rhythm action game, might expose problems that Alyx could obscure.

[MartyG]

Looks to be a Virtual Desktop issue, seems okay over Airlink. Makes me think that Meta is purposely nobbling it - I haven't had problems with Quest 2 either, just seems to be the Quest Pro.

I think if I'd paid £1500 for one of these when it launched, I'd be looking at it in a much different light, the passthrough is ok for not bumping into things, but you cannot see the letters on a keyboard, making using it as a desktop replacement trickier.

Text is clear enough, but it'd never replace my 3 4K monitor setup (and I doubt Vision Pro has the legs for this either, even with its higher resolution, but we'll see).

I shall give Alyx a go a bit later, and some flight sims, to see how they are.

[Asura]

I think if I'd paid £1500 for one of these when it launched, I'd be looking at it in a much different light, the passthrough is ok for not bumping into things, but you cannot see the letters on a keyboard, making using it as a desktop replacement trickier.

Honestly, I think that whole idea was aspirational. The QPro was never going to do that (even if I think that the pro "line" might do that in the future).

Can I ask, have you used a Quest 2? How do the lenses on the Pro feel? Everyone who uses one, that I've spoken to, raves about it because of how clear they look compared to the fresnel lenses on older sets.

[MartyG]

Yes, I have a Quest 2 (and an original Quest). The lenses on the pro are superb, they are pretty much edge-to-edge clarity. There is some blooming on high-contrast areas, but I think that's more down to the screen than the lenses (although these things contribute to each other).

The lack of a tiny sweet spot makes it easier to get headsets with pancake lenses in the right place. If the Quest 3 can match it in terms of clarity, then it'll definitely be worth the upgrade from the Quest 2.

I'll have to grab the Index and compare them back to back, but the lenses on that are nearly up there with the Quest Pro, despite the lower resolution. Text is more fuzzy with the Index, but the overall screen clarity is excellent and I've still yet to find a headset that had the all-day wearability the Index has.

I've tried Alyx and Aerofly 4 - both work very well. I think the Quest Pro will be excellent for flight sims, the fact you can see more of your surroundings because the bottom isn't completely covered means it's far easier to see joystick buttons and keyboard keys away from the HMD screens, and that can be a problem with most headsets I've tried.

You still can't take a sip from a cup without it hitting the headset though.

[Brad]

2476646[/URL]]Yes, I have a Quest 2 (and an original Quest). The lenses on the pro are superb, they are pretty much edge-to-edge clarity. There is some blooming on high-contrast areas, but I think that's more down to the screen than the lenses (although these things contribute to each other).

The lack of a tiny sweet spot makes it easier to get headsets with pancake lenses in the right place. If the Quest 3 can match it in terms of clarity, then it'll definitely be worth the upgrade from the Quest 2.

I'll have to grab the Index and compare them back to back, but the lenses on that are nearly up there with the Quest Pro, despite the lower resolution. Text is more fuzzy with the Index, but the overall screen clarity is excellent and I've still yet to find a headset that had the all-day wearability the Index has.

I've tried Alyx and Aerofly 4 - both work very well. I think the Quest Pro will be excellent for flight sims, the fact you can see more of your surroundings because the bottom isn't completely covered means it's far easier to see joystick buttons and keyboard keys away from the HMD screens, and that can be a problem with most headsets I've tried.

You still can't take a sip from a cup without it hitting the headset though.

You had me at edge to edge clarity. My only concern is the video encoding with a Radeon. The quest 2 looked awful compared to my reverb (cabled connection). Am I likely to have same issue with the pro?

[MartyG]

I don't know given I don't have a high-end Radeon card - I'm running a wifi-6 network and get over a Gbit to the device, so coupled with the RTX-4080 with x265 encoding, the image looks decent to me as I can turn up the bitrate.

What I'd really like to see is AV1 encoding, that would help loads given the encoding is so much better, but there's not hardware support for that AFAIK.

I haven't used Reverb either, but I can say that image quality-wise, it's on par with the Index. I don't think it'd be worth spending a grand on one for DCS tho. I'd get the Varjo Aero instead

[Neon Ignition]

If the Quest 3 has enough of a power and clarity upgrade I think it will have reached endgame status for me. The point where it does enough of a job to deliver an overall quality experience to negate ever needing another headset again given the minimal software support further features get

[Asura]

If the Quest 3 has enough of a power and clarity upgrade I think it will have reached endgame status for me. The point where it does enough of a job to deliver an overall quality experience to negate ever needing another headset again given the minimal software support further features get

That's probably why it didn't have eye-tracking Quest 4 baybee

[Lebowski]

That's probably why it didn't have eye-tracking Quest 4 baybee

Eye-tracking would be something that would help the quest massively, not just for navigation but for foveated rendering to reduce the strain on the GPU. The next big leap needs to be in performance, Valve would be perfectly positioned to take on meta with a stand alone version of its Index headset, It did amazing things with the steamdeck so why not adapt that tech and combine it with the index to bring more people into its Steam VR eco system.

[MartyG]

Valve isn't interested in the low-end VR market, if anything Apple Vision Pro helps with Valve's Deckard which is likely to be wireless while still supporting the lighthouse tracking.

https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-interview-vr-ambitions-steam-deckard/

It's not going to be Quest price - I'd be surprised if it wasn't priced above Index.