Valve Index Hands On

I see better antialiasing results as well as shimmering reduction with DCS PD setting on my computer. SteamVR SS also doesn’t work with a lot of titles I play through Revive, and I tend to use Revive a lot now so mine is left at 100%.

I don’t have any significant issues with the Viper’s cockpit in VR with my current settings especially with my new VR lens insert, except the MFD is still dimmed and has low contrast (should be fixable by ED) The TPOD image is somewhat muddy compared to the A-10C which can be mitigated by zooming in, but this is also the case in 2D (not sure if this is due to low res vs low contrast vs too much antialiasing).

Is it required to run steam to use index? Would you recommend it or not if it’s optional? Just ordered most of my pc components and have the index and Virple stuff already. Just don’t want to clog up a brand new system thats only going to run DCs.

Thanks in advance

I know its been asked but not really savy on search function yet

Is it required to run steam to use index? Would you recommend it or not if it’s optional? Just ordered most of my pc components and have the index and Virple stuff already. Just don’t want to clog up a brand new system thats only going to run DCs.

Thanks in advance

I know its been asked but not really savy on search function yet

There are 2 major VR platforms, Oculus and SteamVR (well, 3 if you count WMR). In general you either need Oculus or SteamVR software to play games, or sometimes both for playing Oculus exclusive games with SteamVR devices. You will need to run SteamVR for your Index since it is made by Valve corp, who is also the creator of Steam software distribution platform.

I’ve compared supersampling in SteamVR vs DCS for many hours yesterday. With DCS supersampling the textures seem a bit more steady, giving a cleaner look, with SteamVR supersampling the textures seems to vibrate more (Motion Smoothing ON, I’m not talking about the double image blur without motion smoothing).

 

I’ve found that even with PD 1.1 the textures seem more steady.

So instead of PD 1.0 and 200% in SteamVR, I’ve settled on PD 1.1 and 150% in SteamVR for now.

PD 1.2 or higher is too costly on framerate for me, and it doesn’t seem to offer much further improvement over SteamVR SS.

 

DCS settings:

PD 1.1

most other settings on high except Shadows flat and MSAA 2x

 

SteamVR settings:

Video: SS 100%

Application: SS 150%

Motion smoothing ON

Just to confirm, you're leaving SteamVR Custom Resolution in the Video tab at 100%. Then setting Steam VR Application under the Applications tab to 150%? I'll try these settings tonight but want to make sure I'm understanding you.

Just to confirm, you're leaving SteamVR Custom Resolution in the Video tab at 100%. Then setting Steam VR Application under the Applications tab to 150%? I'll try these settings tonight but want to make sure I'm understanding you.

Yes, that is correct. The settings seem to multiply, together with PD 1.1 in DCS I get a nice improvement.

Thanks, but that’s where it says ‘up to date’ when clearly it’s not.

I think I’ll contact Steam support on this.

Have you heard anything back from Steam?

Yes, that is correct. The settings seem to multiply, together with PD 1.1 in DCS I get a nice improvement.

These settings didn't work for me. Image quality was worse than what I'm accustomed to. For whatever reason, setting everything to 100% in Steam and setting pixel density to 1.4 looks good with 2x MSAA and is holding 45 FPS really well. Go figure.

Have you heard anything back from Steam?

They asked for a system report, so I guess it’ll be another day or two. I’ll post when I get a response.

They asked for a system report, so I guess it’ll be another day or two. I’ll post when I get a response.

Roger that.

They asked for a system report, so I guess it’ll be another day or two. I’ll post when I get a response.

I have exactly the same issue. Looking for a firmware update which does not exist. I also contacted steam awaiting reply. It just happened after last update.

Is this issue true for everyone or just us?

You normally get an indicator on the vr inset if any of the devices need updating?

I want to make adjustments on the eye settings as have some vertical bar patterns on movement in right eye.:-(

These settings didn't work for me. Image quality was worse than what I'm accustomed to. For whatever reason, setting everything to 100% in Steam and setting pixel density to 1.4 looks good with 2x MSAA and is holding 45 FPS really well. Go figure.

Thanks for trying, if your frame rate is holding 45 FPS with PD 1.4 it's perfectly fine of course.

Here with PD 1.4 the frame rate drops to 30 FPS too often, with PD 1.1 I can turn up SteamVR SS to 180% and still have better frame rate than with PD 1.4 and SS 100%.

For me image quality at PD1.1 - 150% is good enough, but I can see slight improvements up to 180%.

Another thing I noticed with PD 1.4 - 100% is that the tearing is a bit worse than with PD1.1 - 150%. It's especially noticeable when turning around in a helicopter. However I think the tearing in VR is pretty bad whatever the settings.

Personally, I have best clarity results with 204% steam app SS, and PD=1.0 in DCS.

Thorought NV ispector, to have better clarity in textures, I edited the following parameters. Image attached. I have modified those parameters in other games and I have a quite similar result like sharpening filter, but in VR.

Personally, I have best clarity results with 204% steam app SS, and PD=1.0 in DCS.

 

Thorought NV ispector, to have better clarity in textures, I edited the following parameters. Image attached. I have modified those parameters in other games and I have a quite similar result like sharpening filter, but in VR.

I can confirm that this (negative LOD setting) seems to increase cockpit text readability especially in F-16's MFDs, at the cost of shimmering artifacts in the cockpit and some moire pattern on the ground (especially on grass patches). -1.5 is too strong for my liking, still trying to find a good balance between sharpness vs shimmering artifacts. I actually have no problem reading right MFD texts at 0.0 setting since I tend to sit a bit closer to the HUD than the default position.

Personally, I have best clarity results with 204% steam app SS, and PD=1.0 in DCS.

 

Thorought NV ispector, to have better clarity in textures, I edited the following parameters. Image attached. I have modified those parameters in other games and I have a quite similar result like sharpening filter, but in VR.

I tried this setting tonight but with -1.375 instead of -1.5 and it was sharper. I didn't notice any artifacts and I was flying a prettty intense user made mission. I'm keeping it, thanks for the heads up!

Personally, I have best clarity results with 204% steam app SS, and PD=1.0 in DCS.

 

Thorought NV ispector, to have better clarity in textures, I edited the following parameters. Image attached. I have modified those parameters in other games and I have a quite similar result like sharpening filter, but in VR.

You might consider changing the texture filtering to performance rather than leaving at quality. This an adjustment I have been using in vr for a long while. It has a smoothing / smudging effect on the textures which does not help in a cockpit. By settling to performance it firstly helps FPS but secondly reduces the smoothing effect which can help with dial reading etc. Works for me but you mileage may vary.

I've been flying the Round Table Dynamic mission lately and I don't know what it is but the visuals look better than I've ever seen DCS look in VR. My friends I fly with notice the same. I've flown DCS in VR for 2 years now beginning with the CV1. 99% of my flying is online. Over the last 4-5 months our wing server has had some mission in the PG, usually Snowfox and it does not look good in the Viper except in the morning or late afternoon. These times are the visual sweet spot in DCS and make almost any module look good.

These two Round Table missions, one in the Caucasus, the other in PG start in the morning but look amazing all day from what I can tell. The longest we've flown at one time is 4 hours and the clarity stayed the same despite the movement of the sun. It is much better in the cockpit if the sun is behind the Viper. However externally it doesn't matter.

My question is this: why does the Viper look so much better in these 2 missions? I'm not patient enough to tweak missions and let my squad mates who are change and modify them. Therefor I don't know what to look for.

If you guys get a chance, can you try these missions in the Viper and tell me if you see the same thing? Be advised that these missions on initial load can be as high as 15Gb in Video Memory so you'll need to let them load for a minute before the frame drops subside. Also, don't change whatever settings you're currently using to make it smoother. The PG version will smooth out once your away from Kish and heading north. The Caucasus mission takes a bit longer but is worth it to see the Viper cockpit when you load in.

I want to know what is different about these from every other mission (including quick start and stock missions) I've flown in the Viper that makes them look so much better.

I tried this setting tonight but with -1.375 instead of -1.5 and it was sharper. I didn't notice any artifacts and I was flying a prettty intense user made mission. I'm keeping it, thanks for the heads up!

With MSAA?

Personally, I have best clarity results with 204% steam app SS, and PD=1.0 in DCS.

 

Thorought NV ispector, to have better clarity in textures, I edited the following parameters. Image attached. I have modified those parameters in other games and I have a quite similar result like sharpening filter, but in VR.

The sharpening makes the instruments more readable, but makes parts of the scenery too jittery for me, f.i. water becomes pixelated noise. It’s the opposite of what I’m trying too achieve for the scenery, I’ve tried lower settings but I prefer no sharpening on the scenery. It would be nice to be able to apply sharpening to the cockpit only.

It’s obvious different people are trying to optimize different things here, personally I’m looking for a less jittery, more stable image with fluent motion.

You might consider changing the texture filtering to performance rather than leaving at quality. This an adjustment I have been using in vr for a long while. It has a smoothing / smudging effect on the textures which does not help in a cockpit. By settling to performance it firstly helps FPS but secondly reduces the smoothing effect which can help with dial reading etc. Works for me but you mileage may vary.

Interesting. Do you mean with "performance" or "high performance" settings? Do you notice better quality of textures instead that with quality settings?

Long thread and this might have been answered before. Just got my Index, upgrading from CV1, and I’m experiencing some annoying graphic issues.

1. When in a high speed dogfight there target plane seems to be ghosting a lot. Almost as if it was two planes.

2. When looking out on the sidewinder on the wingtips of the F-16 in a turn they seem to “break off”. Just not keeping up with the high speed turn.

3. Very small sweet spot imho.

This actually makes me want to revert to the Oculus again.

I have set the refresh rate to 90 Hz in SteamVr and motion smoothing is on.

Running a 2080ti.

Long thread and this might have been answered before. Just got my Index, upgrading from CV1, and I’m experiencing some annoying graphic issues.

1. When in a high speed dogfight there target plane seems to be ghosting a lot. Almost as if it was two planes.

2. When looking out on the sidewinder on the wingtips of the F-16 in a turn they seem to “break off”. Just not keeping up with the high speed turn.

3. Very small sweet spot imho.

 

This actually makes me want to revert to the Oculus again.

I have set the refresh rate to 90 Hz in SteamVr and motion smoothing is on.

 

Running a 2080ti.

What you are seeing is the effect of Valves Motion Smoothing algorithm (at least with regards to #1&2 above). Oculus ASW has a similar, but IMO, less dramatic effect as it’s a more refined algorithm at this point. I found the Valves Motion Smoothing to be pretty bad at times especially in the Viper cockpit, lots of warping of cockpit elements during high speed maneuvering (even during takeoff)which is a real bummer given the overall quality of the Index vs the Rift

You’ll see those effects go away if you switch off motion smoothing but then you may need to deal with a juddery / choppy experience... it’s all about trade offs

What you are seeing is the effect of Valves Motion Smoothing algorithm (at least with regards to #1&2 above). Oculus ASW has a similar, but IMO, less dramatic effect as it’s a more refined algorithm at this point. I found the Valves Motion Smoothing to be pretty bad at times especially in the Viper cockpit, lots of warping of cockpit elements during high speed maneuvering (even during takeoff)which is a real bummer given the overall quality of the Index vs the Rift

 

You’ll see those effects go away if you switch off motion smoothing but then you may need to deal with a juddery / choppy experience... it’s all about trade offs

So what you’re saying is that this might be fixed? Or should I trade it in for a Reverb?

With MSAA?

I do not use MSAA with these missions. It's too much of a drag and the missions don't seem to need it as bad because of the lighting.

However if you normally use MSAA then try it with it and without if you would.

So what you’re saying is that this might be fixed? Or should I trade it in for a Reverb?

I wouldn't trade it in just yet. First, what are you're computer specs? Second, In DCS settings click the VR preset in the bottom right. Next, leave all Steam settings at default which should set SteamVR Custom Resolution to 150% and everything else at 100%. Next set in game Pixel Density to 1.1. If you don't have any ghosting you can tweak from there but know up front that MSAA, Shadows, Terrain shadows, Pixel Density and any super sampling (pixel density, steam super sampling and MSAA are all forms of super sampling) will put a heavy load on your system. Unfortunately you will need to use some SS to get good visual quality.

So what you’re saying is that this might be fixed? Or should I trade it in for a Reverb?

This has nothing to do with the Index. It’s a DCS/FPS issue. Until we have more powerful hardware, we’re stuck with the ghosting at times.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=254741