Samsung Odyssey review

A not so brief intro first...

Currently I fly pretty much MP exclusively. I have a simpit of sorts with a Speedmaster Flight seat, centre mounted stick and a 65" 4K tv as a display running of a 8600k@5.3ghz and a 1080ti. Ive had to play real life tetris in order to fit that all into a small study. Its a little snug, and the layout is unconventional for a study but it works, at least as a mancave.

I've wanted to get into VR for a long time. I came pretty close to buying the rift on a number of occasions (including preordering). Every time I read a post saying how great it was and that there was no going back to 2D I really felt like I was missing out! My main concerns were with the resolution, FOV, visuals, and difficulties with cockpit instruments and the effects all of that would have had on the MP experience. I was encouraged when I saw more and more people jumping on the VR bandwagon including a squadmate.

Last year I kickstarted the Pimax 8K(X) headset. It seemed to have the answers for the detail and FOV concerns I had above. As much as im looking forward to that I also realise that theyre a small company and they have made some amateurish mistakes along the way. They were supposed to deliver January but it looks to be delayed till the spring, if not later. Thats fine by me. Id rather wait another 6 months and get a complete, polished product than a rushed one.

I considered the Vive Pro but the price speculation (?£800) and the fact that its the same screen as the SO put me off. Also I have no need for room scale. For half the (expected) price I went with the SO. I couldnt wait to try it out and hopefully get rid of my TV and make some space in the study.

Setup

This was a pain in the arse. Perhaps I was unlucky with the timing of windows update but basically WMR portal software broke the update, or the update broke the WMR software but getting it all to install/work as intended was not easy. Ultimately I had to get an insiders build of W10 in order to set it up. That should be released soon. Once the software was installed actually setting up the device was very easy.

Comfort

This is the only device ive used. For me its very comfortable and well made. The leatherette padding is very good. Strap is easily adjustable. IPD adjustment works well. All good.

Sound

Passable, just, but definitely not as good as a set of basic Sennheisers that I use. Also the earphones don't extend far down enough.

FOV

Actually this I felt was very good. I didnt feel like I was looking through a set of ski goggles like alot of people have said. It was perfectly adequate. Only the centre is the sweetspot but again I cant compare this to any other device. I was pleasantly surprised with the FOV.

Screen clarity and SDE

Im afraid this where it starts falling apart. First of all there is SDE. I can see the pixels, clearly, especially in areas of high contrast. Its not so bad over say a winter terrain texture, or nevada. But in Caucasus spring/summer it was more apparent. The feeling of being in the cockpit was very good. It makes you realise how different the cockpits are ergonomically. I particularly like the AV8B pit. It was my favourite to use in VR.

However, actually reading the instruments was difficult without zoom. Furthermore outside the cockpit, everything was frankly, a pixelated, blurry mess. Visual ID is almost impossible premerge. Dots do appear out in the distance. But everything that makes 2.5 beautiful is lost. There's almost no difference between using high or low settings. It could have been 1.5 for all that I could see. It mostly looks the same. And it doesn't look good. I really wanted to like VR but unfortunately this really crushed it for me. The difference in clarity is stark. The resolution needs to improve by at least an order of magnitude, or two, before it will be acceptable, at least for me. I went back to my TV after testing for a while and it was a welcome relief to actually be able to see my wingman clearly (and not as a blob). The terrain and lighting are beautiful again and I can make the details of nearby towns/airfields as you would do in real life. In the SO the HUD was always easily readable. But everything else looked aweful:(

Tracking

This was perfect. I didnt bother with the hand controllers but the headset tracking was flawless, and all without setting up sensors etc.

In summary im afraid its not for me. Ill give it another go over the next few days but right now the experience is too compromised. The feeling of immersion in the cockpit is awesome. The tracking is awesome (R73 Schlemm shots are epic) but the actual usability of the cockpit instruments/displays and the poor visual quality of everything inside and outside the cockpit was a massive letdown.

good review pretty much reflects my experience and thoughts about VR.

I assume you never tried rift or vive. Odyssey is a great improvement in regards to SDE. Also you need to increase the pixel density in order to appreciate the huge quality improvement on the Samsung screens.

My rift is permanently shelved. Vr isn't for everybody, same as small pancake screens arnt for everybody either I also have 4k tv that I go back to every so often but flying on a flat screen sucks in my opinion.

I have no issue reading the instruments so I think it's a person to person varied experience at this point

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

I can read most instruments fine with the vive (@PD 1.5). One of the big tricks to getting good clarity is finding the "sweet spot" on your HMD. I believe the thinner cushion trick works on the SO as well. This did WONDERS to the Vives clarity and greatly improved the ability to read the instruments.

A not so brief intro first...

 

Currently I fly pretty much MP exclusively. I have a simpit of sorts with a Speedmaster Flight seat, centre mounted stick and a 65" 4K tv as a display running of a 8600k@5.3ghz and a 1080ti. Ive had to play real life tetris in order to fit that all into a small study. Its a little snug, and the layout is unconventional for a study but it works, at least as a mancave.

 

I've wanted to get into VR for a long time. I came pretty close to buying the rift on a number of occasions (including preordering). Every time I read a post saying how great it was and that there was no going back to 2D I really felt like I was missing out! My main concerns were with the resolution, FOV, visuals, and difficulties with cockpit instruments and the effects all of that would have had on the MP experience. I was encouraged when I saw more and more people jumping on the VR bandwagon including a squadmate.

 

Last year I kickstarted the Pimax 8K(X) headset. It seemed to have the answers for the detail and FOV concerns I had above. As much as im looking forward to that I also realise that theyre a small company and they have made some amateurish mistakes along the way. They were supposed to deliver January but it looks to be delayed till the spring, if not later. Thats fine by me. Id rather wait another 6 months and get a complete, polished product than a rushed one.

 

I considered the Vive Pro but the price speculation (?£800) and the fact that its the same screen as the SO put me off. Also I have no need for room scale. For half the (expected) price I went with the SO. I couldnt wait to try it out and hopefully get rid of my TV and make some space in the study.

 

Setup

This was a pain in the arse. Perhaps I was unlucky with the timing of windows update but basically WMR portal software broke the update, or the update broke the WMR software but getting it all to install/work as intended was not easy. Ultimately I had to get an insiders build of W10 in order to set it up. That should be released soon. Once the software was installed actually setting up the device was very easy.

 

Comfort

This is the only device ive used. For me its very comfortable and well made. The leatherette padding is very good. Strap is easily adjustable. IPD adjustment works well. All good.

 

Sound

Passable, just, but definitely not as good as a set of basic Sennheisers that I use. Also the earphones don't extend far down enough.

 

FOV

Actually this I felt was very good. I didnt feel like I was looking through a set of ski goggles like alot of people have said. It was perfectly adequate. Only the centre is the sweetspot but again I cant compare this to any other device. I was pleasantly surprised with the FOV.

 

Screen clarity and SDE

Im afraid this where it starts falling apart. First of all there is SDE. I can see the pixels, clearly, especially in areas of high contrast. Its not so bad over say a winter terrain texture, or nevada. But in Caucasus spring/summer it was more apparent. The feeling of being in the cockpit was very good. It makes you realise how different the cockpits are ergonomically. I particularly like the AV8B pit. It was my favourite to use in VR.

 

However, actually reading the instruments was difficult without zoom. Furthermore outside the cockpit, everything was frankly, a pixelated, blurry mess. Visual ID is almost impossible premerge. Dots do appear out in the distance. But everything that makes 2.5 beautiful is lost. There's almost no difference between using high or low settings. It could have been 1.5 for all that I could see. It mostly looks the same. And it doesn't look good. I really wanted to like VR but unfortunately this really crushed it for me. The difference in clarity is stark. The resolution needs to improve by at least an order of magnitude, or two, before it will be acceptable, at least for me. I went back to my TV after testing for a while and it was a welcome relief to actually be able to see my wingman clearly (and not as a blob). The terrain and lighting are beautiful again and I can make the details of nearby towns/airfields as you would do in real life. In the SO the HUD was always easily readable. But everything else looked aweful:(

 

Tracking

This was perfect. I didnt bother with the hand controllers but the headset tracking was flawless, and all without setting up sensors etc.

 

In summary im afraid its not for me. Ill give it another go over the next few days but right now the experience is too compromised. The feeling of immersion in the cockpit is awesome. The tracking is awesome (R73 Schlemm shots are epic) but the actual usability of the cockpit instruments/displays and the poor visual quality of everything inside and outside the cockpit was a massive letdown.

Anyway I have some a

questions for you about the seat if you don't mind...

I have the same seat and center mounted my warthog stick (manually drilling the holes) but my feel of the center mount plate is not good...it shakes as I move the stick and with my father's help I tried to improve it's strength but the changes were minor one....do you have the same feel?I thought that maybe the warthog stick is too heavy, but then I saw that on their site is shows the seat with warthog stick and throttle every tiem....I don't know if my English is good enough to explain me...maybe I can shoot a video later to explain better...

Thanks for your reply

Inviato dal mio ONEPLUS A5010 utilizzando Tapatalk

Just kidding, brother. Very well written review; accurate, well thought out and complete. I think it outlines the true trade off one needs to consider when looking to get in to VR: Is one willing to give up all the pretty graphics (and some of the other benefits that come along with that graphic quality) for increased immersion and the feeling of "being there"? If one is not, current VR is not going to work out no matter how much someone wants it to.

Wish it had worked out for you, luckily you've got a damn good setup to fall back on :thumbup:

I assume you never tried rift or vive. Odyssey is a great improvement in regards to SDE. Also you need to increase the pixel density in order to appreciate the huge quality improvement on the Samsung screens.

My rift is permanently shelved. Vr isn't for everybody, same as small pancake screens arnt for everybody either I also have 4k tv that I go back to every so often but flying on a flat screen sucks in my opinion.

 

I have no issue reading the instruments so I think it's a person to person varied experience at this point

 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

I did increase the PD in increments all the way up past 1.5. Unfortunately it did not improve things significantly

 

Just kidding, brother. Very well written review; accurate, well thought out and complete. I think it outlines the true trade off one needs to consider when looking to get in to VR: Is one willing to give up all the pretty graphics (and some of the other benefits that come along with that graphic quality) for increased immersion and the feeling of "being there"? If one is not, current VR is not going to work out no matter how much someone wants it to.

 

Wish it had worked out for you, luckily you've got a damn good setup to fall back on :thumbup:

Thanks man.

Hi....good review....thanks for it...as I am waiting to dive again in Vr (former rift owner that decided to sell and wait for technology improvements in the performance field).

Anyway I have some a

questions for you about the seat if you don't mind...

I have the same seat and center mounted my warthog stick (manually drilling the holes) but my feel of the center mount plate is not good...it shakes as I move the stick and with my father's help I tried to improve it's strength but the changes were minor one....do you have the same feel?I thought that maybe the warthog stick is too heavy, but then I saw that on their site is shows the seat with warthog stick and throttle every tiem....I don't know if my English is good enough to explain me...maybe I can shoot a video later to explain better...

Thanks for your reply

 

Inviato dal mio ONEPLUS A5010 utilizzando Tapatalk

The centre mount plate is not very sturdy. I never used it. I have a floor mounted BRD-N stick.

Good review.

FWIW, I have found my Odyssey to be VERY particular WRT the positioning of the HMD on my face. Finagling around, it can be stunning how much clearer the image gets when you suddenly hit the (admittedly small) sweet spot. I have found the IQ improves with the HMD farther down my face than where I originally placed it.

Yeah I found that too. You had it slide it down further at the front and have the strap sitting higher at the back then you might think. Still very comfortable though. Despite all that I still found it wanting.

Yeah I found that too. You had it slide it down further at the front and have the strap sitting higher at the back then you might think. Still very comfortable though. Despite all that I still found it wanting.

Yep, I get it; the Odyssey ain't perfect, but it's pretty good. For me, I just decided to jump into the game, and accumulate VR experience, and when the true next generation arrives, probably late 2019 or 2020 (not the Vive Pro - that's gonna be the comparable to the Odyssey), I'll know exactly what I want.

Beyond image quality, I've got to learn how to fly with a bucket strapped to my face, not being able to see my keyboard. That's not a small thing.

I'm a professional photographer, and VERY particular about image quality. With the Odyssey, I sense every pixel, every SDE effect, every part of the small sweet spot, and they ALL bug me...but even with all that, the overall experience is SO worth it.

And, BTW, it's noticeably better than the Rift that I've used quite a bit prior to getting the Odyssey.

FWIW, having flown X-Plane 11 in a 3 x 1080p screen sim for 2 years, and even with three 1080p screens, the front screen being 55" and only 5 feet from my face, I couldn't always read the gauges on my instrument panel. I ended up using Air Manager on a separate 22" 1080p touchscreen for the six pack and a few other instruments.

The centre mount plate is not very sturdy. I never used it. I have a floor mounted BRD-N stick.

Inviato dal mio ONEPLUS A5010 utilizzando Tapatalk

We are still very much at generation 1-1.5 of commercial VR. Without a doubt, as has been said on every discussion forum I have ever read on VR, the resolution is the weak spot. If you do your research on current VR, you have realistic expectations and less disappointment.

I got my rift nearly two years ago, and I am more than ready to see a proper gen 2.0 set on the market, as I started saving up for it the week I got my CV1. It doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon as the entry price for VR has been kept artificially high by our mining chums.

So yeah, resolution ain't great, but immersion and sheer fun factor balance that out.

DCS at present is in a big transition stage. PD on its own without MSSA will look pretty bad.

All of us VR users are tinkering with settings (VR and game) and endlessly searching for a trade-off between visuals and performance.

Most people use 1.2 PD and 2x MSSA. Personally I use 1.0 PD and 4x MSSA because I really dont like distant jaggies.

DCS itself at the moment also looks downright horrible at many different times of day, or night, especially in VR and these settings also need to be tinkered with via the mission editor. I play mostly at early morning where it looks very realistic IMO.

Welcome to 1st gen VR where you'll spend more of your time messing about with the settings than you will playing the games themselves.

VR 1st gen will never be perfect visual quality wise. But forget the graphics, load up your Gazelle and go and blow up some targets!

I would never go back to 2D for the sake of resolution. VR actually puts you in the cockpit whereas 2D you will always be only an observer looking at and manipulating an AC on a screen. At the end of the day I fly VR because I want to simulate the sensation of flying, which is only possible in VR.

I think presently though DCS multiplayer will be an exercise in frustration. We're all hoping the game will be vastly improved performance wise when it's released. VR and the various headsets are not all to blame DCS 2.5 is a bit of a mess at the moment. You need to spend a long time messing with the settings of both the headset and the game/sim itself. It's a little too quick to give the headset a fair review, give it a chance!

My opinion of odyssey.

screen is amazing. crisper sharper, no god rays.. but screen door if u look for it.

headset comfort is ok. i dont like the pressure on top of my forehead. rift is better.

odyssey is good for DCS.

the controllers sucked when i used it for onward, it loses tracking cause i place one controller against cheek to aim, which brings controller out of the hmd camera sight.

buy odyssey for cockpit games only and if u have cash to spare.

if rift had the odyssey screens, rift would be super perfect til next gen

My opinion of odyssey.

screen is amazing. crisper sharper, no god rays.. but screen door if u look for it.

headset comfort is ok. i dont like the pressure on top of my forehead. rift is better.

 

odyssey is good for DCS.

the controllers sucked when i used it for onward, it loses tracking cause i place one controller against cheek to aim, which brings controller out of the hmd camera sight.

 

buy odyssey for cockpit games only and if u have cash to spare.

 

if rift had the odyssey screens, rift would be super perfect til next gen

I'm hoping next gen will be better both resolution and performance wise! What about the odyssey do the better visuals drive up performance demands?

Yea their is a performance requirement increase and depends how much PD you do

Do realize it's software is quite young and is constantly being updated. I imagine if WMR gets native support in DCS like the rift it will be a much smoother experience

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

good review pretty much reflects my experience and thoughts about VR.

I've grown tired of the incredible lack of IQ with VR. I've tried every setting, every head position, every trick out there - it just plainly sucks IMO compared to a good gaming LCD. I don't really get the whole "being there" thing either, I truly don't feel any special experience so far as immersion, it's just become a bunch of negatives for me. Luckily I have family that use the Rifts for driving games, otherwise they'd be out the door with the Vives and Samsung now too.

Maybe in 5 years there will be an adequate VR solution that at least comes close to 1080p on a gaming LCD, much less 4k that's available now.

I don't know how anyone competes online in PvP multiplayer when you can't even make out dots much less the bogie's type until it's within a few hundred yards, just a blurry blotchy mess, where as without VR it's so much easier. Also the ability to see behind yourself with TrackIR compared to VR is 10x easier, without the ability to use peripheral vision in VR you literally have to point your VR unit right behind your chair/desk to see behind you, which is IMO impossible unless you spin your chair mostly straight around backwards. Forget that.

I can understand offline play with VR in it's current state, but how anyone survives vs non-VR players of even close to equal skill in PvP online servers....

Ok.. thanks for your reply....would you care to send me a picture of your setup?I would like to do something similar (maybe buying an extension) so i am looking for ideas on how to fix on the floor

 

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Sure. Just ping me on our TS or Discord <51>Rage

Same here. I have several gaming machines with GPUs from the fastest 1080ti/SLI to the Titan XPs all with the most current "gaming" CPUs, 3 Rifts, 2 Vives(sold), and now a Samsung Odyssey.

 

I've grown tired of the incredible lack of IQ with VR. I've tried every setting, every head position, every trick out there - it just plainly sucks IMO compared to a good gaming LCD. I don't really get the whole "being there" thing either, I truly don't feel any special experience so far as immersion, it's just become a bunch of negatives for me. Luckily I have family that use the Rifts for driving games, otherwise they'd be out the door with the Vives and Samsung now too.

 

Maybe in 5 years there will be an adequate VR solution that at least comes close to 1080p on a gaming LCD, much less 4k that's available now.

 

I don't know how anyone competes online in PvP multiplayer when you can't even make out dots much less the bogie's type until it's within a few hundred yards, just a blurry blotchy mess, where as without VR it's so much easier. Also the ability to see behind yourself with TrackIR compared to VR is 10x easier, without the ability to use peripheral vision in VR you literally have to point your VR unit right behind your chair/desk to see behind you, which is IMO impossible unless you spin your chair mostly straight around backwards. Forget that.

 

I can understand offline play with VR in it's current state, but how anyone survives vs non-VR players of even close to equal skill in PvP online servers....

Actually I have a squadmate who is very effective in PVP with the Rift. Its what spurred me on to get the SO. For me its not the competitive nature in PVP thats the killer. You can get round that with modern airframes, tactics and experience. Ultimately it was the severe degradation in IQ. For me DCS is just too pretty and lifelike especially with the new lighting to be happy with a low res, jaggedy, pixellated blotchy mess in VR. I tried tinkering with everything including PD, MSAA, graphical settings etc. Its my own fault for being used to flying on a big screen at 4K with everything turned up to 11.

Im still in no doubt that VR is the future. We're just not there yet imho. If I hadnt kickstarted the Pimax 8k I would probably have persevered with the SO a little longer. But seeing as the 8k is supposedly due in Q2 and I already have a buyer for the SO im afraid its already back in its box.

I just noticed the Samsung Odyssey is back to $499. Too bad. At $399, it was worth taking a flyer to jump into (if you didn't have another HMD), but at $100 more, maybe not so much.

Hi Rage - I was jut about to purchase a VR until I stumbled on your review & it scared the sh!t out of me... But before I praise your review, would you please give us more details on your PC specs to check first how far it exceeds the minimum VR requirements!

Now I know that to avoid seing pixels in a VR, you should start with 700ppi display.

SAMSUNG Odyssey has 615ppi (pixel per inch) = 1600p x 1440p / 3.5"", so I'm not surprised by your conclusion. That is why I'll risk my first VR purchase with the PiMax 4K, which has 806ppi, also because those are my utmost PC output limits for now. Once I'll have my PC updated with a X399 Motherboard, 16 cores x 4Ghz CPU, 2 x 1080Ti GPU and 128Gb RAM - than I'll go for the PiMax 8K with 200° FOV. Until then I'll keep dreaming...

Now, if someone is using a 800ppi VR and is also seing pixels, please let me know asap before I buy that thing...

Hi Rage - I was jut about to purchase a VR until I stumbled on your review & it scared the sh!t out of me... But before I praise your review, would you please give us more details on your PC specs to check first how far it exceeds the minimum VR requirements

Hi, From the OP:

8600k@5.3ghz and a 1080ti.

Ive never used the Pimax 4K but from what ive read its prob not a good purchase right now.

Folks, don't buy the Rift or the Vive, because the Odyssey and Vive Pro have better resolution.

Don't buy the Odyssey or the Vive Pro (whenever it's available) because the Pimax will be better, if it ever hits the market.

Er, um, don't buy the Pimax (whenever it's released) because Google just announced a 5500 × 3000 display that will be out "sometime this year" and your Pimax will be obsolete...

The point is, there will ALWAYS be something better that's "right around the corner", and if you continually hold off on your purchase, waiting to be sure you have the latest-and-greatest, you will be missing out on a lot of fun, a ton of learning, and valuable experience, and in reality, you will only have the latest-and-greatest for a very limited time, until the next big thing is released.

When you buy a product at the relative leading edge of technology, there is no question you'll be stuck with "old" (if 12 months can be old) tech a year, or even sooner, later, even if you buy the best that's available today.

I am fine with Samsung Odyssey.

Im sorry, but no GPU can handle pimax, and the track software is not that great from what i hear.

just because the headset is 8K or 16K, doesnt mean it will work well.

IMHO if you can wait for Oculus CV2, do it.

google's HMD looks promising, i like to know more about that.

other wise current gen headsets are ok, samsung odssey not to shabby..

i like the face that WAGS is using it..