Need advice for VR-headset

[Fisherman82]

Hello!

 

Im thinking of buying a VR headset, now Im using Track IR and a 24inch curved screen.

 

The question is what headset I should buy, the price is not the main factor, instead this is the things that Im thinking about:

 

1. I want a good experience, no problems spotting targets and instruments then I now have on my 24 inch screen, that does not mean that I need the absolute sharpest if that compromises something else.

 

2. I want it to be reliable, if I want to fly one night I just want to put it on and go, not spend a half hour to set it up before.

 

3. I have gotten used to using kneeboards with paper instead of the DCS kneeboard that I think is just horrible to use. With oldschool papers on my lap I can just flip to the back of the pile fast where as in DCS you must go paper by paper. I also take notes during missions with a pencil and so on. So, the perfect thing would be if a passthrough camera could just be activated by pushing a button, preferably on a joystick and then push the button again to turn it off, pausing the game is not acceptable. If the passtrough cameras cant be used like this, I would like to at least be able to glance under the headset, if that is not possible I can tilt it up a little little bit with my hand if that is needed and that is not to big of a hassle. I know some models have flip up but I assume if you flip it up and down like 20 times during a flight you will wear the mechanism out because its not intended to be used like that.

 

4. Im also flying in a generic home cockpit I built, its basically like a closet that I can open up entirely where the doors are (its sliding doors). The seat is positioned perpendicular where the doors are so when Im sitting in it I have the open room on my left side, a pretty big space in front of me where the screen is now and on my left there is just a black wall. The distance on the right side between the seat and the black wall is about 10cm or 4 inches. The enire closet or what you like to call it is painted black inside. The inside being all black is really good when I use the screen now because it makes all colors on it become very rich and look beautiful because there is so much black around it. However, from what I understand this may be a problem for tracking with headsets that dont use external sensors. I like to have it dark around me when Im flying at night so if needed i can mount IR-LEDs to illuminate around me, I have read that the tracking cameras can see IR. However, will the dark wall to my right be a problem still? I mean, even if Im illuminating it, perhaps the camera on that side wont have any references to go on, will the camera on the left side that can see the rest of the room be enough to get the tracking for front and back motion to work with no issues? I could perhaps hang some kind of fabric strips from the roof in the closet a half inch from the wall to help the camera get visual reference but the distance to it will still be pretty short.

 

5. My computer has a i5-9600K CPU, 32GB RAM, SSD and a MSI GTX 1080 graphics card.

(Note not 1080 Ti). I know that the system specs on the DCS site says that a 1080 like mine is enough for VR, but is it so in practical use? I mean, does it run smooth on a 1080 or just barely with frequent or sporadic stutters? Is it instead so that to run VR in DCS smooth you really need a 1080Ti or 2080 or whatever the newer ones are called?

 

6. As I have understood, a HP Reverb offers the clearest picture, but is it to much for my 1080 and CPU? (Im not overclocking anything by the way). Im not saying Im leaning most to a Reverb, but If I would get one of those and my 1080 could not handle the full resolution it offers, could I then decrease the resolution to that of other headsets and run it like that until I perhaps buy a GTX 2080 or something in the future? Or is it not possible to lower the resolution so if I buy a Reverb and my 1080 cant handle it there is nothing to do about it?

 

Would appreciate any advice on this!

[Baldrick33]

If you plan to run in the dark then the inside out trackers like Reverb & Rift S aren't going to work well. You may even need to paint your walls.

 

I think the Index has a pass through camera but I am not sure how easy it would be to read notes using it. I think you may need to consider using the kneeboard, IMHO it works well in VR and much more immersive than flipping the headset up as the other option.

 

Having had both an Index & Reverb I didn't notice any difference in performance. When testing I did run the Index on my 2nd PC which has a 1080 and a lower CPU than yours (5820 @4GHz) and it ran sort of ok but I had to lower the detail. I think you may find yourself thinking about upgrading the GPU with either Index or Reverb at some time in the future to get the best image.

 

The Rift S should give you a bit more headroom with a 1080.

 

If you plan to keep your room as is I would probably go for the Index but be aware you might end up replacing the GPU at some stage. First though you should overclock that 9600K, DCS is very single core CPU hungry in VR!

[bernardv]

If you plan to run in the dark then the inside out trackers like Reverb & Rift S aren't going to work well. You may even need to paint your walls.

...

 

 

This is a myth. Rift S tracking doesn't use the visible light spectrum.

[Baldrick33]

This is a myth. Rift S tracking doesn't use the visible light spectrum.

Thanks, certainly seems true with the Reverb though which struggles in low light conditions.

[Fisherman82]

Thanks

Does anyone know if you can use a Xbox controller in such a way that you dont need to use the Oculus hand controllers at all. I mean so the Oculus button works and everything?

 

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[Fisherman82]

No Rift S users here?

 

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[hansangb]

The dark room doesn't matter if you're flying VR. You'll be looking at a bright screen inches from your face anyway.

 

I like using physical buttons etc. So I use the gap in the bridge of the nose to look out at the "real world" There are no pass through cameras that I know of that has high enough resolution to do what you want to do. There is also a VR mod that let you type things, but I think you said you don't like the electronic version. So I'm thinking a real kneepad may work for you using my sneak-a-peak method.

 

Reverb does have the best resolution. And it's incredibly clear. But I'm not sure if 1080 will drive it. Maybe ask in the HP Reverb thread. Someone there might be running it.

 

Finally, inside out tracking does require something for the camera to look at. So all black walls may not work so well. But a few led bulbs stuck on a wall will take care of it *if* tracking with a passive camera (inside-out-tracking) doesn't pan out.

 

If you must have the darkened room painted black and inside out tracking doesn't work, you can use Vive lighthouse based solutions like Pimax, Vive, Vive Pro and maybe others? lighthouse uses lasers and it doesn't matter how dark the room is. While the original Rift used IR (I think) emitters, I can't recommend Rift at this point. And I don't know enough about Rift S to chime in.

Edited January 27, 2020 by hansangb

[Svsmokey]

IMO , the OP would be much better served with a Rift S with his 1080 . That card would only allow minimum graphics settings with a Reverb , but medium-to-high with a Rift S . I'm not saying it is the better headset , merely that the OP would have to upgrade his GPU to run a Reverb .

[dburne]

IMO , the OP would be much better served with a Rift S with his 1080 . That card would only allow minimum graphics settings with a Reverb , but medium-to-high with a Rift S . I'm not saying it is the better headset , merely that the OP would have to upgrade his GPU to run a Reverb .

 

That is one thing I really love about my Rift S and why I am still using it.

I can run with some pretty darn high graphics settings and still maintain 80 fps much of the time. Everything looks great at very decent performance.

[Fisherman82]

That is one thing I really love about my Rift S and why I am still using it.

 

I can run with some pretty darn high graphics settings and still maintain 80 fps much of the time. Everything looks great at very decent performance.

I actually ordered a Rift S, I ordered it from a store where I can easily return it if it doesnt work for me. But Im wondering, the handcontrolls that come with it, there is no way I will be using those when I fly. Do you have to use them to start it up and so on or is it possible to do that and access settings and so on with the mouse? If they are needed, could they be replaced with a Xbox controller? In that case Im thinking of buying a cheap wired one of those and rebuild it like a buttonbox and mount it in the cockpit so I dont have to worry about batteries and dont have to have it laying around in there.

 

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[dburne]

I actually ordered a Rift S, I ordered it from a store where I can easily return it if it doesnt work for me. But Im wondering, the handcontrolls that come with it, there is no way I will be using those when I fly. Do you have to use them to start it up and so on or is it possible to do that and access settings and so on with the mouse? If they are needed, could they be replaced with a Xbox controller? In that case Im thinking of buying a cheap wired one of those and rebuild it like a buttonbox and mount it in the cockpit so I dont have to worry about batteries and dont have to have it laying around in there.

 

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No they are not needed at all. I use the Touch Controllers for playing other Oculus games , but when I am going to be flight simming for a while I typically have my Touch controllers stored away in a drawer.

If you need to access anything within Oculus Home you can do so with your mouse on the desktop.

[Fisherman82]

No they are not needed at all. I use the Touch Controllers for playing other Oculus games ,..

 

hansangb said that the passthrough function might not be good enough to read notes, but I guess I still would like to just push a button and get it, as I understand there is a shortcut but that is pressing the oculus button twice and it cant be remapped to a joystick or keyboard. Do you use the passthrough+ function and if so do you know if the big x-button on a xbox controller acts the same as the oculus button? You said you did not use the touch controllers or xbox controller but I was thinking perhaps ju tried sometime and know anyway?

[dburne]

hansangb said that the passthrough function might not be good enough to read notes, but I guess I still would like to just push a button and get it, as I understand there is a shortcut but that is pressing the oculus button twice and it cant be remapped to a joystick or keyboard. Do you use the passthrough+ function and if so do you know if the big x-button on a xbox controller acts the same as the oculus button? You said you did not use the touch controllers or xbox controller but I was thinking perhaps ju tried sometime and know anyway?

 

No I have not touched my X-Box controller since the Touch controllers came out.

I rarely find I need to use pass-through.

[Gruman]

To your 3rd point. Forget about the Pass Through Camera to look at your kneeboard. Won't work.

Check out VRKneeboard.

You will be able to use a WACOM or Huion Tablet as a replacement for your physical Pen & Paper. It will show up in your cockpit and you can easely change the position.

[Fisherman82]

I just recived my Rift S and got it working.

 

Does anyone know if the Xbox button on a Xbox controller works as the Oculus button so if I buy a Xbox controller I dont have to use the touch controllers?

 

If it would I could mount one of those in my cockpit very easy in comparison to the bulky touch controllers.

 

Even if the passthrough wont work for my paper kneeboard I still need the Oculus button to get out of dash and to use the passthrough for other reasons.

Its unbelivable that Oculus cant add a keyboard input binding ability in the settings for the Oculus button.

 

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Edited February 12, 2020 by Fisherman82

[dburne]

I just recived my Rift S and got it working.

 

Does anyone know if the Xbox button on a Xbox controller works as the Oculus button so if I buy a Xbox controller I dont have to use the touch controllers?

 

If it would I could mount one of those in my cockpit very easy in comparison to the bulky touch controllers.

 

Its unbelivable that Oculus cant add a keyboard input binding ability in the settings for the Oculus button.

 

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When I am flight simming, I just leave my Touch controllers put away.

I really never have any need for them whilst running a flight sim.

[Gnadentod]

Don't use a Reverb with anything lower than a strong 2070 Super or 5700XT.

[Fisherman82]

I guess I will have to buy a Xbox controller just to find out if the Xbox button works as the Oculus button then.

 

Another question, does the setting for resolution in the DCS options matter for the Rift S or is that setting only for flat screens?

 

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[dburne]

I guess I will have to buy a Xbox controller just to find out if the Xbox button works as the Oculus button then.

 

Another question, does the setting for resolution in the DCS options matter for the Rift S or is that setting only for flat screens?

 

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Only for the monitor.