[VR] Valve Index

[Isgrimnur]

Steam

Valve Index VR kit - $999.00
Includes Headset, Controllers, and two Base Stations.

[hitbyambulance]

This is what I had been working on for the past year+ at my previous company (working for a HW/SD developer working for Valve)

[Blackhawk]

As someone who games for immersion: some day. Maybe not this one. Maybe not this generation/price point, but some day.

[Tampa_Gamer]

Thanks for sharing that information. I bought the HTC Vive ver 1.0? with the price drops in December 2017. With three teenagers it gets a fair amount of use in my house, especially at family gatherings when we can mirror it on the big screen TV. Its interesting that the biggest hit is essentially free - Google Earth (with the runner up being Space Pirate Trainer). Even the grandparents get a kick out of "flying" back to see where they grew up or had their first date/kiss.

I think I would bite at the next version, provided the input/controllers have matured a bit and the "screen door effect" is gone. Will be looking for comparisons. I didn't see that this version would have a "tether free" option - perhaps that is in the works? I thought moving forward must of these intended to lose the "tether" since it so immersion breaking.

[Max Peck]

Not Available In Your Country

Welp, at least Valve made it an easy decision...

[wonderpug]

Great hands-on impressions video from Tested

[coopasonic]

I continue to be interested and excited by VR and I continue to be unwilling to pay the entry fee. One day.

[DOS=HIGH]

Great hands-on impressions video from Tested

The most interesting thing I heard during the video is that Valve is suppose to release a 'Flagship VR title' this year. Don't disappoint me Valve!

As a Vive owner I'm also definitely interested in the new controllers and look forward to seeing the hands on reviews. It has more potential to be a true 2.0 version of VR controllers, which the headset is not IMO. Doubt I'd drop $280 on them but could if they are implemented well in some high end titles like Fallout, Skyrim, No Mans Sky, etc and drop closer to $200.

[wonderpug]

I continue to be interested and excited by VR and I continue to be unwilling to pay the entry fee. One day.

The entry fee for the first gen is looking better and better. PSVR is down to like $250 if you already have a Playstation, and for $400 you can get a wireless Oculus headset with no need for a beefy PC.

I'm damn well allured by the Index but it's hard to bite on the early adopter pricetag for a second time.

[gbasden]

I continue to be interested and excited by VR and I continue to be unwilling to pay the entry fee. One day.

The entry fee for the first gen is looking better and better. PSVR is down to like $250 if you already have a Playstation, and for $400 you can get a wireless Oculus headset with no need for a beefy PC.

I'm damn well allured by the Index but it's hard to bite on the early adopter pricetag for a second time.

The Oculus Quest doesn't really interest me. It looks to me like just the latest version of the VR phone headsets. I'm still waiting for real graphical fidelity, and I don't think we are going to see that without a very beefy processor and graphics card.

[Isgrimnur]

Upload VR

Valve partnered with HTC to launch the Vive back in 2016. It had dual 1080×1200 PenTile OLED panels. The Vive Pro released in 2018 increased this to dual 1440×1600.

The Index uses two custom 1440×1600 LCD panels. While they are the same resolution as the Vive Pro, they have full RGB subpixels instead of PenTile. This means each pixel has three subpixels instead of just two.

This provides a higher detail image with reduced “screen door effect”. However, you don’t get the deep blacks of OLED since LCD displays use a backlight.

The refresh rate of the Vive and Vive Pro was 90Hz. Index increases this to 120Hz, with an optional “experimental” 144Hz mode. Valve claims full backwards compatibility with 90Hz content.

The pixel persistence is down to just 0.33 ms, which is the lowest revealed of any headset we are aware of. Valve claims this achieves subpixel scale persistence at typical head rotation speeds. In theory, this should entirely eliminate motion blur.

[Isgrimnur]

Preorders are live.

[hitbyambulance]

As a Vive owner I'm also definitely interested in the new controllers and look forward to seeing the hands on reviews. It has more potential to be a true 2.0 version of VR controllers, which the headset is not IMO. Doubt I'd drop $280 on them but could if they are implemented well in some high end titles like Fallout, Skyrim, No Mans Sky, etc and drop closer to $200.

given that i used these extensively, i can say they're pretty great. hand grasping actions work really well, and each finger is tracked. i dunno about $200 great, but they're better than the Vive wand.

[wonderpug]

Can you comment on how much of a difference 130° FOV makes over 110°?

[Blackhawk]

Given that humans have a 120 degree field of vision, I think it would be just enough to push the edges of the screen just out of sight. That would make a difference to me, as being able to see the edges would always be a reminder that I'm looking at a screen.

[wonderpug]

Given that humans have a 120 degree field of vision, I think it would be just enough to push the edges of the screen just out of sight. That would make a difference to me, as being able to see the edges would always be a reminder that I'm looking at a screen.

Are you thinking of binocular FOV? Just overall horizontal FOV for humans with both eyes is like 200°.

[Blackhawk]

Yep.

[hitbyambulance]

Can you comment on how much of a difference 130° FOV makes over 110°?

it's definitely an improvement. it's subtle enough, tho. i don't think i'd call it a must-have upgrade.

[Tampa_Gamer]

It doesn’t look like initially it will have a wireless option. Bummer