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HP Reverb G2 VR


Gus

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HP begun to deliver the first Reverb G2 preorders and first user reviews are online. Looks like a great VR headset is upcoming in particular for flight sims. Me am still waiting to get mine delivered and am mostly interested in how the better visuals and smaller FOV of the Reverb G2 effects the experience in VR in comparison to the Pimax8KX.  

For the JG1 comrades located in the US: 
Microsoft offers the Reverb G2 @ 599,99 $ in their store ( currently out of stock ), which is a pretty good price for the piece...keep a look:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hp-reverb-g2-vr-headset/93QB262D0514?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab

Last week I had a call with the HP customer service in Germany and they told me, that there are far more preorders, than the production could handle at once. So at the moment new orders need to wait for the production, to be delivered.

 

 

 

Here´s a longer more detailed Q & A ...

 

And a quick through the lens video of MRTV via Twitter:

https://mobile.twitter.com/mixedrealityTV/status/1324800170693939201

 

 

 

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MRTV made some comparison videos between the preproduction model of the G2 and the Index some month ago. He and a friend of him considered the G2 prototype more advanced in terms of picture quality to the Index, what in fact the G2 is with its resolution of 2160 x 2160 compared to 1440 x 1600 pixels of the Index. There seems to be really a lot of improvement being made for the optics ( displays, lenses ) and sound to the G2. 

The difference to the Index aside from the superior resolution and with this its sharpness, is the FOV of the Index, which could be increased by dialing in the lenses of the Index more closely to the eyes - an option the Reverb G2 does not have. They say, when you leave the position of the lenses of the Index at standard, there is no difference for the FOV in comparison to the G2.

Furthermore they say, if you are going to use the VR headset for kind of comic games with less details, like Beat Saber etc., the Index is comparable to the G2, but if you use VR for flight sim, with a lot of details in the cockpit and distant view, the G2 shows its advantage by the higher resolution.
Also the G2 is a bit lighter in weight, than the Index, what may make wearing it more comfortable. In result, the only downside of the G2 in comparison to the Index, is the lack of a dialing knob at the back of the headset to adjust the fit on the head.

Beside these details in hardware design, there is more to favour the Reverb G2. The G2 is developed in corporation between HP, Valve and Microsoft. This corporation resulting in one product is quite unique so far on the VR headset market and promises an excellent support crossover the APIs of SteamVR ( Valve ) and Windows Mixed Reality ( Microsoft ). Both companies are the main drivers for VR API / Software and hardware - it does look like that all the best developments has come together to create a VR headset at a reasonable price tag, which eliminates the main flaws of VR headsets, like screen-door-effect, Mura, distortion, clarity, glare, sharpness, sweetspot, visible round shape of fresnel lens pattern, colors and brightness.
It is to expect, that there will be a focused attention for the G2 in the ongoing development of SteamVR and Windows Mixed Reality to provide best possible quality and performance, with the goal to push the overall acceptance of VR in the user market far more than before. Microsofts Flight Simulator 2020 already got the potential to get more people into VR and in conjunction with the Reverb G2, there won´t be anymore common disappointment, like before for new VR user.

Having eliminated the main optical downsides of VR in comparison to flat screens, there still remains the FOV to be technically advanced. So far it looks like pushing the FOV beyond the standard approx 100° - 120° is technically challenging. The Reverb G2 still is within this standard. Beside the efforts Valve, Pimax, XTAL or StarVR made, a large FOV still is not at a point to be standardized for the mass market due to costs and/or quality. So the Reverb G2 still is a step, even it´s a huge step, in the overall development of VR hardware to finally reach the  user expectation without compromises in comparison to flat screens. That to mention, that the Reverb G2, as good as it looks to be, might be outdated within one or two years, by a better VR headset with the same technical and visual quality, but with a larger FOV.   

 

 

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Recently I´ve read the Windows October Update 20H2 would improve visual quality for the Reverb G2. If Windows did not automatically updated, it might be worth to push the update.

https://www.roadtovr.com/latest-windows-update-includes-visual-improvements-hp-reverb-g2-wmr-headsets/

Got a notification of HP about delivering my ordered G2 end of November 😃

 

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These improvements to Windows Mixed Reality VR seems to be resulting of the development on the upcoming VR patch for MSFS2020 by Asobo.

As the improvements effects the algorythms of the WMR API, it is a good move to implement the improvements for VR into the official Windows Update and not only to the VR Patch for MSFS2020 not only for the benefit of all Windows Mixed Reality Headsets, but also to all VR applications running with a Windows Mixed Reality headset.

As far as I remember in this Video the developers are pointing to these improvements:

 

 

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On 11/16/2020 at 3:13 PM, Gus said:

Recently I´ve read the Windows October Update 20H2 would improve visual quality for the Reverb G2. If Windows did not automatically updated, it might be worth to push the update.

https://www.roadtovr.com/latest-windows-update-includes-visual-improvements-hp-reverb-g2-wmr-headsets/

Got a notification of HP about delivering my ordered G2 end of November 😃

 

Finished the updates over the weekend!!, Thanks

 

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Initial Impressions HP Reverb G2

System:

               Windows 10 Home: 10.0.1.19042 Build 19042

               Processor: i9-10900K @ 3.7 10 Cores

               Ram: 32 GB

               GPU: Geforce RTX 3080

Previous VR: HP VR Headset VR1000-010 Windows Mixed Reality Headset 1440 X 1440

Note the headset I still consider very good for a first gen headset

G2 is third+ gen?

The following is my initial impressions.

I drove 45 minutes in Assetto Corsa at Thompson Road

The headset is very light and extremely comfortable

Headset IPD adjustment is mechanical on the headset!!

Speakers and sound!! Awesome!!

Large sweet spot, and even the areas outside the sweet spot are much more clear, if that makes sense.

All colors and the environment are sharp and crisp!!

IMO as good as my monitor running at 3840x2160 @ 60hz

I can easily read the road makers at speed, the tiny 50 meter boards clearly stand out. The pit crew I can read the tiniest wording on their suits.

Picture perfect.

Tracking dead on!!

Will not make me drive better, but at least I will see the crash coming.

If you have questions go ahead and PM me.

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@Snaggle Good to hear that those horrible blocky crashes are a thing in the past for you and that you will now be able to crash in high resolution 😄

Seriously, your positive impressions seem consistent with what I have seen online so far: I don't recall seeing anyone who was unimpressed.

I have a request, though: would you mind doing some IL2 test runs, preferably on some busy servers (i.e. having many concurrent planes)? I would be very curious to know how your CPU + GPU handle the G2, what FPS you typically see as well as what your lowest observed FPS is. Also, about your configuration: do you know what your memory speed is?

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Grief,

I'm currently boycotting anything to do with IL2. They screwed me on FC, and I don't have any of the other stuff from that company. 😁

RAM: 3600MHz

I won't be able to do any flying tests until I have DCS up and running which will be sometime in Dec I hope

In Assetto Corsa (racing), a solid 90 FPS, more testing on that next week.

Snag

 

 

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Update,

Very very happy.

Picture perfect, never a frame drop while racing. I have had no issues with tracking then I keep my room dark for that very reason having has a WMR headset before.

All parts for DCS now in hand I will hopefully get to the setup and testing soon!! 😁

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There´s not so much you could do wrong with a WMR headset. A dark room is not the optimum environment for tracking, as the tracking cameras of the device are not infrared tracking, but visual tracking. Means the cameras are looking for contrasts in their views, like dark furniture at a white wall, to define the position of the headset in space. The additional two cameras at the Reverb G2 for sure improve the accuracy of tracking. A dark room would work counterproductive as the perceived contrasts in the environment is reduced. As well mirrors, glass ( windows without curtain ) or just plain walls may impact the accuracy of the tracking.

Recently heard of one of the youtubers, that the resolution scale for the G2 at SteamVR had been increased. This results, that a 100% resolution set at SteamVR results in a much higher pixel rendering, than a 100% resolution set for the Reverb G1. So if encounter a drop in frames, through the higher demand of performance by a the higher render resolution, it might be advisable to set the render resolution manually at SteamVR between 70 - 100%, what still is higher than the G2 display´s native resolution.

@Snaggle I´m sure you don´t need basic advices for VR... My delivery of the G2 has been delayed to the 9th December and your postings on your experience with it, make me more eagerly waiting for it. 😄

 

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@Gus, Completely agree.

I keep the room dark, or should I say no sunlight coming into the room.

18 minutes ago, Gus said:

Recently heard of one of the youtubers, that the resolution scale for the G2 at SteamVR had been increased. This results, that a 100% resolution set at SteamVR results in a much higher pixel rendering, than a 100% resolution set for the Reverb G1. So if encounter a drop in frames, through the higher demand of performance by a the higher render resolution, it might be advisable to set the render resolution manually at SteamVR between 70 - 100%, what still is higher than the G2 display´s native resolution.

 

Yes it does I noticed that when I went to setup SteamVR, at 100% it is way over the native resolution. I'm currently running at 100% still playing around with that setting. So far no frame drops, solid 90 still. I will see what happens in DCS once up and running.

21 minutes ago, Gus said:

 I´m sure you don´t need basic advices for VR... My delivery of the G2 has been delayed to the 9th December and your postings on your experience with it, make me more eagerly waiting for it. 😄

 

Gus, look forward to your impressions, especially IPD. I wear glasses so I know my IPD, but I seems to get the best view with the widest setting in the IPD. I will be curious with your results.

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Me too am wearing glasses - my IPD is 63,5. I would set the IPD in the G2 like intended to my actual IPD as it should be accurate in the G2.Take a look at http://vr-lens-lab.com/lens-adapters/ . There should be soon prescription lenses be available for the G2. I had prescription lenses for the Vr headsets before ( HTC Vive and Samsung Odyssey+ ) They worked fine and I didn´t need to wear my regular glasses under these VR headsets anymore.https://vroptiker.de  is a provider for VR prescription lenses in Germany and they already got prescription lenses for the G2 available. The VR prescription lenses also protect the headset´s lenses from scratching.

DCS surely will be more demanding in VR. I felt fine setting VR/ PD to 1.0, MSAA in DCS to 2x, all the rest texture options high, shadows standard, and CPU demanding features, like AI traffic, chimney smoke to low. But that´s all personal preference. Mine is not perfectly smooth, but I could live with some framedrops under certain circumstances, like with low fly by over cities and prefer a higher visual quality before perfect framrate in all situations.

With the dark room it is the other way round: For Lighthouse laser tracking, like the Valve Index, most HTC headsets and Pimax uses a dark room could be supportive for the laser tracking.With the Reverb G2, all WMR headsets and the newer Oculus headsets with Inside-Out-Tracking, an illuminated room/environment is more supportive for the tracking.But that´s more theoretically! No need to worry about, as long as you don´t have tracking issues. If you encounter a loss in tracking ( what could be very annoying ), try to turn the lights in the room on and try to avoid reflecting surfaces the G2´s cameras are facing to.

Meanwhile I got the Pimax 8KX adjusted pretty good, to provide a good image. Also could have fixed some others issues I had with the Pimax 8KX. There´s some interesting observation coming with a software update to increase the backlighting for the 8KX, in the way, that a high panel backlighting increases the overall clarity in the headset. Due to the development of the Reverb G2, they had finally added the external power connection for the G2 to be able to increase the panel backlighting and with that the clarity - so in conclusion it doesn´t seem to be kind of magic added to the G2 to get this clarity, instead of simply increased backlighting. Anyway in terms of sharpness ( due to higher pixel density ) and optics optimization ( larger sweetspot ), the G2 for sure is superior to the Pimax 8KX. Me still am curious how the difference in FOV feels between both headsets. 

  

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  • 3 weeks later...

@Snaggle received the G2 today and took a first glance: This is really a beautiful image in VR - instantly fell in love with this piece of hardware 😄

For the first time I could read the MFDs in the F-16 properly without leaning in or zooming. Very, very good!

About the FOV I had expected another shitty one, but in contrary: the FOV doesn´t even bother me the slightest, what was an unexpected experience after many years of using VR. 

By the way, did you know, that you could get 50,- € Cashback from HP for the delayed preorders, well, at least in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Don´t know if it is also available in your country. Very nice move by HP.

Here´s a link to the HP page in Germany to apply the cashback, maybe could give you hints, where to find at your side:

https://h41201.www4.hp.com/WMCF.Web/at/de/promotion/11471/Start/

 

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6 hours ago, Gus said:

@Snaggle received the G2 today and took a first glance: This is really a beautiful image in VR - instantly fell in love with this piece of hardware 😄

For the first time I could read the MFDs in the F-16 properly without leaning in or zooming. Very, very good!

About the FOV I had expected another shitty one, but in contrary: the FOV doesn´t even bother me the slightest, what was an unexpected experience after many years of using VR. 

By the way, did you know, that you could get 50,- € Cashback from HP for the delayed preorders, well, at least in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Don´t know if it is also available in your country. Very nice move by HP.

Here´s a link to the HP page in Germany to apply the cashback, maybe could give you hints, where to find at your side:

https://h41201.www4.hp.com/WMCF.Web/at/de/promotion/11471/Start/

 

Not available in US from what i can find.

Yes a wonderful piece of VR Tech. Everything is very good and the FOV never even noticed it similar to your experience!!

Glad to hear you are loving it!!!

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  • 1 year later...

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