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High costs have been one of the biggest complaints about Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality headsets. Starting at $599, the premium virtual reality headsets are not impulse buys. Beyond the initial cost of the headset, the $599 Oculus Rift and the $799 HTC Vive also require 400-500-dollar graphics cards (ouch). VR enthusiasts that are strapped for cash usually turn to Google Cardboard platform. Google Cardboard is great because cardboard headsets are cheap and work with almost every phone. That said, the old saying “you get what you pay for” really does apply to Google Cardboard headsets.
Cardboard is not Premium
Initially quite impressive, the flaws of Google Cardboard quickly become apparent. In contrast to the big VR headsets, Google Cardboard users complain that the commonly cheap Cardboard headsets provide low refresh rates, blurry visuals, laggy head tracking, and low-detail gaming experiences. Furthermore, it appears that Google has somewhat abandoned Google Cardboard to work on Daydream. To find a middle ground between cost and quality, my new series “Premium VR on a Budget” details a variety of solutions to help consumers get premium virtual reality experiences without emptying their bank accounts.
Pimax 4k headset. Image credit: Pimax
Today’s solution revolves around a little known Chinese headset called the Pimax. Starting at $329 (without headphones) and $375 dollars with built-in headphones, the Pimax 4K Virtual Reality headset offers a compelling and competitive alternative to the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Yes, you read that correctly, the Pimax contains a whopper of a 4K display inside of its fairly well-built shell. That said, the Pimax down samples the image but this 4k boost still makes a big difference.
If you have already heard of the Pimax 4K headset, it is probably for this reason. As many Pimax owners can attest to, the 4K display found in the Pimax sometimes gives it the edge over the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. With its 4K display, many users have actually said that the Pimax IS THE BEST HEADSET AVAILABLE for viewing 3d and virtual reality videos. Although great for videos, the Pimax does have a few small drawbacks that most users happily overlook.
Pimax 4k headset. Image credit: Pimax
How could an unknown Chinese company beat the big boys developed with massive amounts of funding from Facebook, HTC, and Valve? First, they do not exactly beat the big boys. There are some trade-offs involved with the Pimax (detailed below). Second, they only copied their competitors while only adding a more pixel-dense but lower quality 4K display. Perhaps Oculus and HTC could have done something similar but this would have probably screwed up their plans to entice users with the 4k second-generation headsets that will come this fall.
So how good is it?
Because Pimax has crammed so many pixels into its display, it ends up solving one of virtual reality’s biggest problems. Generation 1 headsets often leave many users disappointed with the visual quality of their headsets. Most commonly, they complain about “the screen door effect.” As shown below, the screen door effect arises when users notice the black space between pixels. Pimax’s denser display means more pixels are compressed together leaving less non-pixel black spaces.
Screen door effect compared on early Oculus Rift developer kit 1 and 2 (dk1 and dk2). Image credit: OculusForums
Furthermore, Pimax’s display also uses a traditional LCD subpixel array rather than the uneven and less dense OLED arrays that have more visual black space between subpixels. As can be seen below, LCDs pack pixels back to back without gaps. OLEDs like those found in the Oculus Rift, leave open plenty of black space. Both density and subpixels contribute to the screen door effect.
Oculus upgrade company compares LCD and OLED Subpixel alignment. Image credit: RiftUp!
The Pimax has more pixels and a better array which process the dramatically reduced screen door effect. This adds up to VR visuals that appear to be sharper and more solid. Thus, many users say it is the best headset for viewing VR or 3D video. It may be the best headset for VR Porn content. That said, the Pimax is not a perfect basket of fruit. Rather then having a refresh rate of 90 mhz, the Pimax tops out at 60 mhz. This means that headset tracking is not as smooth as the other premium front-runners. Many users don’t mind a lower rate. PlayStation VR has a similar max rate and for the most part. PlayStation users are fine with it there.
Pimax 4k headset. Image credit: Pimax
Also missing in action are motion tracking elements. Perhaps its low price of 330 dollars made it impossible for Pimax to include motion trackers. Anyways, the Pimax 4k relies on headset gyros to do the job. This is totally fine for videos but causes problems with room-scale VR games. Speaking of games, through some hacky magic, Pimax is wonderfully compatible with both HTC Vive and Oculus Games. All and all, the Pixmax offers a compelling premium VR package for a bargain price. If you are not willing to lay down $599 for a great VR headset, the Pimax will save you almost 300 dollars while providing the sharpest VR experience currently available.
compatibility and porn, thats the deal here, perfect.
compatibility and porn, thats the deal here, perfect.
Pimax is likely to come with 8K display ahead this year when i expect it to be having some built-in motion trackers for better room-scale VR experiences.
yeah I heard Pimax is awesome. thanks for all these info. will surely buy one!
You make the Pimax sound pretty good 🙂