Playstation 4 Virtual Reality

I never found 3D comfortable but just didn't find it that much of an improvement either, I preferred watching films in 2D.

VR on the other hand I found hugely impressive from the very first tech demo and it's something that's hard to describe, even quite basic games and experiences that look quite laughable but they still feel very immersive.

I have been tempted to give PS VR a go as I love the Vive and don't get much use out of my PS4 otherwise but there's little benefit to rushing into it even though Rez Infinite looks superb. It's a good chunk of money and the selection of games is small plus the PS VR seems limited compared to the Vive.

John

Overall I like 3D. However I am disappointed that you I dont get things coming out of the screen like you used to with the red green glasses. I will be sad if they do away with 3D altogether.

donnajunkie wrote: »

Did you know it isn't just about games and that you can watch movies and get the effect of watching a giant screen.

VR is not good for watching movies unfortunately for a variety of reasons, although the headset resolution looks very high on paper because the screens are just in front of your eyes the screen looks very low resolution. That means you can see the gaps between the pixels and the 2D movie screen looks low resolution, most video sources are only 1080p or worse with a lower framerate which doesn't look great on the VR which really needs high resolution and framerate. Also the VR headset is not particularly comfortable to wear for long periods of time and for some times of film because the video fills your entire view, it can make you quite ill.

I've also tried 360 video but it also suffers from inadequate resolution and framerate, even 4K 360 videos look low resolution in VR.

3D rendered video has the advantage it can render at much higher framerates, much higher resolution and you can use supersampling to smooth out aliasing effects.

John

mrsammyp wrote: »

I had a go with the PS VR headset and drive club demo that was set up in Selfridges a couple of weeks ago; I can truly say it was an amazing experience!

Definitely going on the list, might wait for a couple more games to come out first. I think the demo in the box comes with 10 trial games.

The annoying thing is it costs £350 and you still don't get everything you need in the box.

Electrum wrote: »

So what is the verdict?

Is PS VR better for the money than the other more expensive set ups?

From what I've read the PS VR headset is good and more comfortable to wear than the Vive (mixed opinions on that but I like that the PS display is sort of suspended rather than clamped to your face) but the controller tracking is poor. The asynchronous tracking system seems to work reasonably well allowing the game to render at lower framerates but keep tracking and refresh at a higher framerate which helps the underpowered hardware a bit although it still struggles.

There is the question of how well the PS4 Pro handles VR as it has twice as much GPU power as the original PS4 which could substantially improve the VR performance but it's a fair chunk of money on top of the already hefty VR costs.

In terms of which to go for I think a lot of it is going to depend on what you have already, if you have a PS4, no gaming PC and fancy VR then clearly PS VR is the better option - the cost of a Rift or Vive along with a capable gaming PC is just ridiculously expensive.

In the summer I weighed up the different options, I had a gaming PC and a PS4 but at four years old the PC would need a new graphics card for the Rift or Vive. That sounds like a pricey upgrade but factoring the potential of wanting a Pro for better VR, the PC looks more favourable as the cost is similar but the PC is much more powerful.

I went for a Vive with the GTX 1070, the Vive is the priciest VR headset (although Rift is a similar price for room scale) and it's by far the most hassle to set up due it needing special trackers fitted in the corners of the room. It also needs a reasonable amount of open space for its room scale to work so for many room scale won't be an option. Initially I wasn't fussed about roomscale and the Wii made me despise motion controls but given the choice again I wouldn't hesitate to go for the Vive as roomscale is easily where VR is at its best and I'm not sure I'd be so bothered about VR if it was limited to seated/standing VR.

John