Pimax 8K

iStand4freedom

Does anyone have any experience using the Pimax set? I purchased a headset, and I think I may be in over my head. I really want to experience 8K, however something is off with my configurations, and technical support is not very helpful. I would love to just return it, they certainly are not deserving of my business; but I already have the best stand alone VR headset. I was just hoping to get the best video experience possible. Unfortunately, I believe this is my only option. Can anybody help?

justsomedude101

iStand4freedom I own & use an 8kx, so if you can give some specific issues you're having I might be able to help a bit 🤞

It seems to vary from person-to-person and from headset-to-headset, but as an owner/user of an 8kx, here are my general settings/configurations I use:

as with anything, make sure the Pimax software & headset firmware are up-to-date, and same goes for SLR & Steam.
On the HMD + Settings tab in PiTool: Panel mode in Native, Refresh Rate at 75hz, Backlight at 57, and IPD you should try to set manually with the physical dial before changing the IPD in the software from 0/0
On the Games + Settings tab: FOV Large, Render Quality 1, Fixed Foveated Close, parallel projections and smart smoothing not checked, compulsive smooth close
Further down the Games + Settings tab: color channel Red at 3/3 for contast and -4/-4 for brightness, Green at 3/3 and -4/-4, and Blue at 4/4 and -4/-4

General stuff:

IPD took me a while to nail in when I first got it. I'd just launch the SLR app and try adjusting it while looking at some text on screen until it's focused for you.
you may need to play around with SteamVR's render resolution, as it tends to do some...weird stuff by default sometimes.
the 8kx has some blur around the peripherals on the current headset. There is nothing that can be done about this, just part of the lenses. Some people (like me) don't mind at all or don't notice it, for others it's a dealbreaker.

innol

justsomedude101 Pimax has double fov than quest2 will this decrease clarity ?

iStand4freedom

Wow, thank you so much and you are basically 1000 steps ahead of where I am! I purchased two separate systems, first an Asus RYZEN 9 gaming laptop, and followed up with a tower the other day, I was having difficulty with the thunderbolt to display adaptability. So I still have both, I’m actually having hardware connection issues. I got very close last night, no error messages in Pitool, and successfully got into steam VR with my hand motion sensors partially working (recognized by my OS and proprietary visual demo, but not the practical functionality within any apps). I also got a vice controller but cannot find any Bluetooth settings to enable the It. I had no way of navigating through the tutorial or making any changes from within. So, I followed some additional installation instructions, and somehow the DFU firmware knocked out the recognition of the two interface ports (the DP & USB) that go into the GPU. I tried removing, updating, and reinstalling the original settings but I can’t get them back. So now I can’t even get a steady green or red light on the headset. I was SO close last night, but quite honestly the tech-support at Pimax is let’s just say…… let’s just say it sucks! So a few hours ago all I needed was a working controller, now I need to figure out how to get my hardware settings back. I’m not even sure that a complete restore will solve the problem. I have nothing to lose, it’s brand new and not a single personal file on it; but I was hoping for something less drastic than a factory restore. Any suggestions on getting this headset recognized again?

justsomedude101

iStand4freedom I assume in PiTool on the Status screen you've tried both "Reboot HMD" and "Restart Service"?

iStand4freedom I also got a vice controller

Did you mean that you have a Vive controller? Do you have the base stations required to let the Vive controller work? Sorry if it seems like a dumb question, but it can be an easy thing to overlook.

g2kbuffetboy

I also have a 8KX and echo everything @justsomedude101 said. Only thing I will add is that I set my headset to 60Hz instead of 75Hz. Mainly because all videos are 60fps and so it is better to have a uniform refresh rate relative to the video. Of course, if we are talking about gaming, then definitely you should try to maximize your refresh rate. But for porn, I find 60Hz to be smoother.

(This was actually a recommendation from @RealcumberScripts )

Also, if you go to 60Hz, try and download some of the 120fps videos that SLR has remastered. They look great when your headset is set to 60Hz

As for everything else, just stick with it. Fine tune your settings. Once you get it to where you want to be, it'll be glorious to watch VR porn in it. The FOV, clarity, and next to zero SDE is a must for porn. I can't go back to anything else.

iStand4freedom

I’m not sure if you were able to see my reply to him, but unfortunately I haven’t even made it that far.

justsomedude101

justsomedude101 neither were dumb questions, and I have a split answer on those so I do not have base stations, I set the play area up for no boundaries, I suppose there is a lot of misinformation on forums, because someone explicitly asked if they can use the five controller without base stations, and a couple of people chimed in saying they were not needed. So there’s one problem solved. To answer the other question, I did indeed reset both quite a few times, any time I made a change or reinstall the software etc. I still keep getting the error message, and I feel like a moron because I don’t really know any of this tax stuff, and I’m already into this gig for about $6300. I suppose if I can just get back to where I was earlier with the hardware being recognized, I could pray that somehow Pimax will have mercy on me when I stay up until 4 AM to communicate with them in Beijing time, and hope they give me a straight answer on finally getting the add-on, or whatever I need for the hand motion sensor to function 100%, or I guess I can double down and just get a set of knuckle controllers, which I assume I would not need base stations for. so back to the current problem (one of
Many

justsomedude101 sorry, hit send by accident… so current problem, any idea on how I can restore my USB and DP functionality on Win 11?

justsomedude101

iStand4freedom My understanding is that the Vive controllers do indeed require a base station to function, as the base station(s) is what tracks them. Different type of system than the Quest 2 for example, where the headset does all the work.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest posting your hardware connection issue on reddit.com/r/pimax as they may have better suggestions for you, particularly if you are being shown any specific error code in PiTool. I would just hesitate to suggest anything to you beyond 1.) disconnecting/reconnecting the power for your headset, and 2.) trying the "Reboot HMD" and "Restart Service", since I haven't done a factory reset personally, and while I assume it shouldn't be a difficult process (and it sounds like you're not too far off the factory settings anyway), I can't really say either way.

ibins

justsomedude101

My understanding is that the Vive controllers do indeed require a base station to function, as the base station(s) is what tracks them. Different type of system than the Quest 2 for example, where the headset does all the work.

Technically the controllers (and any other device that uses Lighthouse/SteamVR tracking) do track themself.

The Lighthouse base stations only project an invisible infrared laser grid into the room, that the individual VR devices can use to track themself. There is no data connection whatsoever between the base stations and VR devices or the computer. Bluetooth (or alternatively USB) is only used to power them up and set them to standby as well as transfering firmware updates.

iStand4freedom

I appreciate that, and if there is a solution out there; there is no reason why I shouldn’t inevitably find it. I’m willing to put in the work, but I suppose my last question to you regarding this matter is …..do you see a discernible difference in the higher resolution productions, such as the 6, 7 and 8K content?
Quest is great, but I’m really looking to step it up.

justsomedude101

iStand4freedom IMHO it's a fantastic VR experience: crystal clear, zero screen door effect, and the enormous FOV which for me is almost certainly the biggest win. I honestly don't know that I could ever go to any headset that didn't have as wide of an FOV, even if and when better resolution/display headsets inevitably come out.

If you're coming from a Quest 1, it should be an extremely noticeable difference in basically every way. If you're coming from a Quest 2, I would expect a similar picture quality/sharpness/clarity, less SDE, and of course like double the FOV.

mebejoe

Reading this thread . . . I'm starting to rethink my plans to get a Pimax. It sounds very complex to set up. Almost as bad as the Oculus developer's kit model (yes, I had one, even though I wasn't a developer). I never got that thing to work 100% correctly all the time.

iStand4freedom

mebejoe OK, coming from someone who is currently in computer hell, in the thick of setting things up, in 4/6000 dollars with nothing to show for it yet, I’m still going to say I don’t regret it. I know I’ll eventually get it to work. When you see the hardware, feel the weight of it, experience the design and demos you will realize you made the right decision. So may be a couple of days of hassle, but years of dividends. Just be sure to have more than the minimum specs they are asking for. 16 GB is enough ram, but I would definitely go right for an I7 processor, maybe even a Ryzen 9. They are trying to make sales, so they could really care less if you enjoy 50% of its capabilities or 100%. You definitely want a fast processor, and Crystal clear graphics. The NVIDIA Geoforce 3080 will deliver that. Be prepared to drop at least 1800 for a decent system, if you don’t already have one.

justsomedude101

mebejoe TBH most of the time the complexity with setting up a Pimax is just in tweaking the PiTool settings to fit your visual preferences. I'm talking mostly about things like white balance/color brightness/etc.

Sounds like unfortunately @iStand4freedom's headset has given him a bit more of a problem, which hopefully he's able to solve 🤞, but as a point of reference my setup from unboxing-to-ready was maybe 2 hours in total to get all the settings to a place that I like them. Occasionally I'll go back in as new software & firmware updates happen, just to see if there's any new settings I can mess around with.

iStand4freedom

Yeah, I have the Q2, it’s great. I mean for $400, it’s awesome.. You just plug it in, has its own hard drive, supports tons of apps, doesn’t heat up as much like the go and earlier models, I love it, but I want…..No, I need to be where you’re at now! I’ll hang in there a little longer, did a factory Restore on the tower, let’s see what happens. I still have a great set to hold me over. Thanks again, returning all this hardware would be such a nuisance anyway. At the moment I don’t do gaming, but who knows; it may be nice to eventually use my sets for more than just SLR!

fenderwq

I own a pimax 8kx as well but was not overly impressed until I changed the world scale in steam vr (everything was way too big for me for some reason). After I set that to about 80% the headset was great (it fixed the scale and made everything way sharper). Also own an index and never had this problem there. Speaking in terms of comparison it's a huge visual update btw.

iStand4freedom

Thanks for all the replies. My initial problem was actually interface related. I had purchased brand new computers to support the 8K, so they both needed firmware in areas I would never think to look. The instructions are somewhat complex, require constant updating and honestly customer support was pretty lame. So inevitably I got it up and running, but they couldn’t get my hand motion sensor to work properly. Believe it or not, I took a shot and plugged an old PS4 controller into my tower, and to my surprise it was recognized and usable in steam. I would consider this a temporary fix, but despite their adamant position that I could only use controllers with base stations, or the motion sensor; my present functionality status proves them wrong. I would say overall, being that I have not touched a single setting yet (I only finally got an image at around 4 AM) that it’s good, and likely will be great once I get the image settings tweaked and figure out how to enable the audio! again, something to do with their drivers. I can get the audio to come out of my monitor, but that’s not exactly what I want! And so from the limited amount of “checking it out“ and this was just in DEOVR, noticeable difference in picture quality and FOV. Honestly, I am more of a Mac guy; so these are things I’ve never had to do before. I believe if my last PC experience was not my 2010 Samsung Ultrabook, I would likely have figured this all out in a few hours as well. It definitely delivers a better experience than the Quest II, and I’m really only at the 50% mark of having it completely set up. I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed that I won’t need Pimax’s Help with anything again.

justsomedude101

iStand4freedom So I can't guarantee this will help with the sound issue, but for me - my Pimax shows up as "Speakers (4 - USB Audio Device) when I go to my sound settings once my headset is turned on. I would assume it will show up similarly for you (obviously the "4" might be a different number for you).

I don't recall having to manage anything with audio drivers to get sound, sometimes I just need to manually set the audio output device - but goes without saying every unit is different.

ibins

innol
Clarity is about pixels per degree.
More pixels per degree equals a clearer image.

If you just increase resolution with the same FOV you get a clearer image, if you increase FOV without resolution the image is getting less clear. And if you increase both the same amount, image sharpness stays about the same.

justsomedude101

innol It has double the FOV but is also a higher resolution per eye, so it ends up being very close to the Quest 2's pixels per inch.

innol

ibins That is to say quest2 is better than pimax8k when playing 6k vidoes? because 5900*2900 pixels are not enough to fill 7680 × 4320 pixels with 170 fov of pimax8kx
justsomedude101

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