Your questions are valid. Pimax’s original implementation (in the first few prototypes) used 2 cables, much like your suggestion. They had numerous synchronization issues between the 2 video signals. In the end, they decided it was too finicky, so it wasn’t commercially viable with the (then) currently available technology.
I’m sure that Pimax will release higher res, higher framerate headsets in the future. They still haven’t fulfilled their original obligations (like the DMAS and Sword controllers). I hope that they release those, before they start designing yet another headset model.
Left screen has it’s own dedicated USB and DP connection, cable rolls around to the back of the head.
Right screen has it’s own dedicated USB and DP connection, cable rolls around to the back of the head.
The 2 cables meet at the back of the head and become 1 where it goes until it meets the PC where it then splits off into it’s 4 connections, 2 USB and 2 DP.
The system is a mirror, Left is a mirror of Right and visa versa.
So technically, it is not a hardware issue that is stopping this from happening.
I get that this way means there are 2 signals instead of 1 and as they mentioned above, they have problems on the software side compositing the 2 signals.
I am guessing because games do not send out 2 signals.
But because Left and Right is a perfect mirror, syncing shouldn’t be an issue, just as using 2 monitors side by side in games isn’t an issue.
That’s not how it works at all… Panels are not showing mirrored images for a number of reasons.
And why would You split the USB cables left/right too? That would mean double the amount of components = increased cost, for no reason.
Would You then have half of the SteamVR sensors wired on one and the rest on the other?
No offense, but it seems You have absolutely no knowledge about how it works in reality but are just throwing random theories out there…
In reality, it’s not just a matter of plugging in an extra cable or “splitting the signal”.
Changing one bit of the puzzle often requires changing others too (and a lot of the pieces of this particular puzzle is out of the control of Pimax and requires cooperation with other companies).
How low due you want to turn your graphics and SuperSampling down in order to achieve stable 90+ / 120 Hz, from a certain point onwards?
Already 75 Hz can’t be achieved with a 3080/3090 in demanding open world titles, and at least I haven’t upgraded to the 8K-X for hundreds of dollars in order to just play candy crush or the like on it, or turn down graphics details to a level I’ve last seen more than 20 years ago
Issue is desync between left and right displays if you have one DP cable per display in the headset.
I think Pimax should consider 2 Display ports on the 8KX v2, but one activates DP 2.0 or HDMI2.1 input mode and the other DP 1.4, so both ports drive both displays but you can only use one single input at a time. @PimaxQuorra
That way people with DP 2.0/HDMI 2.1 video cards could enjoy 120-180hz on the 8KX and those with older GPUs can still use 90hz, with no finnicky dual input required to actually drive the thing.
Well, You did mention DP 2.0 and 1.4. Didn’t quite understand that…
Still, I would think some kind of (external) adapter and a “compatibility mode” would be better idea than two interfaces, probably requiring complex/expensive extra internal components.
If this is going to be done at all, I would like to have the panel resolution go up. I’m guessing that probably Steam VR and games need to support this so maybe not something Pimax can do alone.
I’m reading all this and still wondering why desync was an issue lmao
Hardware is symmetrical/mirrored, so latency of each screens signal should be identical or low enough that it’s imperceivable.
And another thing, how can a wireless headset with such specs be possible when it would demand 80Gbps yet Wi-Fi 6 only offers 1-2Gbps, we are soooo far away, cmon Pimax, invent Wi-Fi 3000.
I think you guys have a good product as it stands right now. I see all of these companies chasing higher FPS and higher resolution, and in the midst of a silicon shortage/with already costly cards at MSRP it seems very silly.
If Pimax were to go through the trouble of having more than two panels, or the added IO and PCB complexity I feel like your existing displays in an LMCL (dual cell) configuration possibly with HDR and a QD color filter would be an insanely worthy upgrade.
Your current LCD displays with OLED black levels, possibly with a scanning back light also.
You guys are ahead on raw specs already, so it seems like just making what you already have even better would just work.
The display image per eye is not symmetrical. In current configuration with VR headsets that use 1 screen per eye they are more treated like 1 panel similar to a multimonitor setup in extended desktop.
StarVR One has an option for Dual Cable but imagine some games may not support it well. As from my understanding in dual cable mode it uses 1 dp/panel; though with such a low res hmd not sure how much benefit it could give. Iirc this was for dual gpu(nvidia)
I mean, the controllers for the screens support that bandwidth, jut not the cables. I think all they’d have to do is create new cables instead of a whole new headset that support 2 DP cables and have pitool detect the cable type to then supply said bandwidth speeds
That was actually the original plan for the 8KX. Pimax was never able to get dual cables to consistently sync up. Then a new chip became available and dual cables were no longer necessary.
I doubt Pimax will ever do this, since it’s a higher-cost option (due to cost of a second cable).
A better solution would be to go fiber-optic. I’m actually using the Pimax fiber-optic cable. It’s working great. (No sparkles or other visual flaws, like black screens.) It’s nice to have the extra length. For Pimax, I think that’s a win: 1 fiber-optic cable is probably about the same as the cost of 2 standard cables (which are custom-built for Pimax) and the bandwidth would be huge.
Hello Heir, it is not just an image duplicate from one eye into the other. Each eye is computing the rendered image separately and while you may think the images look the same, they are not. Each render image for each eye have slight angle offsets, this is what creates the 3D effect or stereoscopy. If the image is just a mirror/duplicate you will get a flat image with no depth.
I am sure eventually Pimax will have a high res HMD with high frame rate, just have to be patient.
Regarding the cable, it has been explained, and it was a question worth asking.
You probably also need some coding skills as a lot of this is handled by firmware/software.
