When purchasing the Super, we’ll notice that it comes in two versions: 50PPD (135° FOV) and 57PPD (120° FOV).For some VR newcomers, PPD stands for Pixels Per Degree. It represents how many pixels your eyes see per degree of vision. The higher the PPD, the clearer the image, and the closer it gets to the real human eye. In the past, many VR headsets only had 15–20 PPD, so they looked like having a “screen door” effect. Both versions have the same resolution: 3840×3840×2, and the same refresh rates: 72/90Hz. The only difference seems to lie in clarity and field of view.
I checked some forums and YouTube videos and summarized which version suits which users:
50PPD (135° FOV): better immersion, wider field of view, suitable for gaming/simulation/movies
57PPD (120° FOV): higher clarity, sharper visuals, best for simulation and reading fine details
For DCS players, I see that the vast majority recommend using the 57PPD version.
My question is:
Has anyone here tried both? Is the extra clarity of the 57PPD really worth giving up the wider FOV in DCS? Or is the 50PPD already “good enough” to keep the wider field of view?
For me, 50PPD is already very close to the human eye’s resolution. While an extra 7PPD might deliver a slightly sharper image, the trade-off in field of view isn’t worth it in my opinion.
I wouldn’t say there’s a single ‘best’ model—it’s all about finding the right balance that suits your needs.
Hi Calvin… has anyone compared the difference between the Super 50ppd with the software “wide setting” and the Super 50ppd Ultrawide optical engine? What’s the difference in comfort, immersion, ocular overlap and FOV?
I’ve tried both, and from my personal preference, the optical engine delivers better performance.
The software solution isn’t as compared to the hardware changes required to achieve a larger FoV.
I was assuming that was the case, but I’m also betting that the software option will be improved upon. I decided to go with the Standard 50ppd and wait to add additional modules.. love to see more module options in the future instead of what happened to the plan to add more options for lenses for the Crystal OG.
So I want to add my opinion after having used the 57ppd Super for nearly 4 weeks now. For reference I had the OG Crystal (returned due to defects) and then for the past 18 months a Quest 3. The visuals in the 57ppd are very clear & detailed, really nice & colorful. However there are trade-offs. The HFOV is narrow, I measured it slightly less than my Q3 at 102 HFOV and for my eyes finding the sweet spot is tricky being it is small and I get a bit of eyestrain after some use. I think future improvements in the distortion profile and chromatic aberration - vastly improved but still noticeable in places - will push the image quality even higher. Having said all that though, when it is dialled in to your eyes, the 57ppd image is stunning, vibrant & colorful and for me was a huge step-up compared to the dull muted look of the Q3 image. I am now waiting for delivery of a 50ppd so I can compare. I do believe many users will love the 57ppd and a huge benefit is that it renders at a significantly lower resolution than the 50ppd due to the HFOV being narrower. This fact alone means for sim racing and flight sims, you have more processing power available to turn up the grafix settings and more headroom on lower spec pc’s. The PiPlay GPU Upscaling feature is also remarkable and invaluable for the sim race titles I mostly use VR for.