CV1 Poor Black Levels

[TheFlyingCookie]

Hey Guys, 

I hate that my first post here is a complaint, but I'm hopeful that maybe someone here knows something that I don't. 

In games with dark backgrounds (Elite: Dangerous being the main one) I'm seeing a grey veil instead of a dark black in most areas. But in some areas, I'm able to see a deep black, but it's a very sudden stop from the grey veil to the dark black instead of a smooth transition like it should be. 

The issue looks exactly like the DK2 did when the output was set to TV mode instead of full RGB. Sadly, I can't fix this as the CV1 is in direct mode with no way to override it. All the hacks and tricks I've tried (Registry, NVidia control panel with another HDMI device plugged in where the Rift is, reinstalling drivers, Oculus, and Windows, etc) have not worked. 

This isn't the grey that comes with the pixels on the Rift not turning off to prevent black smear, and even if it were, i'd be fine with black smear to make this veil go away. The grey from the pixels not turning off is not nearly this bright, and I can actually see that if i'm in a pitch black scene with nothing else on screen. This grey is much worse, and much more annoying. 

Earlier today I actually did see everything work correctly and blacks were smooth and inky just like they should be. But after a reboot of the computer, that went away. 

I"m seeing this in everything from E:D to Oculus Home on the night scene. It's not an E:D specific problem, E:D just happens to be the game that gets ruined by it. 

Hopefully someone here can help... If not, I'll be selling the Rift to one of my friends that's not nearly as picky about display quality and getting a Vive. 

[edmg]

Why would you buy a Vive if you care about display quality? It's objectively worse in almost every respect.

(I have both, and it's one reason I haven't used my Vive since my Touch controllers arrived)

[TheFlyingCookie]

edmg said:

Why would you buy a Vive if you care about display quality? It's objectively worse in almost every respect.

(I have both, and it's one reason I haven't used my Vive since my Touch controllers arrived)

Because I'll take the issues with black smear on the Vive over the lack of blacks on the Rift. As I know the Rift is CAPABLE of looking better than the Vive, though, i'd like to stick with it. Currently, though, the Rift looks like playing E:D in 16bit graphics mode. 

[flexy123]

Please read

https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/46456/tip-to-improve-rift-image-quality-if-you-have-n...
or
https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/45293/tip-adjusting-color-saturation-brightness-etc-a...

to fix!

Edit: You say you tried this already. When you bring up the eye adjustment screen in Oculus with the green cross, does it look like an "elephant/mouse gray" background to you or an "almost black"? If it's gray, you have the limited output level problem as described. If for some reason the trick with connecting a monitor and then changing the setting doesn't work...try a different Nvidia driver, maybe even an older one. This is DEFINITELY fixable.

[TheFlyingCookie]

flexy123 said:

Please read

https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/46456/tip-to-improve-rift-image-quality-if-you-have-n...
or
https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/45293/tip-adjusting-color-saturation-brightness-etc-a...

to fix!

Edit: You say you tried this already. When you bring up the eye adjustment screen in Oculus with the green cross, does it look like an "elephant/mouse gray" background to you or an "almost black"? If it's gray, you have the limited output level problem as described. If for some reason the trick with connecting a monitor and then changing the setting doesn't work...try a different Nvidia driver, maybe even an older one. This is DEFINITELY fixable.

Yep, I've tried all of that. 

Definitely "elephant/mouse grey" and not "almost black." 

I've tried several different drivers and I haven't had any luck with any of them. What I truly don't understand is why it magically worked today and then stopped after a reboot. I've considered trying and older version of Windows, as well, but haven't seen anyone say that's worked. 

I'll try poking around in older drivers some more and report back with any results. (Or lack thereof) 

[edmg]

TheFlyingCookieCar said:

Because I'll take the issues with black smear on the Vive over the lack of blacks on the Rift.

So you don't care about the fewer pixels per degree and the small sweet spot with the rest of the display out of focus and suffering chromatic aberration, then?

Saying 'I don't like the Rift's image quality so I'll buy a Vive' is like saying 'I don't like my pickup's low gas mileage so I'll buy a tank.' Just bizarre.

[TheFlyingCookie]

edmg said:

TheFlyingCookieCar said:

Because I'll take the issues with black smear on the Vive over the lack of blacks on the Rift.

So you don't care about the fewer pixels per degree and the small sweet spot with the rest of the display out of focus and suffering chromatic aberration, then?

Saying 'I don't like the Rift's image quality so I'll buy a Vive' is like saying 'I don't like my pickup's low gas mileage so I'll buy a tank.' Just bizarre.

I'm here looking for solutions for the Rift, not reasons why you think the Vive is worse. 

[Anonymous]

Curious given that both use oled screens shouldn't blacks be actually black? Or do the lenses not allow for that somehow?

[cleanupdisc]

What gpu do you have? I heard the older 900 series can have issues with the black levels and one way to fix it was to buy a display port to hdmi cable. Your blacks should be dark and black. I think its an issue with your gpu settings.

But one reason we dont use all super black is because of the god rays effect. Try starting the disney vr experience in the entertainment section of the oculus store. You can see when it launches an all pitch black screen with a red disney logo that causes massive god rays. If that all black screen looks grey to you than your pc / gpu has issues.

[Anonymous]

cleanupdisc said:

What gpu do you have? I heard the older 900 series can have issues with the black levels and one way to fix it was to buy a display port to hdmi cable. Your blacks should be dark and black. I think its an issue with your gpu settings.

But one reason we dont use all super black is because of the god rays effect. Try starting the disney vr experience in the entertainment section of the oculus store. You can see when it launches an all pitch black screen with a red disney logo that causes massive god rays. If that all black screen looks grey to you than your pc / gpu has issues.

Could it be an issue of limited 16-235 vs full 0 - 255 type dealio? Having that set incorrectly causes balcks in videos to turn very light grey etc.