Vive Focus Vision Headset

[TomCgcmfc]

Well there's a new kid on the block = Vive Focus Vision.

I'm a bit disappointed that this doesn't have pancake lens or micro-oled screens, but I am very happy it has a dedicated Display Port option.  I've preordered one from my local Vive Australia store (au$1899) and I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to my currently favorite flight sim headset = QPro/i913900k/rtx4090 with my official link cable connected to my z790mb usb3.2 gen2 type-c port at 650mbps encoding bitrate.  I'll let you know how this all goes.  I just hope it goes a lot better than my preordered Vive Cosmos, lol!

I'm not a bit fan of this guy's YT channel but I think it is the best overview of this headset so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvMFWWLmkU4

[DaftnDirect]

The problem for me is Fresnels and LCD with no local dimming, that's a combination that would be ok if it were cheaper, but at the same price as the Quest Pro? not sure.

Does DP really make that much difference over wired link? despite the call for DP, I don't think I've ever seen a good through the lens comparison, DP vs wired link on comparable headsets.... if you're able to do one @TomCgcmfc that would be fantastic.

It's 120deg FOV but the Fresnel's will need to be something special to cope with those extremities. Looks like comfort should be good and sound probably better... auto IPD is also nice to have and there's the resolution bump.

mmm I just don't know! I'd put pancakes top of my list, with local dimming second... the Quest Pro looks increasingly like a good buy, even at the £1,500 we paid for it 2 years back.

[TomCgcmfc]

@DaftnDirect  I still have a +5yo Vive Pro1 with 1600x1400 amoled screens, Etsy GearVR lens mod, 2x2.0 base stations, and Index controllers.  I have done a lot of testing and have concluded that the main difference between my VP1 with Display Port and my QPro with Link cable is that because of its encoding requirements this takes up about 10% extra GPU requirements (rtx4090).  To get around this I run my QPro at 80Hz refresh rate vs 90Hz (default) with my VP1.  Latency is also higher with Link but as long as this is in the 40-50ms range, the difference is not noticeable, to me anyway.  Still, my VP1 is slightly smoother running complex flight sims like msfs2020.  Also, as long as I use at least 500mbps encoding bitrate I don't see any noticeable compression artifacts with Link.

It will be interesting to see how well this headset works.  It only has lcd screens, but at least they are pretty high res (2448x2448).  I believe that the screens/lens are the same as the Vive Focus 3 and these seem to get pretty good reviews.  Time will tell I guess.  I think delivery will be around late October to early November 2024.  Cheers mate. 

[DaftnDirect]

We're not getting a Quest Pro 2 (for a while at least), so yeah, I'll be looking to replace my Quest Pro maybe next year with something... I'm using it pretty much exclusively for PCVR and the Quest 3 for standalone but it's kind of nice to have the 2 headsets that do standalone when friends come over and we have a bit of multiplayer fun.

Anyway, I hope you find this is a good one... I think the Quest 3s is the only headset Meta will release for a couple years. I wouldn't totally rule out paying £1000-£1500 on another headset but I'm getting very very picky! 

[TomCgcmfc]

I got my tracking info today and I should get my nice new Vive Focus Vision in 2-3 days.  Now I'm excited!

Edit; false alarm, tracking for something else, lol!  Hopefully next week.

Vive just posted the Vive Focus Vision support info and user guide download on their support website today.  So, now I have a 100 page manual to browse through while I'm waiting to get this, lol

https://www.vive.com/us/support/focusvision/

[nohoho]

Yea I've heard about the lenses but honestly in terms of tethered headsets we've been neglected for years and I kinda want to support HTC for thinking about us this time even though they didn't do us complete justice there's still a lot of cool features they added I'm still using the index and kinda worried I'll regret the purchase but at the same time I wanna buy it idk what to do

[TomCgcmfc]

@nohoho  Maybe check your local Vive store and see what their return policy is.  For me, in Australia it's 14 days.  I needed to do this about 1.5yrs ago when I preordered a Vive XR Elite and found it didn't work as well with PCVR as my Quest Pro.  The overall process was a bit time consuming (lots of emails with pictures of everything) but it all ended up fine and they even paid for return postage.  Hopefully I won't need to do this again, lol!

[TomCgcmfc · Accepted solution]

Update;

Ok, I got my nice new Vive Focus Vision (VFV) with DisplayPort streaming adapter yesterday. To make a long story short, I’m in the process of returning it to my local Vive store for a refund. I went through their return process +2.5 years ago with a preordered Vive XR Elite headset so I hope this return goes as smoothly.

The main things I didn’t like were the typical Fresnel lens circles, glare, and god rays. Plus, the vertical FOV was much less than with my QPro. For flight sims, vertical FOV is pretty important if you want to see more of your cockpit instruments imho. I believe that Meta has recently commented that they think that vertical FOV is a high priority for them right now, and I agree with that.

A somewhat minor point, but I also found that some SteamVR apps did not work properly with the VFV controllers. I probably could have modified these with SteamVR controller binding options and/or waited for developers to fix these.

The DisplayPort streaming adapter worked very well and I did notice a bit better performance (~10%) compared to my QPro/rtx4090 with an official link cable connected to my z790mb usb3.2 gen2 type-c port at 650mbps encoding bitrate. Also, distant objects and cockpit clarity looked a little better (within the limiter VFV sweet spot). However, this didn’t make up for their poor Fresnel lens, for me anyway. There are always tradeoffs on all these things so you just need to find out what’s most important to you imho.

I did find that the headset was very easy to setup and the Vive streaming hub software was easy to use. It was also very comfortable, but not as comfortable as I think my QPro with Golbular Cluster top strap is.

I just wish that Vive had of included pancake lens with Qled/micro led backlight screens, with local dimming, like my QPRo.

Anyway, just my opinion but I can’t recommend the Vive Focus Vision as a dedicated PCVR headset with msfs2020.

Just an aside note; I also tried out a Pimax Crystal Light over the last 2 days and I’m in the process of retuning it for as refund as well, lol! Maybe the upcoming Pimax Super OLED headset (with pancake lens), that I have preordered, will work better. Time will tell I guess.

[Hiro_Protag0nist]

Yep, was sent a Focus Vision when they came out.  I don't believe they are for consumers at all.  It's so difficult to go back to Fresnel lenses and the Focus 3 vs Quest Pro/3 etc were always a good example of "specs aren't everything" - I always thought the visuals on the Pro were fantastic.

Very surprised by the Focus Vision to be honest, I think the Focus 3's main area of use is the OOH business and they use wireless.  The DP connection and passthrough improvements seemed like the biggest features of the Focus Vision and they're not really used by that business area, so who exactly is it for, if not for OOH?

[TomCgcmfc]

@Hiro_Protag0nist  I think that the Vive Focus Vision was Vive's attempt to mainly improve upon their Focus 3 headset, which was Enterprise-only in my country (Australia) and make it more accessible, and economic, for VR consumers/enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, in order to keep the price down they have used the same screens/lens as the Focus 3 (also same as Vive Pro 2 btw).  I think the DisplayPort streaming kit is a great idea that seemed to work very well.  Like you say, probably not something that enterprise users want/need, but at least it's offered as a separate feature, so not something that enterprise users need to buy.

I don't think that the VFV will end up satisfying very many VR consumers/enthusiasts (maybe some VRchat enthusiasts).  However, I think it probably will be quite successful with enterprise users, including those that run VR arcades, mainly because of the auto-IPD feature that will make it easier/faster to swap users, together with hot-swappable batteries.

I still have and use a 5yo Vive Pro1 (amoled 1600x1400 screens, 2x 2.0 base stations, Etsy GearVR lens mod, and Index controllers).  I think that the VP1 is still the best PCVR headset that Vive has ever made.  I believe that Valve helped out a bit with that one and, like the Valve Index, it is the last true SteamVR native headset that Vive has produced.  While this still works very well.  Unfortunately the low res screens with poor pentile pixel layout results too much SDE, and hence lack of clarity, even with a lot of super sampling c/o my rtx4090.  Hopefully Vive will produce a true VP1 successor in the near future.

I did return my VFV and got a full refund.  Their refund process was pretty painless and they even covered return shipping, including sending a courier to pick my unit up from my home.