Vive Screen Door fix suggestions

[Malov]

I'm sure that if you have a Vive you are well aware of the screen door problem and there is currently no solution. I believe this could be easily fixed and not by adding 4k support. First off if you have a 1080p monitor you can clearly see the screen without any screen door effect so simply slapping in a set of 4k screens into the vive won't resolve the issue and magically give you a beter experience. To me the problem is that the screens are too small and too close to the face. If the screens were increased in size slightly and a little bit farther from the face along with some adjustments to the lenses then the screen door effect would ultimately be gone and the clarity would be amazing. This will skip the mess of trying to cram higher density pixels into small screens and needing a moster of a computer to run 4k. Why haven't the developers given this any thought???

[CaTaPulT]

VR is still very much in it's infancy, so eventually my guess is the screen door effect (SDE) will be a thing of the past. The reason I say this is before I bought the Vive, I bought a cheaper Chineese HMD called the Pimax 4k. It has higher resolution than the Vive and the Rift, it has NO SDE, but it has many other short comings that made me buy a Vive. It's refresh rates are only 60hz tops thus it has a LOT of ghosting and much easier to feel sick while using it, it only uses gyros for tracking thus very limited in head movement and looses the center point set in SteamVR calibration fairly ealily. It has more cons than pros but it has no SDE. So it's a matter of time before the Vive and the Rift get into better quality display which will eliminate the SDE, personally, I'm at the point that I have to look for the SDE to see it, my eyes have gotten use to it and I can't say it bothers me much anymore. :)

Regards: Jack

[MartinMarty]

I thought the screen door effect was from the fresnel lenses. 

 

I have to say that I, too, have adjusted to it. It definitely doesn't intrude on my experience. That being said, "seeing" in the Vive is still a far cry from natural, i.e. everything off-axis being blurry to some degree, eyes enclosed in a miniature sweat box, limited peripheral vision. Yet, when I'm fighting a couple of skeletons or other enemies those things don't come to mind at all (except once when my headphones were falling off).

 

Don't get me wrong. I love the Vive and I'm still thrilled with it, but I really look forward to the improvements that will be made in the next couple of years and how amazing it will be then.

 

Nice to hear from someone who has tried the Pimax 4K. I saw it on yotube and it looked like it could have a lot of potential. 

[CaTaPulT]

Hi MartinMarty.

I thought so too about the Pimax 4k, unfortunately, it has way too many shortcomings to be fun to use or useful for that matter. :(

Regards: Jack

[Cpt_Good]

I'm like you and others that I have talked to, you get used to the SDE. I don't even notice it when fighting in Robotron. I notice it in the dorm room, which really doesn't matter.

 

I also agree that VR is in it's infancy. The Vive equipment that we're using today will probably be an antique in two years. That said, I wouldn't miss it right now while waiting for something better. This is the most awesome gaming experience I've ever been a part of. The difference is being in the game rather looking from the outside in. Really cool stuff. Cheers, Cpt Good

[Orange.]

You are in charge of your attention. I do not notice the screen door effect- I am to busy creating or enjoying the experienced. Just accept the technology as it is instead of looking for these sorts of things.

 

It will be many years 5+ to you see the type of VR you are imagining or the kind of hardware and applications to drive it. 

[RSQDVR]

Question... why does the screen door effect appear to be so much worse on the Vive than the Oculus CV1?  I started out with the Rift DK2, SDE was of course very noticable.  Then I got the CV1 when it was released, but bailed during the Zenimax-Facebook dustup because I was afraid the courts would force the Rift to be bricked.  So I picked up a Vive, and the SDE is almost as bad as the DK2.  

 

 

The image above is pretty accurate as far as what my experience was between the Vive and the Rift.  The rift did have some banding, but the SDE was pretty well muted.  Shouldn't the SDE on the Vive be the same as the Rift CV1?  They have exactly the same specs for the display... 2160x1200 (1080/eye).  Is it the lenses?

[Emexrulsier]

In my testing the vive was better that the rift but both still have noticeable SDE. Though we are not at the point where screens yet can eliminate SDE (maybe around the 16K per eye would be sufficient). Maybe just in your tests it was simply due to the difference in lens and maybe the distance.

 

To be 100% honest though, when ever I am playing VR games (and its the same for many others) you don't notice SDE, you have to adjust your focus and then you see it all the time. 

[MartinMarty]

I agree. I don't usually notice SDE unless I go looking for it, especially if I can become immersed in the game.

 

I like your 16K estimate, but maybe it is a little easier than that. I think of putting my face close to an old electron tube TV and I could see the individual dots. Now I think of doing the same thing with and LCD panel and it's the same scenario except we also have a massive convex lens in front of it. So maybe if something changes with the other optics it won't require so many pixels.