HTV VIVE Pro 2 headset displays developed dark areas. Did anyone else experience this?

[GT-Force]

Hi,

My headset displays (for both eyes) now have darker areas, showing as splotches and lines.

All these artifacts appeared "all of a sudden", as the headset was fine before and has been just sitting on my desk unused for a long while.

Did anyone else experience this issue with this headset's displays?

Thanks.

[GAMEDRIX]

Hello, I'm the vive pro 2 professional. Or the DOCTOR VIVE PRO 2

It's within spec, it usually happens in two scenarios :

1 - You turned off the Linkbox before turning off steamvr and viveconsole or to put it simply (turned off the headset hardwarelly instead of softwarelly) which can cause multitude of temporary or somewhat long-term display artifacts.

2 - You didn't turn off the Linkbox while(you went to eat and have put the headset on the table, yes I know who you are don't do this) or while not using the headset, same thing, multitude of artifacts could happen after another session.

The dark Splotchy effect should fade away with heat, so just use the headset for at least a good hour or two it should be good again. (And normally never come back)

Keep in mind that those issues are not normal but within specs, which means it's a disease of any vive pro 2 not just yours, it all depends on how you use it and how bad your unit is.

Some people would get permanent burn of the display like white spots, those fade with heat but eventually come back after the headset cool down. (Fortunately for some of you, it happens after one day of use if your display is faulty, if you had the headset for a while and never notice white spots, you'll never get them) white spots are not from forgetting about the linkbox it's actually a display defect but a minor one, you can live with it since it fades away when playing and it's not that intrusive unless there's a lot of them.

Dark splotchy effects are most probably from a bad shutdown of your VR headset, as I saw, It's been a year since you have your headset so I assume that you properly turn off your linkbox after use.

Some of the other artifacts caused by a bad shutdown/or none are numerous : Vertical lines (not scanlines with head movement those are just bad insulation between sensors/audio/display which cause artifacts in the display scanlines with head movement, audio buzz or static noise which depends on the backlight strength and tracking sensors, and a head tracking that curiously doesn't work as well as a vive or vive pro 1 or index, "these tests are subtle noticeable things, I tested a total of 5 vive pro 2's with my RMAS") Shimmering in the right or both displays (cutting, out of sync, chopped images) Ghost images and Flickering.

Those problems below thought are non-software related problems that you should see if it's worth getting repaired or replaced (keep in mind that either you could get a worse unit each time which can make this decision very difficult unless it makes your headset unplayable or you can't accept a minor problem with your headset, if you're a perfectionist this headset would be a nightmare if you encounter any of these issues) :

-Scanlines (This is the most common issue with the headset, whenever you turn your head you see like moving Screen Door Effect or lines that are greenish/dark which are not supposed to show at all, it's as I said a problem with the sensors interfering with the display which makes sense because with deep testing it only happens when the sensors are ON and not OFF, which means whenever you move your head, the very slight movement will cause scanlines, it's a defect, you can try to get your hands on a unit that doesn't have it but it's the most common issue a lot of units have it, also CTDI HTC doesn't acknowledge this issue no matter how real this problem is. You can still use your headset, it's one of the non-invasive probs)

-Static Audio Noise/Audio Buzz in the headphones, this is not within spec, it's a problem which also results from bad insulation, not all vive pro 2s have them but the majority has, it can be repaired with CTDI HTC, so you can send it for repairs and it will be repaired but if you live in Europe it's a gamble, they do not test units properly and can send you a broken headset which happened to me.

-White spots which fades away and come back are repairable if it's not a big deal for you don't send it for repairs also if you don't want to deal with having to return it multiple times. (the issue doesn't seem to grow with time) Tho it's not healthy so if you have time to spend and really love the headset and wanna try to reach for a perfect display, no issues there, return it maybe you'd be lucky, some lads had a good experience with HTC tho the majority from the US hm... I wonder why..

-Blackouts or sudden black screen that comes and goes is hardware failure that could be the headset, the cable or the linkbox (try to ask a replacement for those accesories first which HTC would glady send to you, same if you have whitespots, also don't forget for each issues always do crosstestings, try with another computers etc..) then if that didn't do the trick, try for a replacement if you had the chance to buy it from a retailer if not RMA.

-A display failure that wouldn't go away or always come back eventually is a fixed hardware pinpointed problem, same thing, return it for replacement or RMA at HTC CTDI.

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by GAMEDRIX