PSVR comfortably achieved the illusion of “presence”, despite its very obvious technological drawbacks. The improvements being touted for PSVR2 are wildly exciting, then, as a report by Display Supply Chain Consultants has revealed that the PlayStation 5 virtual reality headset will pack 800 pixels-per-inch density per eye. Sony’s original headset achieved about 193 pixels-per-inch density per eye.
Sony has already touted the headset’s 4K HDR panel as a selling point, but we’re talking about by far the most pixel dense display on the market here. Pixels-per-inch is important for virtual reality headsets because your eyes are lined up almost directly against the display, and thus it’s easier to discern the pattern of the pixels as a result. This is all going to result in vastly improved image quality, which will help to sell the illusion that you exist inside a virtual space.
Pair this with the potential for foveated rendering, which works in tandem with eye-tracking to reduce the detail of objects in your peripheral vision, and we’re talking about the opportunity for some extraordinary experiences here. Virtual reality games are, by their nature, computationally expensive – but if developers are able to use the bulk of the PS5’s horsepower on the things you’re actually looking at rather than the things you’re not, then we should get some seriously good-looking games.
The incredibly high-quality screens also suggest that Sony is likely using fairly small displays, which should help to reduce the overall size and weight of the headset. Consider that the platform holder is also using a cabled solution, meaning there’s no need for a heavy battery to be included, and we should end up with a lightweight piece of hardware that’s extremely comfortable to wear.
[source twitter.com, via androidcentral.com]
Comments 32
Just hook it to my veins.
Oh this is sounding glorious at this point.
I disagree, pixel density is not that important. What really counts are the resolution and the field of view. You can substitute a small screen with high density with a bigger one with lower density, the result can be the same (weight aside).
I really cannot wait to see this in action.
Cutting edge display? Sounds painful
The only new bit of information here is the PPI, and its actually over 800 not 800 😊 but what's the PPD?
MS can keep GP, I'd take VR over 2D gaming all day long. Once this tech is fully mature in a couple of generations time TV gaming will be distinctly retro. PSVR2 launch date please!
This is just going to be incredible!
I hope they have an entire new system interface once you put the headset on rather than duplicating the TV image. I want to interact with the UI like Tony Stark! I want to move around the menus and edit/delete media.
I will be signing up for a day one on this!
Can't wait for little bit more news regarding backwards compatibility though, surely something must port over, even if displaying 'same' resolution is psvr1
Sounds good but i remain firmly clenched for the price announcement
At this point I am just waiting for the pre-order going live.
I'm really eager to find out more. I'm still incredibly worried about price though.
@kyleforrester87 ba-dum-tss
Can't wait for this to be released. I'm expecting it to be at least £400
@Max_the_German What? Pixel density is important. That's why when I used the PSVR, I had to tolerate it. It was a distraction from games. Astrobot could've been much more aesthetically pleasing.
Resolution is also important. If the screen is big enough and the resolution is low, neighboring pixels will be just displaying the same information which would seem wasteful. AFAIK, every display has dpi, size, native resolution relationship. I never seen otherwise. Now, for all we know it's an 8K native display, but it is advertised as 1080p/4K because the PlayStation will only process the area you're looking at because it's computationally expensive to make the entire screen 8K simultaneously.
@ecin What is really important for VR headsets is pixel density per degree, and I’m pretty sure that you mean that one. This can be achived with small and big screens. A cinema with a small screen has not a sharper image than a bigger cinema per se, it depends how close you sit to the screen. With VR headsets, this can easily be tweaked with optics.
Sounds good although not sure why the cable is listed as a positive. Still think they could have gone the quest route and had the cable for graphically intense games but a wireless option for physical and room scale games
If this thing is cheaper than the console itself, it’ll be a bloody miracle.
@Deljo because as they state it means it doesn't have to have its own power supply.
Amazing times ahead cant wait for a full reveal, price, hopefully a new Astrobot to show off that screen fidelity.
The cable is... Mmm I had the psvr an I have a quest2 and playing wireless is supreme.
@riceNpea completely understand that but a little extra weight distributed around the headset is still preferable to being tethered imo
@MattSilverado PSVR2 had brilliant specs including OLED screen, will get great support from Sony, will no doubt have an excellent library of games to come and what you focus on is it having 1 USB cable 😆 glass half full. wireless is great, sure, but 1 USB cable is not going to detract from the experience unless you are determined to let it. It's not going to be like the thick jump leads PSVR had.
@Deljo that really depends on how that extra weight affects the design of the headset and it's comfort. They must've thought about it and ruled it out either becasue it ruins the balance, makes playing for a long time uncomfortable or makes it too expensive and could mean sacrificing something else, like the OLED. For a second generation VR headset that's got specs that rival the best in the market AND an HDR OLED screen I accept that it has 1 USB cable to deal with if that's the price I have to pay.
What it means is that the next gen is guaranteed to be wireless and there's no way I'm not supporting PSVR2 and risking that not happening.
@Deljo Then the headset would need to have it’s own computational power and be more expensive to be like the quest. It’s a waste. It uses the PS5 to compute games, not the headset itself. You’re asking for it to be another $200-300 so it can play certain less intensive games without a wire.
@riceNpea @Jaz007 all fair points and I agree with them but for me wireless really is the gamechanger. I'm rebuying some of the same games for the quest that I already own on the psvr, saints and sinners for example, just because the gameplay is so much better. The mini golf game is fantastic but I end up moving all around the living room which just isn't fun with a wire hanging of your head
Exciting stuff!
@NeonPizza If Sony did add a wireless connection for the PSVR2. I doubt the lost would be as big as it is on the Vive Pro 2 with the wireless adapter... Vive Wireless adapter is 5 or 6 years old at this point, and wireless technology had improved a lot since then.
Give me a 25’ relaxed cord and I might be interested.
My retinas are ready !
@SoulChimera What you want is a real life NerveGear (Sword Art Online), but without the threat of dying or injury.
With what is know of the resolution this would mean very small screens and a very limited FOV with current lens tech. They would need to have a massive set of lenses to make this work so I'm not sure this makes any sense at all.
I'm a huuuge fan of PSVR, and I understand the relevance of PPD. PPI may give us clues to the size of the displays, and therefore Its weight and form factor (e.g. if this puts us in Micro-OLED display territory).
But! We know that by the official resolution specs, each display will have about 4 times the pixel count of PSVR1. Take the PPI or PSVR1 and compare it to PSVR2, and it's about 4 times more (and will be arguably a bit more due to being 800+), predictably so.
This means then that the actual overall size of the display screens (in centimetres) could be similar to PSVR1 all the same, and not particularly smaller, or lighter, from a form factor point of view. Meaning, it may well NOT have typical, small form factor VR Micro-OLED displays either.
The PPI of PSVR2 tells us nothing new, compared to when we learnt about the resolution of the displays. It a bit of a non-news issue at the moment. Don't know if this makes sense to anyone.
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