14 ms·

I'm not sure what the field of view is with this, but I've experimented with that with a valve index and the biggest downside is that virtual screens end up qui

I'm not sure what the field of view is with this, but I've experimented with that with a valve index and the biggest downside is that virtual screens end up quite low resolution, to the point that to have legible text they need to take up most of your field of view (to the point that in the same visible area where you could have four physical monitors, you'd need to have a single virtual monitor that's scaled up so you can read text on it). The other thing to consider in terms of portability is that these have very high resolution displays (they just don't necessarily look high resolution because they take up such a large fraction of your field of view), and also need to be run at 100+ hz to minimize motion sickness. While this is easily doable with gaming graphics cards, many development-focused laptops don't have the GPU horsepower necessary to handle it. Finally, it looks like this is using SteamVR headset tracking. This is an outside-in tracking system that relies on a pair of external tracking beacons that the headset needs to have line of sight to, to figure out its position and orientation. If these are moved, their position needs to be recalibrated. So it's also less ideal for portability in that you need to set up and run power to two other external devices and have somewhere to mount them while using the headset.

mojomark 4y ago
It's not FOV that's needed for virtual monitors displaying readable text in VR, it's resolution. Not the flat panel resolution either... the only resolution that matters for VR and AR displays is Pixels Per Degree (PPD). This is because unlike a real monitor or TV, you can't back away from the monitor to increase the PPD. For VR and AR displays, the eye relief is constant, thus the PPD is fixed. You need >35 PPD to read legible text on a displays. 62PPD is the maximum resolution of the typical human eye. So, if you can get the company to advertise their PPD (doubtful, but some display providers do and are truthful), then you can answer your question.
- mojomark 4y ago
  They actually advertise 28PPD on their site. That's actually not too bad, but still not very good for reading text on a virtual monitor. Note that that 35PPD spec comes from the equivalent PPD when viewing 12pt font on a physical standard 1280p 14" display monitor at a seated distance (eye relief) of 20" from the monitor. So, there's some subjectivity in that value. I guess if you're used to working in, say, 38pt font or so, the this 28PPD might be ok? (I didn't do the math)
- sudhirj 4y ago
  What's the PPD required for a "Retina" display (one at which individual pixels are no longer distinguishable)? Is that 62 or some other value?
  - mojomark 4y ago
    The Googles told me 60PPD (1): "If there is any single number that people point to for resolution, it is the 1 arcminute value that Apple uses to indicate a “Retina Display”. This number corresponds to around 300 PPI for a display that is at 10-12 inches from the eye. In other words, this is about 60 pixels per degree (PPD)." 1.) https://www.anandtech.com/show/7743/the-pixel-density-race-and-its-technical-merits https://www.anandtech.com/show/7743/the-pixel-density-race-a...
fragmede 4y ago
With USB 3 and/or Thunderbolt 4 exposing the pci bus to make external GPUs a possibility, if there is a larger base station I have to attach my laptop to, in order to use my VR headset for the initial generations, so be it. The idea of having a screen(s) as tall and wide as I'm willing to move my head is quite alluring. Virtual desktops ain't got nothing on that!

mojomark 4y ago

It's not FOV that's needed for virtual monitors displaying readable text in VR, it's resolution. Not the flat panel resolution either... the only resolution that matters for VR and AR displays is Pixels Per Degree (PPD). This is because unlike a real monitor or TV, you can't back away from the monitor to increase the PPD. For VR and AR displays, the eye relief is constant, thus the PPD is fixed. You need >35 PPD to read legible text on a displays. 62PPD is the maximum resolution of the typical human eye. So, if you can get the company to advertise their PPD (doubtful, but some display providers do and are truthful), then you can answer your question.

mojomark 4y ago
They actually advertise 28PPD on their site. That's actually not too bad, but still not very good for reading text on a virtual monitor. Note that that 35PPD spec comes from the equivalent PPD when viewing 12pt font on a physical standard 1280p 14" display monitor at a seated distance (eye relief) of 20" from the monitor. So, there's some subjectivity in that value. I guess if you're used to working in, say, 38pt font or so, the this 28PPD might be ok? (I didn't do the math)
sudhirj 4y ago
What's the PPD required for a "Retina" display (one at which individual pixels are no longer distinguishable)? Is that 62 or some other value?
- mojomark 4y ago
  The Googles told me 60PPD (1): "If there is any single number that people point to for resolution, it is the 1 arcminute value that Apple uses to indicate a “Retina Display”. This number corresponds to around 300 PPI for a display that is at 10-12 inches from the eye. In other words, this is about 60 pixels per degree (PPD)." 1.) https://www.anandtech.com/show/7743/the-pixel-density-race-and-its-technical-merits https://www.anandtech.com/show/7743/the-pixel-density-race-a...

fragmede 4y ago

With USB 3 and/or Thunderbolt 4 exposing the pci bus to make external GPUs a possibility, if there is a larger base station I have to attach my laptop to, in order to use my VR headset for the initial generations, so be it. The idea of having a screen(s) as tall and wide as I'm willing to move my head is quite alluring. Virtual desktops ain't got nothing on that!