HP Reverb G2 (2 Viewers)

[MelBonkers]

Btw, I received my G2 two days ago. Was too busy with working and playing some games that I didn't report back
I'm running SteamVR on 100% in RF2 and I'm running 90 fps at Nola practise server with 10 cars + on track.
The G2's clarity is just something. FOV is not as good as the Index', but I'm gonna try some mods for that later. But damn do games look fantastic in this headset. I don't bother if I go from 90 to 45, as long as the gameplay is fluent and damn it is. Funny thing is I don't have the "warping" image around edges (for instance mirrors, antenna's) while racing. Everything is so bloody clear, amazing. VR detail = monitor detail.

I tried RF2 (freaking amazing! was watching at my team mates Corvette #270 during practise yesterday as the image was just so damn sharp), ACC (looking so good), Aircar (brilliant), Star Wars Squadrons (this looks and plays sweet!) and Automobilista 2. The later just shows how superior the Madness Engine of pcars/pcars2 is. The game is SOOOO sharp, it's unbelieable. I took the F1 Gen2 V10 (Williams FW14/B) around Adelaide for two laps. After two laps I looked at my steering wheel and the image was SOOO detailed and sharp, I just kept on going and driving.

Oh......and you HAVE to do Apollo 11 VR. Had this experience with the Rift CV1, the Index and now with the G2. The G2 just blows away what I saw earlier with my previous headsets in this experience. With the launching sequence I could just read almost all instruments. Even instruments that were next to me instead of in front of me. This was just.............try it for yourself.

And as I said: no "warping" image around edges for me in the G2. Had this on the CV1 and with the Index.

So everything honky dory? Well, the FOV could definitely be better, you can still see some god rays in certain scenes, although FAR less then with my CV1 and Index for sure. I don't use the controllers as I will setup my Knuckle Controllers to work with the G2, hopefully this holidays. The comfort of the Index is a bit better, especially as you can do the final micro adjustments with the knob on the back of the headset. The sweetspot is good enough for me as I don't use my eyes to look around while holding my headset on, I move my head (a lot of vr noobes use their eyes and complain about the small sweet spot, not knowing that you have to move your head as the G2 doesn't have eye tracking). Sure it could've helped if the sweet spot was a bit larger, but for me no issue. One thing you need to invest some time in is adjusting the G2 until you find the perfect fit.

But DAMN this G2 is delivering an amazing VR experience for me.

Now my next goal: is FINALLY planning on the PC upgrade for early next year :-D

 

[Jeff[NL]]

I have my G2 for a week now. I come from a Rift CV1 and my first impression was holy shit thats sharp and clear ! Second was oh wait a minute is this the max Fov ? Then what is that blurry going on when i move my eyes ?

Anyway after some tinkering what is needed when still using a 1080Ti because of GPU shortage and absurt prices i must say its really a good headset. The floating speakers are better and more comfort then ones touching the ears also comfort in general i found a lot better then the CV1 which i was changing all the time at longer races to keep it comfortable.

Noticed while unboxing already that the headset itself was more balanced and maybe bit less weight but then the cable got on and it was like hmm its pulling the headset down a bit cause of the material and weight , removed the cable clip also and used simple tape to strap the cable more close to the left earspeaker way better in simracing.

Still got to get used to WMR software but it works very good so far.
Did a Nordschleife practice yesterday in iRacing and going through the forest up and down with such good image made me smile and some goosebumps.

Tried @Exited his settings in ACC and tried some other myself but unfortunately for me its undriveable with low fps and not to good image.
A smooth image in VR is so important to keep consitancy for me it seems that i am a bit sensitive to that so for now ACC not an option.

About the sweetspot.... in my CV1 there wasnt any almost it was the same though whole the lenses i could move my eyes in every corner and the image was the same as in the middle. This isnt the case in the G2 but it seems that with a better GPU the more resolution you can push the bigger the sweetspot will be.
Also getting the lenses as close as possible will make it bigger. I dont consider myself as a VR noob but when u use a CV1 moving your head didnt gave me any benefits so i keep my head straight and glance left or right down to timings etc cant look far away also with such a bad image so no benefit there also. Now with the G2 i notice i do it more natural/automatic because i see more clear and much better.

Overall i would say yes its a big improvement fro me as a CV1 user . Maybe when u already used to a Index or G1 or similar quality headset the difference is pretty small.

 

[Havocc]

Does G2 have that function that lowers res at edges while keeping it higher at the center?

 

[Jeff[NL]]

Does G2 have that function that lowers res at edges while keeping it higher at the center?

Sort of... but i must say the more u use it and get used to it its not that much of a deal in simracing. I just had the habbit to just move my eyes in the CV1 ( see explanation in my little review) The image is really good.

 

[MelBonkers]

Does G2 have that function that lowers res at edges while keeping it higher at the center?

Foveted rendering is something not specifically from the HMD, but from the software if I'm correct. The VIVE Pro has eye tracking icw foveted rendering if I'm correct.

 

[Jeff[NL]]

btw anyone know a way to stabalize the tracking a bit ? I notice it is more sensitive then the Rift causing the image to shake sometimes bit to much in corners...the ffb comes through my arms shaking my body bit incl my head

 

[Exited]

Does G2 have that function that lowers res at edges while keeping it higher at the center?

That would be VRSS functionality from nvidia. Works from the graphics driver with any standard foward rendering MSAA graphics engine, you only need to enable it. The graphics driver then does super sampling in the middle of the picture, while the size of "the middle" of the picture is adjusted dynamically depending on the GPU headroom

btw anyone know a way to stabalize the tracking a bit ? I notice it is more sensitive then the Rift causing the image to shake sometimes bit to much in corners...the ffb comes through my arms shaking my body bit incl my head

Isn't that even a feature?
In reality your view would also shake if the forces makes you head move

 

[Puffpirat]

That would be VRSS functionality from nvidia. Works from the graphics driver with any standard foward rendering MSAA graphics engine, you only need to enable it. The graphics driver then does super sampling in the middle of the picture, while the size of "the middle" of the picture is adjusted dynamically depending on the GPU headroom

Sadly no racing game supports this feature you can force it through Nvidia inspector but results on ze internet seem mixed.

 

[Exited]

Sadly no racing game supports this feature you can force it through Nvidia inspector but results on ze internet seem mixed.

Shouldn't it work with original AC for example? Foward rendering game with MSAA, the article I read from nvidia wasy that VRSS doesn't need any implementation from game developers. Everything should be done by the driver and the MSAA buffer

 

[Puffpirat]

Shouldn't it work with original AC for example? Foward rendering game with MSAA, the article I read from nvidia wasy that VRSS doesn't need any implementation from game developers. Everything should be done by the driver and the MSAA buffer

Yeah it should work with AC, PC2, AMS2 and iRacing if I’m not mistaken but neither are officially supported :/

You can switch VRSS on in the main driver page but if you go to one of those games profiles it’s greyed out. But you could try forcing it through Nvidia inspector.

It doesn’t need work from devs right, they just need to write Nvidia that their game is capable but that seems to be work xD

 

[Exited]

Yeah it should work with AC, PC2, AMS2 and iRacing if I’m not mistaken but neither are officially supported :/

You can switch VRSS on in the main driver page but if you go to one of those games profiles it’s greyed out. But you could try forcing it through Nvidia inspector.

It doesn’t need work from devs right, they just need to write Nvidia that their game is capable but that seems to be work xD

Pretty sure nvidia asks for some pennys if you want your game to be integrated by the nvidia driver ;-) probably like usual the biggest issue

 

[Jeff[NL]]

Well that was a short run....my G2 is dead . Looks like a power problem no LED is on anymore even on the adapter. So i called HP they send me a new cable.....Recieved it today and what was in the box was just blowing my mind. They send me a cable from the wall to the adapter.....the only part of the whole headset with the least chance its broken . Contacted again now i get called back this monday by a 'specialist' .... Back to 480p CV1 again uuuurgghhhh

 

[Exited]

Well that was a short run....my G2 is dead . Looks like a power problem no LED is on anymore even on the adapter. So i called HP they send me a new cable.....Recieved it today and what was in the box was just blowing my mind. They send me a cable from the wall to the adapter.....the only part of the whole headset with the least chance its broken . Contacted again now i get called back this monday by a 'specialist' .... Back to 480p CV1 again uuuurgghhhh

My G2 started to have random blackscreens of about 20s
God this HMD makes me crazy... I having also problems with Motion Smoothing, the SW is constantly missing the 45fps and outputs 46 or 47fps with massive tearing and stuttering while CPU sits at 5ms and GPU at around 12ms of frame time... Switched the SteamVR beta, updated to nvidia driver 446.14, nothing helps, grrr...

 

[Jeff[NL]]

My G2 started to have random blackscreens of about 20s
God this HMD makes me crazy... I having also problems with Motion Smoothing, the SW is constantly missing the 45fps and outputs 46 or 47fps with massive tearing and stuttering while CPU sits at 5ms and GPU at around 12ms of frame time... Switched the SteamVR beta, updated to nvidia driver 446.14, nothing helps, grrr...

ohh god 20sec thats alot man....frustrating thing it can be indeed... with my new headset i have had 1 time a blackscreen for a few sec imagine happening in a endurance...doesnt give me convidence....i notice also it can give me a sort of cross eye effect sometimes or like my eyes are lagging or something or the rendering isnt in sync or so feels so weird and off putting when in a race..... i have read also things about openVR dont know if its possible in ACC also.

 

[Selly]

By this massive problems... What for components have you in your computer? @Jeff[NL] and @Exited

 

[Michael]

By this massive problems... What for components have you in your computer? @Jeff[NL] and @Exited

Just look at their signatures

 

[Exited]

Update: Switching the DP-Port on my GFX card did miracles. No blackscreen since then, maybe my 1080 Ti is giving up a bit atm (please not right now ), so fingers crossed for the 24h Kyalami race on the weekend!

 

[Exited]

Update 2:
need to revert the former. Switching DP port made no difference after some more testing and the 24h race on the weekend. Blackscreen everywhere, newest BIOS and chipset driver installed, no improvement, still blackscreens everywhere. PC is also not losing USB or DP connection to thr headset, the WMR preview mirror still shows the picture which should be visible in thr headset while headset is just black. So the picture is lost somewhere between PC and headset...

Opened up a support ticket at HP. I think the cable is broken or even the display connection in the headset.
Funny enough they want you to run a diagnose script which actually just reads every byte of data of your PC (programs and hardware installed, windows version, etc.) and send it to them. Little bit akward tbh.
Also got the impression that their testing is just shit and now they use the early adopters as beta testers to find their mistakes when the users are running into them

 

[Def]

There will always be gremlins with newly released products. I’m sure they will improve over time, for sure it sucks right now. Unlucky

 

[RdMracer]

Update 2:
need to revert the former. Switching DP port made no difference after some more testing and the 24h race on the weekend. Blackscreen everywhere, newest BIOS and chipset driver installed, no improvement, still blackscreens everywhere. PC is also not losing USB or DP connection to thr headset, the WMR preview mirror still shows the picture which should be visible in thr headset while headset is just black. So the picture is lost somewhere between PC and headset...

Opened up a support ticket at HP. I think the cable is broken or even the display connection in the headset.
Funny enough they want you to run a diagnose script which actually just reads every byte of data of your PC (programs and hardware installed, windows version, etc.) and send it to them. Little bit akward tbh.
Also got the impression that their testing is just shit and now they use the early adopters as beta testers to find their mistakes when the users are running into them

Regarding the Béta testing, not completely I imagine. Beta products often have a different production line, so the first batch of release products will have its own problems.