Hi-Res Devkit? Stuff Magazine Article

[Diorama]

I was just at Tesco buying some horse-burgers when I walked past the magazine rack and saw the Rift on the front page of Stuff magazine (its a big tech magazine in the UK, have no idea if they publish in other countries too). It wasn't exactly taking up the whole page but there it was, Palmer's Rift on a magazine shelf in Brighton, UK.
They have a good (and very positive) write up on the Rift on their site from december, but this was bigger, a 4 page 'overview' of the whole Rift phenomenon.

I am afraid I forgot my debit card and only had about £2 in change so couldnt get the magazine, and the security guard was not happy about me taking photos of the page! However, see the bottom right:



What do you think? As far as I remember from the article it seemed like they had visited the Oculus offices, could this be a leak or is it more likely to be a mistake/misheard remark?

[STRZ]

Was it the March issue with a girl dressed in pink on the cover?

[Diorama]

Looking back through my blurry photos, its the yellow February edition... which I suppose means this was written just after new year...

[STRZ]

Allright, thx

[Kirito]

one higher res dev kit?? i realy dont understand what they are saying

maybe something they will after after the dev kits now and before the consumers?

[MSat]

Well at the very least, there's certainly some images we haven't seen before.

A dev kit with a resolution similar to the consumer version makes pretty good sense, especially if they can just slap in another panel into the current housing as they become available. If Oculus goes full HD while keeping the same panel size and aspect ratio, that means a res of 1920x1200. If they go 1920x1080, that's an A/R change from 16:10 to 16:9 - not sure if there's sufficient space width-wise to fit.

I know it's highly unlikely, but if the new panel is pretty much a direct replacement, it would be awesome if Oculus offered the new components as a purchasable kit.

I had speculated about this not too long ago, so if this is indeed true, that means only one thing: I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE!

[PasticheDonkey]

i'd fit the width and then increase magnification via lenses a bit on a 16:9 panel. custom lenses that suit their purposes should be easier than custom screens.

[MSat]

i'd fit the width and then increase magnification via lenses a bit on a 16:9 panel. custom lenses that suit their purposes should be easier than custom screens.

Who said a 1920x1200 screen would have to be custom? 16:10 is pretty common among android tablets and their variants, so future full HD 7" models might very well be 1920x1200 rather than 1080.

[Fredz]

Well at the very least, there's certainly some images we haven't seen before.

Yeah, the one showing the printed prototype for the lenses is nice. The 3D printer looks like a Printrbot I'd say.

They also talk about a newer, more advanced game engine that Oculus asked to not identify, I wonder what it could be. In-house engine or support for another AAA game engine ?

Who said a 1920x1200 screen would have to be custom? 16:10 is pretty common among android tablets and their variants, so future full HD 7" models might very well be 1920x1200 rather than 1080.

The rumored LG 7.7" 1920x1200 tablet display could be a good candidate, we'll probably know around mid-march at the Google I/O event if it's only a rumor or a real product.

[MSat]

I believe someone on this forum had mentioned the rumor that surfaced on the net that Google will be following up the Nexus7 with a full HD version. I assume it's going to stay 7", so it's really a matter of whether it'll stay 16:10 or switch to 16:9 (my guess is that it'll be the former).

I don't think it would make much financial sense for Oculus to make significant physical changes to a dev kit planned to sit between the current one and the consumer version. Changing to a higher res panel with the same dimensions currently being used would practically be free, requiring few modifications other than perhaps a new interface board (if that). That is unless they plan on making the future dev kit almost identical to the consumer version.

[bugnguts]

I believe someone on this forum had mentioned the rumor that surfaced on the net that Google will be following up the Nexus7 with a full HD version. I assume it's going to stay 7", so it's really a matter of whether it'll stay 16:10 or switch to 16:9 (my guess is that it'll be the former).

Yea, I have seen mention of the new Nexus 7 with 1920x1080 slated for May or June in a few websites including Tomshardware. I also ran across one article that rumors had surfaced aoubt the new Ipad mini having a resolution of the Ipad's retina screen 2048x1536x. I'll try to find the article.

The dpi of such screen is borderline silly, but for the Oculus this makes more since. With Samsung and Apple in a mine(pixels) are smaller contest I hoping a 1920 by xxxx screen with very quick response time and fast refresh rate will be cheap enough to keep Rift's price down.

Poking around old threads I believe Carmak suggested a wider aspect ration > 16:9. Perhaps a ratio like LG's 29EA93 monitor at 2560X1080 or a 21:9 aspect ratio would better fit. I would not expect to see this ratio on 1st gen consumer Rifts, but if Oculus makes enough sales, they could bid out specs they would like to see with the next go around.

[Direlight]

Poking around old threads I believe Carmak suggested a wider aspect ration > 16:9. Perhaps a ratio like LG's 29EA93 monitor at 2560X1080 or a 21:9 aspect ratio would better fit. I would not expect to see this ratio on 1st gen consumer Rifts, but if Oculus makes enough sales, they could bid out specs they would like to see with the next go around.

This is the way to go. First gen Rift probably will be 1080p. It should sell good enough for them to fund a 2nd gen which would be roughly 21:9 custom screen, 120+ FoV, widescreen and HD for each eye. That will be a huge achievement. Any rift supported game would probably need some patching and have an option for each Rift type.

2nd gen Rift might be more popular then current 3d displays.

[Zoide]

This has been posted before, but it's a really good blog post by Michael Abrash about resolutions and HMDs:
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/w ... -relative/

[jaybug]

The width of the screen has diminishing returns as long as the screen is flat.

I believe a curved display is the future for VR headsets.

[PasticheDonkey]

This has been posted before, but it's a really good blog post by Michael Abrash about resolutions and HMDs:
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/w ... -relative/

shame this doesn't take into account the lens properties of the rift.

[jaybug]

This has been posted before, but it's a really good blog post by Michael Abrash about resolutions and HMDs:
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/w ... -relative/

shame this doesn't take into account the lens properties of the rift.

The lens properties are barely significant to the topic.

[Diorama]

This has been posted before, but it's a really good blog post by Michael Abrash about resolutions and HMDs:
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/w ... -relative/

shame this doesn't take into account the lens properties of the rift.

The lens properties are barely significant to the topic.

He mentions it in the comments I believe after being challenged on it (I am assuming here that PasticheDonkey is referring to the fact that the LEEP style Rift lenses concentrate pixel density in the centre of the image - much like the Retina of the eye. This means that while the average resolution is the same, the effective resolution in the centre of your view is noticably higher).

Abrash said: "The trick is – how are you going to keep the high-pixel-density part of the image focused on the fovea as the eye moves?"

So I suppose his issue is that looking left and right with your eyes means you focus on the lower pixel density areas.

[Valez]

But you rarely move your eyes to focus on something for a longer period of time, as was discussed earlier.
That being said, it's nice to have a bit extra ppi through the optics, but I doubt it will noticeable reduce the needed pixel density for
a perfect experience.

[PasticheDonkey]

well if an eye only has around 8k by 8k receptors then distributing pixels effectively (where it has more) will be better than looking at an 8k screen that goes beyond the arcs seconds you can see to the periphery. so it effectively gives you the same perceived res at a higher fov.

i also believe the detailed area on the rift is large enough to have eye turning before it drops below 11 pixels per arc minute.

[MSat]

@Diorama

Did you manage to read the whole article? I'm wondering what other goodies may have been in there.

[Diorama]

I did read it but I'm afraid I don't remember any juicy bits of information - the real thrill was seeing the Oculus spread over 4 pages of glossy paper, they had some wonderful photos.

[bugnguts]

Here is a link to a cNet article that covers what Apple is expected to release. Note it is believed the iPad mini will get the same retina screen as its big brother.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57564 ... lyst-says/

[KBK]

Which brings one to a clear understanding that it is a case of scaling the retina or the given lcd panel, the technology or ppi remains the same.

And when Oculus is considered a big enough customer they can say, 'scale us this, please'.

[rmcclelland]

FYI, Palmer has hinted about an upgraded Dev Kit before (somewhere in these forums even). I think a higher res Dev Kit with basic position tracking is a very good possibility.

Bring it on.

[SartreFan]

Even if it was another $150-$200 add-on I think I would definitely go for that upgrade, especially if it added positional tracking