Oh my thankyou so much mate! I think I'll buy a nice cold beer with your kind donation. I can't wait to share Norway Part 2 on the channel this Sunday. Thanks again 🍻
I got mine at the end of June, coming from the HP Reverb G2, this is the headset I was waiting for. Had some issues with FPS but now running smooth after following PIMAX setup guide. Very happy with this headset, and dang does Elite Dangerous look amazing.
I'm still blown away by the resolution every time I put my 8KX on - as I see it the limiting factor to more emersion is detail in the scenery - better photogrammetry and more detail in the generated stuff. I'm not saying it's currently bad, clearly it's amazing to what it was just a few years ago, but until this gets better for me I can't see much point in more pixel resolution - but there again I've never tried the Crystal!!
I’m upgrading. Hopefully my crystal will arrive soon. Thanks Steve for all your work and for being a voice for the community. Hopefully Pimax takes your advice and continues to improve. Cheers 👍😀
Cheers buddy, it's crazy how busy I've been recently with all this UA-cam stuff. I'm looking forward to a nice break soon. Fingers crossed you receive your Crystal soon 🤞
THX. I am not sure, if I should replace my 8kx vs the Crystal. FOV is the problem. And the upcoming 12k? Will have the FOV, but the neccessary system for this will yet to have been invented. So... your advice is helpful.
I’m in the same situation. I decided to order the crystal. I think the 12K is still a long ways away. I still have eye strain/ ipd issues with my 8KX so I’m looking forward to crystal.
Its funny how many people complain that Crystal has too narrow FOV and its not stream tracked and has battery. Basically they are saying its not 8KX, but at the same time they want magically increase the 8KX:s PPD to the same as what Crystal has.
I upgraded from 8KX, I miss the FOV, but the clarity is incredible, I can actually see my altimeter and adjust the baro setting in the DCS F-18! I think it was worth it and battery life with the included power hub thing is a non-issue. I also got the glass lenses with mine. Overall, not even close to perfect!!!, but probably the best VR experience for flight simmers going right now. If $1500 is in your budget, and you got the system to run it, I would say worth the upgrade.
Steve the battery problem has a work around now. Plug a USB C cable into the right side of the headset then plug that into a USB charger. That's it you never have to take the battery out of that headset again it will stay fully charged. Thanks Voodoode!
I ordered the crystal beginning of May and thanks to your videos I committed to it and it arrives this friday. As much as I love the Pico 4 I'm going to be glued to the crystal with vr-rock lenses🕶 this weekend.
I have the 8KX and I really love wide FOV but lately I've been playing a lot with the Quest Pro and I really love the clarity. How is the FOV of the Crystal compared to the Quest Pro?
Great Video Steve. I will say that I really do love my 8K X but visual clarity has always been number 1 in my book. In fact I owned the G2 and never had any issues at all with the sweet spot and to this day after months of selling my G2 I still think about the visuals accept I couldn't live another day with the discomfort and WMR software.. Once I got the 8K X and almost getting it visually as good as the G2 the G2 was out. I have already got my address confirmed, an email mentioning that I might have to pay GST and duty once my Crystal reaches the Canadian border and another email mentioning the next email will be the tracking number I am so excited for Pimax next headset in my arsenal. I will also probably never use my 8K X again once I get the Crystal up and running but that might be a good thing cause I can probably sell it and put it towards the Crystal owing fund to my G/F who was so nice to lend me every cent of the crystal's purchase. Man I am so excited for this headset! On another note Steve I also own a DOF Reality motion rig H3 and was wondering what profile you have set up in Sim Racing Studio and if not someone else's profile can you list yours so I can give it a go in MSFS. Thx.
Interesting you mention the double vision some people experience with the 8kx. I couldn't get a good setting with the 8kx and felt like the ipd was not correct. Is this definitely not an issue in the Crystal?
Wouldn’t a hot swappable battery imply that you wouldn’t have to turn the headset off, lose your place in game to swap out batteries? Seems to me if this is the case then the batteries are not hot swappable.
If you remove something's power source, it's going to switch off no matter what :) So yeah using the term hot-swappable is a little weird. It just has a swappable battery is how I took it (IE not a non removeable battery)
The more videos I watch on your channel the more I appreciate your spot-on title for the channel :D of course besides your great reviews... I really appreciate taking the time to help the VR enthusiasts in the flight sim community to facilitate their decision making process which can be quite hectic 😅 The point that you've made regarding the HMD running on battery even when plugged into a PC is probably one of the main downsides. Another reviewer mentioned that you might be able to use the USB-C port on the front of the headset to charge the batteries on the go, have you tried that? All in all, if Valve disappoints, Pimax might be the winner here vs. Beyond & Aero
@@VRFlightSimGuy I do agree and that's a deal breaker to me (with the weight of course). I hope they fix it in future iterations. I will look forward to your Somnium V1& in-depth BSB revies :D
Yeah that's what I was thinking. I've been sort of "behind" on HMDs lately, having started with the OG, Rift DK1, the most recent HMDs I own are an Index and a Quest 2 and I think both have much smaller FOV compared to this. Or maybe the Index doesn't, not sure TBH but either way should be a massive upgrade.
PLEASE can you try the following, and then re-visit your opinion: set FOV to Normal, and Pimax Render Quality to 1.25. The FOV is still much larger than Crystal, and the quality should improve very noticeably. What do you think?
thank you for the comparison, were you planning to do this video already ? Because it seems tailor-made response to the question I posed in your other video. Either way thank you very much because this impacts me directly as well as my brother both of us are considering upgrading to the 12 K but are now looking at the crystal. I'm actually one of those rare individuals who prefers the VR FOV of the 8KX. My flying is 90% precision formation flying and in that regime turning your head can be fatal. Your eyes are generally locked on spot of the aircraft in front of you in the formation so peripheral vision becomes extremely important in order to maintain formations. When I do opposing solo work field-of-view also plays a big part in spotting the other aircraft in the formation for join ups and crossing maneuvers. Now also as an aircraft developer again field-of-view is important to me . In closing let me also ask how does it compare with X plane 12 ? I noticed that you have not used that simulator in your reviews. that's a big part of the work I do in my simulator interaction and aircraft development. That and DCS.
I'm so glad this video has been timely for you both. I actually made this video close to two months ago, it's just taken me a while to slot it in with the other content I've been doing 😅 Yes I think for your use case, you'd be better off waiting for the 12K QLED for sure. I will revisit X Plane 12 again soon, once they sort out their Open XR integration. Cheers!
Thanks for the video. I don't have any PIMAX products, but if I did have this decision between these 2, I would definitely go for the PIMAX Crystal because of its newer features and operations. I do prefer the inside out tracking for doing SIM racing or flight games - always sitting for these games. We only need the base stations if playing action games where the hand controllers are swinging wildly around and behind our heads and body all the time. Note: But, that is quite an expensive upgrade if you have both of these VR headsets in your possession. I think the PIMAX 8KX was also an expensive VR headset. Anyway, thanks for the video. Take care
Paid for my Crystal this week. Now ordering a new PC for when my Pimax gets here. Looking at a Corsair Vengeance 8100 prebuilt. I must decide between the Intel 13900K or AMD 7950X3D. Anyone have feedback on this AMD chip paired with the Crystal in MSFS? The 7800X3D is not an available option with the Corsair prebuilt.
The 8KX and the Crystal have the exact same number of pixels per eye (8,294,400) so how does the performance comparison hold up? How can the 8KX possibly cause any performance loss over the Crystal just based on resolution? There has to be a different explanation.
A couple of factors here - First is that most people run their 8kx in "normal" FOV instead of "large", because large has only a small perceived difference. The "normal" FOV uses less of the display. Second is that both displays use a large SteamVR resolution and then downsample so you don't lose clarity in the distortion correction, and the Crystal uses a larger SteamVR resolution; presumably because more of the display is in the clear sweet spot, you can perceive the difference more. So; my 8kx in normal FOV has a 100% SteamVR resolution of 3796x3160 or 11,995,360 pixels; the Crystal is reported to have around 4000x5000 at 100% SteamVR slider, or around 20,000,000 pixels.
I agreed and I think that the 8KX cross-eyed and IPD problem are the biggest issue in the headset. And this is the SINGLE BIGGEST reason I am looking forward to upgrading to 12K. The Crystal 102 degree FOV is actually not close to the Pimax 8KX small FOV. The Pimax 8KX small FOV is 120 degree. But the Crystal NEW wide FOV is close to the Pimax 8KX's small FOV w/ about 117 degree FOV. Still, it not compare to the 8KX normal FOV which is 130 degree. It makes a huge difference when you're driving and you can use that as your peripheral vision for a sense of speed. I know, because I play racing game all the time. I play around with the 8KX in small FOV for awhile in driving game and did not like it...at first I thought...it's not bad since it help save resources...but when I switch back to normal FOV of 130 degree, I feel much better because of the sense of speed and because I don't get this tunnel vision. I think with the 12K, we're getting the aspherical lenses in the middle and the Fresnel lenses on the side. I think they're trying to make it work so as not to create distortion like it happened in 8KX. And also how to make both lenses work with the DFR. So, I think with the 12K ....you're getting the Crystal lenses in the middle with the big sweet spot and the then the side will just be Fresnel lenses and might not be as important as far as clarity since it is not the focus of the eyes a majority of the time.
Clarity means nothing compared to field of view when flying, your choice is a scuba mask that is crystal clear or a lower res image with 143 degrees FOV where you feel the earth fall away when you fly over the grand canyon, As a real world pilot, field of view matters way more than clarity.
A real world pilot can actually read the instruments because he or she has passed a vision test to get their license. Try being a real world pilot with like 20/80 vision.
Thanks for making this video. I have an 8kx, I mainly play sims and I am very happy with it. Here is my question: I think both headsets are similar in total pixel count when comparing the large FoV of the 8kx with the Crystal native resolution. I have a rtx 3090 an cannot run il2 sturmovik on high setting at constant 75 FPS. However, when I use the normal FoV it looks quite Smooth. So when using the Crystal in the same scenario I would imagine I would have to put the resolution down to 50% and the graphics to normal or lower to get smooth 75 or 90 FPS....is that a correct assumption? The question for me is- is the upgrade worth it? At the moment my conclusion is- no, not without flawless DFR implemented at the driver level allowing full native Crystal resolution at smooth 90 fps at least.
Hello Steve. If I'm not mistaken, I know you received your Crystal for free from Pimax but you might be able to help me still please. I want to bite the bullet on this expensive headset but what's holding me back is at the checkout page, Pimax is applying a 20% VAT charge. But from my own experience of buying/importing things from outside the UK that have VAT owed to the government, I pay it via the courier (who sends me an email invoice to complete the 20% tax) before final delivery (or else it doesn't get delivered). I'm worried that I'm going to end up paying twice for VAT. Does this seem right? I'm in a bit of a rush to get this sorted so I don't miss out on the DMAS offer. Many thanks in advance!
Firstly, I do not consider that I got the headset for free, if you see how much content I've already made, it's crazy hard work. But I know you didn't mean it that way so it's ok 😅 I terms of import tax, I really don't know sorry. Best to ask Pimax support. Damn Brexit. I never voted for this mess 🤦
@@VRFlightSimGuy you’re right! You’ve more than paid for it actually with the amount of content and eyeballs you’ve generated (most appreciated for it all by the way…super helpful!). Will try to contact Pimax again but they’ve seemingly dropped off the radar in live chat the last couple of days and the clocks ticking. I really don’t want anything less than the DMAS with it. Thanks again all the same Steve!
I sell stuff on Etsy and when I have a purchase from a VAT country, Etsy collects the VAT and then I put certain info in when I ship it so that the VAT isn't charged again during shipping. Presumably it is the same here. Pimax charges the VAT and then submits the paperwork for it so you dont' have to pay it again (unless somsone screws up which happens sometimes)
Hi there, Steve. I just got a mail from Pimax today, confirming that my Crystal is ready to be shipped. And with Fedex' unparalleled speed I'm very hopeful that I will get it yesterday. Take care!
But why couldn't they make the same FOV with the Crystal along with the picture quality improvement? So, I'm disappointed, as I was expecting Pimax, -as the worldwide winner in this field IMO-, they should have been able to make such a headset. But I suppose that's gonna be the 12k QLED, right?
How could they do that? Both headset have ~8Mp panels, one has higher FOV so lower PPD and other has narrower FOV and higher PPD. Its exactly the 12k that can do both, as that's how insanely high resolution you need to do that. That thing apparently has 16Mp resolution per eye.
Had my Crystal two weeks and it has stopped connecting to my PC. Not happy. Try to raise a ticket and you have to fill out a form with about 15 questions. Just have to wait now.
If it was just a simple as that, every HMD would have grat PPD and High FOV, but they don't. I"m not sure of the physics behind it but it seems pretty universal that you often have to have one side suffer for improvement in the other.
@@JohnVanderbeck "just as simple as.." you mean? No, nobody said that. Though @Nobody-Nowhere :D did point out the correct answer with some easy to understand facts up here in the comments.
Once we all have the Pimax Crystal someone must ship a balancing kit like battery weight but with power supply hook up so you can fly non stop without any battery. A big business opportunity if you ask me that Pimax could bring. They should (hope they read this) :-) Great video as always.
They cant do that as the XR2 requires a battery.. but what they could do, is a wired battery like the Vision Pro has. Just a higher capacity wired battery with a dummy adapter battery that would just have the connector for it.
The first headset I don't need to put my vrbalance counterweight on. It is perfectly balanced but all weight goes right on top center so I recommend a comfort strap to redistribute the weight over a larger area. But no pressure on face or forehead.
Crystal is like switching back to reality where a large FOV can't have great clarity with current tech we have, lenses + GPU performance + Foveated rendering tech are not to the level for something like 12K to come out yet....
The visuals on the crystal are phenomenal no doubt. The tracking however is absolutely abysmal, be warned if your buying this for anything other than sims you will be in for a massive disappointment. The tracking may improve with time but as of now be warned!
@@gogsie59 I've had the crystal for almost a month now. The FOV is bigger than Quest 2 and smaller than Index I would put it between potato and small FOV of the other Pimax headsets. The headset it feels most similar to in that respect is the PSVR2.
I'm not a fan of inside out tracking, period. I still decided to order this though because they are going to be making a lighthouse faceplate so EVENTUALLY I will be able to use it with my Lightouses and get outside in. Until then my use is 99% DCS and MSFS so I can make it work.
What a stupid comment. They are both totally different headsets. So my conclusion relates to this and what people may (or may not) expect, given the wide field of view.
In order to do this comparison video, I had to revisit my 8KX. To my surprise, I've actually forgotten how great it is, that wide FOV is spectacular!
Great video, Steve! Thanks a lot for your dedication and incredible enthusiasm 🙂
Love from Norway ♥♥♥♥♥
Oh my thankyou so much mate! I think I'll buy a nice cold beer with your kind donation. I can't wait to share Norway Part 2 on the channel this Sunday. Thanks again 🍻
I got mine at the end of June, coming from the HP Reverb G2, this is the headset I was waiting for. Had some issues with FPS but now running smooth after following PIMAX setup guide. Very happy with this headset, and dang does Elite Dangerous look amazing.
I'm still blown away by the resolution every time I put my 8KX on - as I see it the limiting factor to more emersion is detail in the scenery - better photogrammetry and more detail in the generated stuff. I'm not saying it's currently bad, clearly it's amazing to what it was just a few years ago, but until this gets better for me I can't see much point in more pixel resolution - but there again I've never tried the Crystal!!
I’m upgrading. Hopefully my crystal will arrive soon. Thanks Steve for all your work and for being a voice for the community. Hopefully Pimax takes your advice and continues to improve. Cheers 👍😀
Cheers buddy, it's crazy how busy I've been recently with all this UA-cam stuff. I'm looking forward to a nice break soon. Fingers crossed you receive your Crystal soon 🤞
THX. I am not sure, if I should replace my 8kx vs the Crystal. FOV is the problem. And the upcoming 12k? Will have the FOV, but the neccessary system for this will yet to have been invented. So... your advice is helpful.
I’m in the same situation. I decided to order the crystal. I think the 12K is still a long ways away. I still have eye strain/ ipd issues with my 8KX so I’m looking forward to crystal.
12k is vapour ware. Years away. Why do you think they made a crystal:)
Its funny how many people complain that Crystal has too narrow FOV and its not stream tracked and has battery. Basically they are saying its not 8KX, but at the same time they want magically increase the 8KX:s PPD to the same as what Crystal has.
Super Steve you nailed it again. I agree with everything as a Crystal, 8KX and G2 owner. Great job as always.
Thanks mate 🙂
I upgraded from 8KX, I miss the FOV, but the clarity is incredible, I can actually see my altimeter and adjust the baro setting in the DCS F-18! I think it was worth it and battery life with the included power hub thing is a non-issue. I also got the glass lenses with mine. Overall, not even close to perfect!!!, but probably the best VR experience for flight simmers going right now. If $1500 is in your budget, and you got the system to run it, I would say worth the upgrade.
Excellent video and thanks for the info and your thoughts .
Love the tail number lol
My pleasure and well spotted! You were the only one :)
Steve the battery problem has a work around now. Plug a USB C cable into the right side of the headset then plug that into a USB charger. That's it you never have to take the battery out of that headset again it will stay fully charged. Thanks Voodoode!
Thanks for this! Looking forward to trying it when I get mine as this battery issue was definitely my biggest worry.
another great video. Watched it on my Pimax Crystal, using virtual desktop!
Wow that's frigging cool! Thankyou for your comment, it means a lot.
LOL NOICE!......How are you liking your Crystal?
@@GT1GT LOVING IT! Never been more positive about a purchase. So many great stuff just around the corner, like the DFR with eye tracking.
Have you tried swapping the batteries in DCS... a game that won't let you come out of VR without shutting it down
Yeah that would crash the sim at a guess! I'll have to try it 👍
I ordered the crystal beginning of May and thanks to your videos I committed to it and it arrives this friday. As much as I love the Pico 4 I'm going to be glued to the crystal with vr-rock lenses🕶 this weekend.
So it took like 2 months to get it? Wonder if that's still about the wait period now. Just ordered mine.
@@JohnVanderbeck Just double checked, It was April so 3 months.
@@chrishanscomb8456 ouch. Guess I'll be waiting a while :(
Thanks for your review and thoughts Steve and future Steve, much appreciated. Am still swaying towards Aero for G2 upgrade at this point :)
Cheers mate. Aero is a solid choice
I have the 8KX and I really love wide FOV but lately I've been playing a lot with the Quest Pro and I really love the clarity.
How is the FOV of the Crystal compared to the Quest Pro?
The crystals fov should be bigger
I hope so, but on paper the Pro has 106 and the Crystal has 103 horizontal, vertical it should be bigger
Really informative, considering an upgrade to my G2 so helps with making the right choice.. also love the word "Faffage" 😂
Cheers Alex 😁
Since using the USB-hup provided by Pimax, I have no noticeable battery drain any more.
same with me.
Great Video Steve. I will say that I really do love my 8K X but visual clarity has always been number 1 in my book. In fact I owned the G2 and never had any issues at all with the sweet spot and to this day after months of selling my G2 I still think about the visuals accept I couldn't live another day with the discomfort and WMR software.. Once I got the 8K X and almost getting it visually as good as the G2 the G2 was out. I have already got my address confirmed, an email mentioning that I might have to pay GST and duty once my Crystal reaches the Canadian border and another email mentioning the next email will be the tracking number I am so excited for Pimax next headset in my arsenal. I will also probably never use my 8K X again once I get the Crystal up and running but that might be a good thing cause I can probably sell it and put it towards the Crystal owing fund to my G/F who was so nice to lend me every cent of the crystal's purchase. Man I am so excited for this headset!
On another note Steve I also own a DOF Reality motion rig H3 and was wondering what profile you have set up in Sim Racing Studio and if not someone else's profile can you list yours so I can give it a go in MSFS. Thx.
Hopefully Canadian Customs doesn't ding you too bad. Mine was $138, which was less than I expected.
@@TheHog107 $138 Canadian? Well if so then that's not to bad.
Interesting you mention the double vision some people experience with the 8kx. I couldn't get a good setting with the 8kx and felt like the ipd was not correct. Is this definitely not an issue in the Crystal?
Wouldn’t a hot swappable battery imply that you wouldn’t have to turn the headset off, lose your place in game to swap out batteries? Seems to me if this is the case then the batteries are not hot swappable.
If you remove something's power source, it's going to switch off no matter what :) So yeah using the term hot-swappable is a little weird. It just has a swappable battery is how I took it (IE not a non removeable battery)
The more videos I watch on your channel the more I appreciate your spot-on title for the channel :D of course besides your great reviews... I really appreciate taking the time to help the VR enthusiasts in the flight sim community to facilitate their decision making process which can be quite hectic 😅
The point that you've made regarding the HMD running on battery even when plugged into a PC is probably one of the main downsides. Another reviewer mentioned that you might be able to use the USB-C port on the front of the headset to charge the batteries on the go, have you tried that?
All in all, if Valve disappoints, Pimax might be the winner here vs. Beyond & Aero
What a wonderful comment, thank you so much, that means a lot. I may try this in the future, but it's not an ideal solution.
@@VRFlightSimGuy I do agree and that's a deal breaker to me (with the weight of course). I hope they fix it in future iterations. I will look forward to your Somnium V1& in-depth BSB revies :D
Well I just made a late night binge purchase of a Crystal and a Yaw2 setup. I blame you.
Woah niiice!!
Great video Steve, don't think the FOV will be an issue for me coming from a Quest 2
Yeah that's what I was thinking. I've been sort of "behind" on HMDs lately, having started with the OG, Rift DK1, the most recent HMDs I own are an Index and a Quest 2 and I think both have much smaller FOV compared to this. Or maybe the Index doesn't, not sure TBH but either way should be a massive upgrade.
PLEASE can you try the following, and then re-visit your opinion: set FOV to Normal, and Pimax Render Quality to 1.25. The FOV is still much larger than Crystal, and the quality should improve very noticeably. What do you think?
I have an 8kx and an Aero, and steering the 8kx to 1.25 still isn't as clear as the Aero or Crystal. Also even with a 4090.
I was wondering what the performance between two is like? Like how is the performance in DCS, one against the other.
Huge performance increase with the Crystal due to Foverated Rendering.. Check out my video 👍
thank you for the comparison, were you planning to do this video already ? Because it seems tailor-made response to the question I posed in your other video. Either way thank you very much because this impacts me directly as well as my brother both of us are considering upgrading to the 12 K but are now looking at the crystal. I'm actually one of those rare individuals who prefers the VR FOV of the 8KX. My flying is 90% precision formation flying and in that regime turning your head can be fatal. Your eyes are generally locked on spot of the aircraft in front of you in the formation so peripheral vision becomes extremely important in order to maintain formations. When I do opposing solo work field-of-view also plays a big part in spotting the other aircraft in the formation for join ups and crossing maneuvers. Now also as an aircraft developer again field-of-view is important to me . In closing let me also ask how does it compare with X plane 12 ? I noticed that you have not used that simulator in your reviews. that's a big part of the work I do in my simulator interaction and aircraft development. That and DCS.
I'm so glad this video has been timely for you both. I actually made this video close to two months ago, it's just taken me a while to slot it in with the other content I've been doing 😅 Yes I think for your use case, you'd be better off waiting for the 12K QLED for sure. I will revisit X Plane 12 again soon, once they sort out their Open XR integration. Cheers!
One day, I'll join you in this VR clarity Steve ;)
I hope so buddy, you'd be blown away. I hope you are well 😊
Thanks for the video. I don't have any PIMAX products, but if I did have this decision between these 2, I would definitely go for the PIMAX Crystal because of its newer features and operations.
I do prefer the inside out tracking for doing SIM racing or flight games - always sitting for these games. We only need the base stations if playing action games where the hand controllers are swinging wildly around and behind our heads and body all the time.
Note: But, that is quite an expensive upgrade if you have both of these VR headsets in your possession. I think the PIMAX 8KX was also an expensive VR headset.
Anyway, thanks for the video. Take care
Paid for my Crystal this week. Now ordering a new PC for when my Pimax gets here. Looking at a Corsair Vengeance 8100 prebuilt. I must decide between the Intel 13900K or AMD 7950X3D. Anyone have feedback on this AMD chip paired with the Crystal in MSFS? The 7800X3D is not an available option with the Corsair prebuilt.
Intel is the go to for vr comparability
Human FOV is between 135 to 170 degress
Human FOV is somewhere around 210 (I think)!
@@VRFlightSimGuy yes sorry I meant per eye lol
@@OverkillSimulations ohhhhh 😅
I'm curious why you never use the TDS GTNXi when you fly their compatible aircraft such as the 310R. You do own it right?
I actually do use the GTN 750 often, but the free version which suits my needs just fine 👍
Just curios about the horizon, is it really tilted or is that an effect of recording?
The 8KX and the Crystal have the exact same number of pixels per eye (8,294,400) so how does the performance comparison hold up? How can the 8KX possibly cause any performance loss over the Crystal just based on resolution? There has to be a different explanation.
A couple of factors here - First is that most people run their 8kx in "normal" FOV instead of "large", because large has only a small perceived difference. The "normal" FOV uses less of the display. Second is that both displays use a large SteamVR resolution and then downsample so you don't lose clarity in the distortion correction, and the Crystal uses a larger SteamVR resolution; presumably because more of the display is in the clear sweet spot, you can perceive the difference more. So; my 8kx in normal FOV has a 100% SteamVR resolution of 3796x3160 or 11,995,360 pixels; the Crystal is reported to have around 4000x5000 at 100% SteamVR slider, or around 20,000,000 pixels.
I agreed and I think that the 8KX cross-eyed and IPD problem are the biggest issue in the headset. And this is the SINGLE BIGGEST reason I am looking forward to upgrading to 12K. The Crystal 102 degree FOV is actually not close to the Pimax 8KX small FOV. The Pimax 8KX small FOV is 120 degree. But the Crystal NEW wide FOV is close to the Pimax 8KX's small FOV w/ about 117 degree FOV. Still, it not compare to the 8KX normal FOV which is 130 degree. It makes a huge difference when you're driving and you can use that as your peripheral vision for a sense of speed. I know, because I play racing game all the time. I play around with the 8KX in small FOV for awhile in driving game and did not like it...at first I thought...it's not bad since it help save resources...but when I switch back to normal FOV of 130 degree, I feel much better because of the sense of speed and because I don't get this tunnel vision.
I think with the 12K, we're getting the aspherical lenses in the middle and the Fresnel lenses on the side. I think they're trying to make it work so as not to create distortion like it happened in 8KX. And also how to make both lenses work with the DFR. So, I think with the 12K ....you're getting the Crystal lenses in the middle with the big sweet spot and the then the side will just be Fresnel lenses and might not be as important as far as clarity since it is not the focus of the eyes a majority of the time.
Aaand since 12k will be only after we get DP 2.1 which is no idea when that means... 8kx or crystal is the best lol?
Great video, as a former 8KX owner, I can sign everything you say!
Cheers Tas. I hope you are well
Clarity means nothing compared to field of view when flying, your choice is a scuba mask that is crystal clear or a lower res image with 143 degrees FOV where you feel the earth fall away when you fly over the grand canyon, As a real world pilot, field of view matters way more than clarity.
When can agree to disagree on that ;)
A real world pilot can actually read the instruments because he or she has passed a vision test to get their license. Try being a real world pilot with like 20/80 vision.
Thanks for making this video. I have an 8kx, I mainly play sims and I am very happy with it. Here is my question: I think both headsets are similar in total pixel count when comparing the large FoV of the 8kx with the Crystal native resolution. I have a rtx 3090 an cannot run il2 sturmovik on high setting at constant 75 FPS. However, when I use the normal FoV it looks quite Smooth. So when using the Crystal in the same scenario I would imagine I would have to put the resolution down to 50% and the graphics to normal or lower to get smooth 75 or 90 FPS....is that a correct assumption? The question for me is- is the upgrade worth it? At the moment my conclusion is- no, not without flawless DFR implemented at the driver level allowing full native Crystal resolution at smooth 90 fps at least.
Hello Steve. If I'm not mistaken, I know you received your Crystal for free from Pimax but you might be able to help me still please. I want to bite the bullet on this expensive headset but what's holding me back is at the checkout page, Pimax is applying a 20% VAT charge. But from my own experience of buying/importing things from outside the UK that have VAT owed to the government, I pay it via the courier (who sends me an email invoice to complete the 20% tax) before final delivery (or else it doesn't get delivered). I'm worried that I'm going to end up paying twice for VAT. Does this seem right? I'm in a bit of a rush to get this sorted so I don't miss out on the DMAS offer. Many thanks in advance!
Firstly, I do not consider that I got the headset for free, if you see how much content I've already made, it's crazy hard work. But I know you didn't mean it that way so it's ok 😅 I terms of import tax, I really don't know sorry. Best to ask Pimax support. Damn Brexit. I never voted for this mess 🤦
@@VRFlightSimGuy you’re right! You’ve more than paid for it actually with the amount of content and eyeballs you’ve generated (most appreciated for it all by the way…super helpful!). Will try to contact Pimax again but they’ve seemingly dropped off the radar in live chat the last couple of days and the clocks ticking. I really don’t want anything less than the DMAS with it. Thanks again all the same Steve!
@@DrR1pper No worries mate, really sorry I can't be much help on this one :(
I sell stuff on Etsy and when I have a purchase from a VAT country, Etsy collects the VAT and then I put certain info in when I ship it so that the VAT isn't charged again during shipping. Presumably it is the same here. Pimax charges the VAT and then submits the paperwork for it so you dont' have to pay it again (unless somsone screws up which happens sometimes)
Hi there, Steve. I just got a mail from Pimax today, confirming that my Crystal is ready to be shipped. And with Fedex' unparalleled speed I'm very hopeful that I will get it yesterday. Take care!
That's awesome. Keep me updated 🤞
I wanted to wait for 12K and stick with my 8KX, but your video has got me thinking ... ... ...
You should get a Quest Pro as I'm curious of your opinion of it as compared to PIMAX.
Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have one or plan on buying one for a video sorry.
But why couldn't they make the same FOV with the Crystal along with the picture quality improvement? So, I'm disappointed, as I was expecting Pimax, -as the worldwide winner in this field IMO-, they should have been able to make such a headset. But I suppose that's gonna be the 12k QLED, right?
How could they do that? Both headset have ~8Mp panels, one has higher FOV so lower PPD and other has narrower FOV and higher PPD.
Its exactly the 12k that can do both, as that's how insanely high resolution you need to do that. That thing apparently has 16Mp resolution per eye.
Yup that headset is coming out but when they realized this could be released earlier they went with it.
Had my Crystal two weeks and it has stopped connecting to my PC. Not happy. Try to raise a ticket and you have to fill out a form with about 15 questions. Just have to wait now.
If it was just a simple as that, every HMD would have grat PPD and High FOV, but they don't. I"m not sure of the physics behind it but it seems pretty universal that you often have to have one side suffer for improvement in the other.
@@JohnVanderbeck "just as simple as.." you mean? No, nobody said that. Though @Nobody-Nowhere :D
did point out the correct answer with some easy to understand facts up here in the comments.
Once we all have the Pimax Crystal someone must ship a balancing kit like battery weight but with power supply hook up so you can fly non stop without any battery. A big business opportunity if you ask me that Pimax could bring. They should (hope they read this) :-) Great video as always.
They cant do that as the XR2 requires a battery.. but what they could do, is a wired battery like the Vision Pro has. Just a higher capacity wired battery with a dummy adapter battery that would just have the connector for it.
The first headset I don't need to put my vrbalance counterweight on. It is perfectly balanced but all weight goes right on top center so I recommend a comfort strap to redistribute the weight over a larger area.
But no pressure on face or forehead.
My battery has been great. I always tire out before the battery, haven't had to use the spare battery even once. For me 2 - 4 hrs is my limit for VR
After watching this, I think I'm gonna wait for the 12k.
Its a shame...the crystal is out of reach for most pricewise otherwise i'd jump out of my G2 in a heartbeat. Thx for the vid mate, send the 8KX my way
Cheers Tony 😁
Let's goooooo
Crystal is like switching back to reality where a large FOV can't have great clarity with current tech we have, lenses + GPU performance + Foveated rendering tech are not to the level for something like 12K to come out yet....
The visuals on the crystal are phenomenal no doubt. The tracking however is absolutely abysmal, be warned if your buying this for anything other than sims you will be in for a massive disappointment. The tracking may improve with time but as of now be warned!
How long have you had the crystal? and can you give your views on the field of view. Thanks.
@@gogsie59 I've had the crystal for almost a month now. The FOV is bigger than Quest 2 and smaller than Index I would put it between potato and small FOV of the other Pimax headsets. The headset it feels most similar to in that respect is the PSVR2.
I'm not a fan of inside out tracking, period. I still decided to order this though because they are going to be making a lighthouse faceplate so EVENTUALLY I will be able to use it with my Lightouses and get outside in. Until then my use is 99% DCS and MSFS so I can make it work.
8kx resolution and color sucks, period.
Looking forward to the apple vision pro, even if there is no gaming with it.
Shocker! The newest Pimax headset is better than the one that is a few years old now. 😉
What a stupid comment. They are both totally different headsets. So my conclusion relates to this and what people may (or may not) expect, given the wide field of view.
@@VRFlightSimGuy Apologies, I was joking. I forgot to put the wry smile emoji at the end.
@@andyharris3084oh sorry. No worries 👍