Our Samsung Odyssey (+) first impressions, tips, and tricks...

Thought this was interesting. It looks like SteamVR chooses some weird default resolutions for ‘100%’ for the O+. Here’s a comparison:

Odyssey+ (1440x1600 per eye)
100% = 1426x1779
140% = 1687x2105
200% = 2017x2516
250% = 2255x2813

OG Odyssey (1440x1600 per eye)
100% = 1428x1776
140% = 1690x2101
200% = 2019x2512
250% = 2258x2808

Oculus Rift (1080x1200 per eye)
100% = 1344x1600
140% = 1590x1893
200% = 1901x2263
250% = 2125x2530

Vive-Pro (1440x1600 per eye) *
100% = 2016x2240

Vive (1080x1200 per eye) *
100% = 1512x1680

The general consensus from where I saw this on reddit here is that it seems best just to put SteamVR default video resolution to 140% at a minimum for the O+, and then under/over a percentage per game, depending on what sort of card you have and how efficient the game is.

Especially odd when you consider the Vive-Pro has the same native resolution as the O+, but look at what SteamVR sets as a default 100%. Weird.

I wonder how many new O+ users are cranking up an existing title, letting SteamVR do its defaults and actually seeing an undersampled resolution?

Interesting. So if a game doesn’t have its own super sampling setting, and you leave Steam VR at 100%, you would likely be under sampling? If we leave Steam VR in auto would that maybe be better?

Yep, depending if ‘auto’ is on in SteamVR or not, and I’m confused with all the betas etc on what happens now ‘out of the box’. It’s a bit like DCS with a Pixel Density setting of 1.0 undersampling on the O+, people will just think it looks worse but performs ok.

It might be, but I am not sure I trust the auto algorithm to put the base setting based off your hardware correctly. I’ve seen it choose 100%, 140% and 180%, and I might be an over-fiddler but I feel happier with setting the manual Video to 150% or something (for my 1070) and then doing the ‘per Application’ thing to adjust from that, i.e. let them combine to tune it per game.

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Yeah…it is weird how the recommended setting in Steam VR varies from instance to instance. I would have thought it looked at hardware and determined a setting, but since it varies, it must be looking at CPU and GPU overhead in that moment maybe… :thinking: Mine has varied from 160 to near 200 at various times…

I’ve got a suspicion it’s trying to find a floating average, based on previous frames dropped and headroom. I think it would work if you ran The Lab like 10 times in a row, but VR games are just too varied in performance to get that sort of figure right I think.

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5 posts were split to a new topic: OpenVR AdvancedSettings Utility

So odd observation on owning two O+'s in quick succession.

The 2nd one’s headband foam is much softer, to the extent I wonder if they made a manufacturing change or something. The 1st one’s foam started to become softer on use, but this one is uniformly a different type of foam. The unit is new as well.

Odd. Looks like the ski headbands will have to go back in the drawer. :face_with_head_bandage:

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I’ve had my O+ for about a week now and can echo most of the comments. The improved clarity makes it impossible to go back to my Rift, despite being less comfortable.

Unfortunately, I’m having a hell of a time finding the right settings for DCS that don’t result in awful shimmering. I feel like I’ve tried everything, but I’ll briefly state my specs and see if you guys note anything I’ve missed:

i7-6700k (OC’d to 4.6 GHz)
GeForce 1080Ti
32GB DDR-4
Win10x64 Pro on a Samsung 850 SSD
DCS Open Beta on second Samsung 850 SSD

I have SteamVR manually set to 140%. Nvidia graphics settings are all default. Motion smoothing is enabled via config file. In DCS, VR preset except I have MSAA set to 2x, AA to 16x, SSAO to 0 and PD at 1.0.

Any thoughts?

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SAM, I’d lower your SteanVR Video Resolution to 100% and raise your in-game PD to about 1.8 based on your GPU. Try that, then adjust PD for FPS.

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I use these - worth a try? SteamVR set to 100% and use the DCS PD…

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DCS is still a hard reach for VR. I’m enjoying the heck out of it, but I’m still seeing the limitations of VR in a super complex cockpit with really fine details that require some speed and efficiency of use to keep you alive. VR really shines in the civil aviation sims (X-Plane, P3D, Aerofly) and driving sims. I’ve been playing a good bit of DCS the last week with my O+ as I play test the upcoming Enemy Within ver 3.0 and in VR it is still pretty hard to spot ground targets. Even with labels set to be a tiny icon, I find myself rolling in and not quite being able to distinguish what I’m shooting at from the 1 mile range of the gun.

With that said though - I still haven’t mapped a zoom key and I think that will make a big difference. (Can cockpit zoom be mapped to a variable slider like the grey TM Warthog INCR/DECR axis?).

The O+ is definitely better though. I can look to my left in the A-10C and set the radio frequencies without having to lean down, and the MFDs are pretty close. The CDU panel down on the bottom right requires me to lean in, and I’m having problem with the contrast of the lettering on the buttons against the background (I might need to turn the interior instrument lighting on to help).

I’m going to try those same settings (100% Steam VR and then adjust PD in DCS). I was fiddling last night and was at 140% Steam VR and 1.6 and getting OK FPS, but maybe 100% and 1.8 or something might be better).

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Not IME, but that would be extremely helpful if it could. It’s a separate command than what’s found under the Axis category. Back in the early days of DCS VR, there were also POV placement commands. Need to find those and see if they still work. Moving a bit fwd than the default top of body would really help reading DDIs.

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@chipwich @fearlessfrog I’ll give that combination another shot. I have avoided the DCS Shaders Mod because I do a lot of night and NVD flying in DCS, but I might have to just give in.

Do any of the settings in the Nvidia control panel have a big effect on VR? I’ve read forum posts that say they do and posts that say some don’t matter…

@BeachAV8R I have the VR Zoom button mapped to a button on my stick. Before, with the Rift, I had to fly with labels on constantly. I would turn them off once I was in the terminal area or could pick them up on a sensor. With the O+, I hardly need them at all and like the challenge of picking up the targets on a hot inbound run after a good preflight imagery study, especially in the Viggen or Su-25. This is why I can’t go back to the Rift, despite the O+'s shortfalls.

By the way, Il-2 BOX with the O+ is amazing! I used to have to keep labels mapped to a HOTAS button but with the O+, it’s not necessary. The sim just looks great, and the O+ gives just enough clarity (with zoom mapped) to identify targets and differentiate aircraft. I can post my settings if anyone is curious.

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Yep, it’s the big downside of that mod unfortunately. I need to do some experiments to see if some of the original shaders that impact the NVD could be put back in, at least for a partial performance increase.

I believe anything to do with AA and AF are ignored, as the device driver for the display is ignoring them. I have used a couple of tweaks for ‘Power mode: Max Performance’ and the use of ‘VR prerendered frames’ (not at computer, so I think thats the words for them) set to 3’ and it might help. The prerendered frames set higher than 1 might cause an input lag, but overall I think it helps. Those are the only two settings I think do anything for me.

Yes please!

Sorry guys, I’ve asked this before but the answer was vague. There are lots of references in this thread to SteamVR and DCS in combination. Am I right that these two things are entirely unrelated UNLESS you are using the Steam version of DCS?

Asked another way, I have only two VR games purchased through Steam: IronWolf and VTOL. They obviously load Steam when launched. A 3rd game, IL2:New, for whatever reason also launches SteamVR when launched. Otherwise, with the Oculus, I never launch SteamVR and, if SteamVR is on, I turn it off when I stopped playing IL2. Is there some deaper integration between Steam and the Samsung that I’ve somehow missed or is it that the mentions of SteamVR in this thread are by users who own the Steam versions of the sims they are discussing?

Thanks! (“I am not a smart man.”)

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@fearlessfrog can undoubtedly explain this better, but I’ll give it a shot.

There are 3 major APIs for VR equipment and software, Oculus, SteamVR (HTC Vive), and Windows Mixed Reality or WMR (Samsung Odyssey and Microsoft). DCS is developed for two of them, Oculus and SteamVR.

Steam wanted WMR owners to be able to purchase SteamVR titles, so they developed a SteamVR interface for WMR. So to use your WMR (Samsung Odyssey) headset with DCS, you must install Windows Mixed Reality for Steam.

With me so far? Good. You don’t need any Steam titles, just WMR for SteamVR. However, since many of us have Steam titles that use VR (Battle of X), it’s not really much of an inconvenience. When you launch SteamVR and then DCS, the latter will interpret your WMR headset as a SteamVR device.

Just to make things interesting, there is Revive software which allows you to play Oculus titles with the HTC Vive headset. Revive, interprets a Samsung Odyssey as a SteamVR device, allowing SO & SO+ owners to play Oculus titles.

PS: in writing this post I discovered the somewhat irrelevant, but perhaps interesting fact that HTC headsets use Valve developed OpenVR, an API for using SteamVR with Vive headsets. Now my head officially explodes.

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THAT was precisely the hole in my understanding. I’d continue the analogy by expressing my gratitude for having it filled but we know how the snickering class would jump all over it.

Thanks a million, @chipwich!

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I arrived home from a week long trip to find my O+ had been delivered! That resulted in me staying up until 2am of course!

Right now I am seeing a definite pros and cons list… I love the brighter display with almost zero screen door effect. I do find the headset rather bulky and far less comfortable than the Rift. It might break in a bit with some more use though.

I flew the Harrier in DCS on the free flight mission, where the sun was setting. Truly stunning to behold in VR with no screen door effect. I’m going to have to work on the settings a bit more before I am happy with it in X-Plane though.

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Yeah…comfort is the big thing. I should be getting my WidmoVR lenses this week hopefully. And remember, that back strap is supposed to be way low on your head, it sort of acts like a lever…and the forehead strap can be softened a bit with @fearlessfrog’s suggestion of a head/sweat band. It sounds odd…but I grew into mine over the period of two weeks. I will be anxiously awaiting the VR Covers O+ products…as far as I know the original O (OG) stuff does not really work with the O+…

Well, for a start I didn’t have the back ‘strap’ low enough. So fixing that certainly helped.

I had VR Lens Lab lenses in my Rift, and I was able to secure them in the O+ with no problems. They work great.

Performance wise in DCS I’m fairly impressed. One of the things that would bug me with the Rift was the way it struggled in a fly by. The aircraft would ghost as it went by the camera. With the O+ that doesn’t happen at all.

I’m having issues in X-Plane with not being able to move the mouse cursor when in VR (that never was a problem with the Rift). The brighter displays are great though!

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