Samsung Odyssey & Odyssey Plus News

I keep reading that Oculus might not do a half measure and just keep trucking along on getting foveated rendering into their next Rift (2.0?)…but that is just reading the comments on Reddit and stuff, so who knows. They have a lot of money in the bank and can probably afford to not rush something out the door. I just hope they still will want to do high end PC headsets if their mobile type stuff starts taking off…

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They said not before 2020 for CV2, and even then the last Michael Abrash’s slides at Oculus Connect 5 indicated a lot of the key advancements they wanted to put in it would be ready for consumer tech in around 2022. To get good foveated rendering you need good eye tracking, and that’s hard.

You’ve also got to consider that Facebook is not about PC VR so much anymore, it’s about VR - and the ‘cross the chasm’ tech for that is mobile stand-alone VR ‘console systems’. The Oculus Quest is their big thing. Mobile, mobile, mobile is the mantra.

giphy

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I’ve been meaning to post a quick review of the RTX 2080ti from a flight simmer’s point of view. But, one thing that is for certain, my display adapter is not the bottleneck now. It can handle anything that the Rift and Odyssey demand of it. When I fly, everything is smooth as a baby’s hunkis, which leaves me craving higher resolution. With the 1080, I am juggling settings to get a good frame rate, but now that that is solved, give us higher res so that we can see bandits at normal distances please.

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I love my Rift, but agreed. I am really keen on more pixels, even if it means I need to Cray-build a PC now rather than wait a couple of years.

Timely info. VR News - #1053 by fearlessfrog

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Store pages are up, looks like this is going to happen sooner than later:

$500, with the old one going down to $350 to clear stock.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/hmd/windows-mixed-reality/hmd-odyssey-windows-mixed-reality-headset-xe800zba-hc1us/

Feature Tour marketing blurb for the Odyssey +

Hmm, not sure that '1.233 PPI ‘user perceived resolution’ claim is entirely honest, but will wait for someone to take a look at a DCS cockpit and see for real.

Interesting though.

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That flashlight feature seems darn handy…

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As someone who picked up a used Odyssey for ~$340 about two weeks ago (thanks Micro-Center!), a tad bummed about the sudden price drop, but such is the life of tech adoption.

That said, IMO the biggest issue with the headset is the limited sweet spot. the SDE isn’t that bad (IMO), but the limited sweet spots thanks to the Fresnel lenses is a killer in flight sims. Would be nice to glance down at my MFDs vs having to move my head down.

To that end, I’d say the Odyssey plus seems like a nice mid-cycle refresh, but not a warranted upgrade.

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Looks like the Odyssey Plus’s are available for purchase direct from Samsung (just for US). Delivery about Nov 6th or so.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/hmd/windows-mixed-reality/hmd-odyssey-windows-mixed-reality-headset-xe800zba-hc1us/

In Canada, the Microsoft Stores will be the retailer ‘soon’, as they have the experience of battling through the snowfields or something.

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Man, I’m tempted to pull the trigger on the Odyssey + even without the verdict being in. I’m going to go sit on my hands and unplug my internet.

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Got to be worth waiting a week till some reviews roll in I think? Unless of course you want to write the ULTIMATE DCS & X-PLANE ODYSSEY PLUS MUDSPIKE REVIEW!!1!!1!

(Man, that started so well and sort of nosedived towards the end there…)

But yeah, worth waiting just a bit longer in-case people start screaming ‘the new panels make everything not a movie really foggy!’ etc.

Yeah. I’ll wait. Thanks for being the voice of reason. :smiley: Now…about that 2080 and i9…

Haha…

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I’m in the same boat as you. I want, but I know I should wait…

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So for those who may be looking for a more modest expenditure and haven’t gotten into the VR space yet, the Odyssey without the plus is on sale in Microsoft’s store for $350.00 which is a great price for that headset.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/samsung-hmd-odyssey-windows-mixed-reality-headset-with-motion-controllers/8w91r774pdkk/9swg?ranMID=24542&ranEAID=je6NUbpObpQ&ranSiteID=je6NUbpObpQ-HXEvXaYALHzFkhrU84pK3Q&epi=je6NUbpObpQ-HXEvXaYALHzFkhrU84pK3Q&irgwc=1&OCID=AID681541_aff_7593_1243925&tduid=(ir__z0fdqj9zzgyionisr2tqv1xse32xkvnbtsgzbvdi00)(7593)(1243925)(je6NUbpObpQ-HXEvXaYALHzFkhrU84pK3Q)()&irclickid=_z0fdqj9zzgyionisr2tqv1xse32xkvnbtsgzbvdi00&activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Sorry @fearlessfrog I didn’t see until just now that you mentioned this in first post. Still the link may help someone.

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I’m gonna have to search around the Charlotte area for where I could demo the +…might have a better chance over at RDU perhaps.

Actually…I think I found one to demo right here in Kings Mountain, NC. It is amazingly close and they’ve invited me to a one person meet up!

Cell phones are an awful instrument for those of us with ITAS… (Impulsive Technolgy Adoption Syndrome)…

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Awesome Chris! I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Odyssey + vs the Rift. This could be your opportunity to convince me to shell out $500. :slight_smile:

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Yeah, you’ve put me in the hole too many times! :joy:

Even if it is only incrementally better, it will be worth it I think because I get such a feeling of wonder and awe with the VR presence. My only real concern is the hand controllers…

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Ditto. Extremely interested in how it compares to a Rift.