Thanks for coming to our booth and thanks for giving me airtime to address your concerns! It was a pleasure talking to you and hope to see you soon with VR1 on your face :)
The pleasure was mine and again I thank you for taking time when you are in the middle of prepping for your Somnium Connect! I know your time is very valuable right now and I appreciate it.
I really liked that you had Arturo on. I liked his enthusiasm and genuine interest furthering VR. Wish them success. Thanks for sharing your insight and thoughts.
Great first impressions video. My guess is (and it really is, just a guess), since the sweet spot on the VR1 is so big, you can wear the headset slightly differently and still be within the eye box. It looks like you are wearing the headset high, with the centre point of your vision more at the bottom region of the lens. There, as you can see from the through the lens footage, is where you can start to see some geometric shifts. Interestingly, when you wore the headset lower down, you did not notice the warping issue, but it felt more uncomfortable. So as always, I think fitment is essential, for both comfort and to ensure you are inside that geometric sweet spot which aspheric lenses are known for. Very interesting video!
Totally agree, what you don't see in the video was me constantly adjusting the headset to try and find that "Sweet Spot". I think if I had more time with it I could get the warping on the bottom of the lens to go away and make it comfortable. I just didn't have enough time to finesse the fit. As for the weird bubble, it felt more like a distortion profile (software) thing to me rather than a bad lens... I say that because I saw it in both eyes instead of just one. I'm still perplexed by what I saw but it was certainly there.
@@GYGOtv I know they have been working on the warping profile for a long time now, and I do find that your feedback shows just how important it is that Somnium are going to make multiple warping profiles available as well as giving the users the ability to adjust the profile themselves - all in their software.
@@DMan-ud6bt If you remember, the Aero had some early issues with their profile too and they got it sorted out over time. I expect the same will happen here.
Great video. I also tried the same headset at FS Expo. Amazing clarity & resolution. I didn’t see any distortion or artefacts, my IPD is quite narrow (60mm) and I was wearing my glasses which fitted quite comfortably in the headset. For me it was distinctly front heavy. Thanks for your time on the DOF stand. You were a star!
Thank you very much for the kind words, means a lot coming from one of the TH-cam Stars in our industry. Yep, it looks like I'm the only one that saw this so I wonder if it was just not adjusted right, a bad software glitch or what... but it was certainly there for me. I know Artur's IPD is like 64 and mine is wide at 69.5... I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Would love to get you on the channel for an interview someday if you are game, and if there is anything I can ever do for you, just ask. Appreciate you stopping by GYGO and watching our stuff.
I am definitely interested in seeing your full discussion with Artur! I have a Classic Edition ordered - a pretty early order number. Thanks for your coverage and honest effort to preset the facts in a fair way!
Thanks DMan, I really try to be fair and honest in everything I do. Looks like a few of you want to see the full interview so I'll look at putting that together for you all.
Ohhh that was you at the DOF Reality Booth, I thought you looked familiar but couldnt recall. You did a great job running the DOF booth! Thanks for being so informative and friendly!
Yep that was me LOL, Thank you for the kind words... I absolutely love the DOF Products and I love the Flight Sim community so it made it easier for sure. Hope you got to take a ride in the H3 while you were there?
@@GYGOtv Yeah I did. I chose the take off in the cessna and on the take off said it was pretty jerky and you said you tried changing the yoke sensitivity and everything lol, but no worries, it was great trying!
What a great video for so many reasons. First, I truly like your honest and always nice and friendly attitude seen in all your clips I've watched so far. Secondly focusing on this clip in particular, allowing Somnium to comment on what you experienced and give "their side of the story", that to me is so respectful and again...honest. These kind of things to me is what sets apart serious content creators like yourself from kids with one single goal, to get as much attention and views as possible. Finally, I really loved to see the passion the guy from Somnium showed and this made me even more inteested in their products. You already said it so well in this clip but this kind of passion and this kind of business is exactly the kind of business I love to sponsor by buying their products. I recently tried out the Pimax Crystal Light where my plan was to replace my Varjo Aero but I only needed over the weekend to learn how that one wasn't for me. Very quickly started experiencing eye strain I never felt in any other headset. So I sent it back. Meaning I'm now back keeping my eyes open for what my next headset will be...maybe the Somnium VR1. Like you said, it's a blessing living at this point in time when we can enjoy all this amazing tech!
Thank you for the kind words and taking the time to watch and comment! I always try to be fair and it is rewarding when people appreciate that, so thank you again. I started this channel not expecting anyone to watch it, and now here we are almost to 5000 Subscribers!!! I'll keep making content like this as long as people still find it valuable... and if I do end up testing the VR1 again, you know I will give it an honest evaluation. Thanks again!
Great video, thank you. As mentioned in the interview, so many face shapes, so many different eyeballs, some perfect, some not so much. In Example, my last eye glass prescription, I started seeing really blurry for distance (I wear progressive glasses), but if I took my glasses off, I could see perfectly for distance. So after a few months, I got my eyes checked and they told me I'm in the early stages of cataracts which reshaped the roundness of my eyes to where it actually fixed my distance vision, in time, I'll need glasses again for distance and eventually, will need eye surgery. Since getting my eyes checked, I've removed ALL my prescription inserts from all my VR HMDs and it's soooooo nice to not have inserts, better FOV, less glare, just wonderful. As with any HMD, fitting it to your head shape and eyes is so very important, higher or lower on the forehead, closer or farther from your eyes, tilting it on your face so your eyes see into the HMD at various angles, maybe even shifting it from side to side on your head (if one eye is closer to the edge of you head than the other). All this can have a HUGE impact as to how clear and in focus any given HMD can be. Too many people are too quick to say they can't do VR but they haven't tried making VR work for them by simply properly adjusting the HMD to suit their face / head shape and eyes.
Glad to hear something good came from your cataracts, enjoy the correction free vr! When the time does come for the surgery, look into corrective lenses on your implants... my mom did that and could read without glasses afterward. If I do end up with a VR1, you can bet I'll be trying everything I can to make it look as good for me as I know it can. Thanks for the comment.
Dude! Fantastic video and impressions! Your Aero and Crystal first impressions were a huge factor for me while learning about both HMDs and figuring out if I wanted to purchase one. Now add the VR1 to that list. I don’t trust too many people out there but your feedback and information is always in depth and something I fully trust. Now VR is very subjective, even when being objective, but knowing your experience is a huge help! Thank you very much for your honesty as most people will just say the exciting “buzzwords” to get views and hype up people. You are very real when it comes to your content and that’s part of the reason you and I get along so well. So cheers to you my friend and great to hear you had an awesome time at the event!
@farmertrueVR How is my favorite Twitch Streamer Doing??? Miss gaming with you buddy... I'll try to jump back on one of these Fridays so we can dispatch some bad guys! Thanks for the comment... it was a great overall headset I just have to see if I can figure out why I was having this unique issue. Thanks for the kind words and as always thanks for watching!
Great video, very interesting learning about the stages of the QC process. I'm wondering if you could try culling the fov by 5%-10% to see if that warping goes away?
That most certainly would help. We had in the past few people who saw some distortions while at 130 FOV and when we measured their FOV and found out that they only can see 120 we dialed it down and it changed the situation completely for them. Unfortunately we did not have to do those things at the venue due to big line of people.
@@artursychov I love having an additional moderator here!!! Thanks for sharing your expertise with my viewers @artursychov... obviously there is a lot I won't be able to answer with my brief use of the headset so your experience is very helpful.
I gather the reason is due to your contact lenses warping the image. That image recreation you showed with the "blob" distorting the image can be caused by contact lenses that have magnification for older folks. They are called "bi-focal" lenses, where they have to correct for Myopia (short-sightedness) whilst correcting for Presbyopia (farsightedness at close range). I have these types of lenses and this can happen when I'm focusing on reading text at really close range.
Hi @fredsas12... are you calling me old? :) Just kidding... great point EXCEPT I was using single vision lenses. I've tried the multi-focal lenses you talk about and hate them... to me they don't work well either way and I just get bad vision up close and at distance. I've also tried both near-vision and far-vision single vision lenses in VR to see which worked, and the far distance correction was the answer. VR Headsets are usually set to a focal distance of about 4 feet if my memory serves correctly. Anyway, great thought but that wasn't it. Appreciate the comment and you watching our stuff.
I see a distortion during the clip at 15:57. I assume it's the same thing you are seeing. It is almost like a watery/shadowy distortion, it is difficult to explain. I think the issue may be in the lightning as it changes as you turn the headset. On the wooden floor, especially near the bottom middle of the clip. The wood floor appears to change slightly as if the light is refracting shade through water droplets ever so subtly causing the brighter light to separate from the shade. (I am trying to think of exactly how to explain it.) If you break the verticle clip into 4 pieces from top to bottom. About the middle of the clip, almost right below the line where the bottom first quarter and second quarter meet. If there were lines through the screen separating the video into 4 quarters. It's almost like the lighting is getting warped as a darker shadow or discoloration making it appear to warp near that area of the video. I'm also picky about image quality and notice things like that too. The thing is, as the headset moves so too does it appear to change the way it warps the image ever so slightly. Which makes it hard to call a darker shader spot or like looking through a water droplet very briefly. Edited: After rewatching it several times to try to figure out what it is. I think it is the bright lights from the blue sky being reflected on the lens of the headset contrasting with the darker colors of the wood plus the lighting change from turning your head to looking inside the room. This may all be accentuating the effect when looking up and down rather than side to side. I wonder if your eye's distance from the lens may be affecting this? Like any window that warps light when it's curved. Maybe the curve of the lens is bending the light more and your eyes happen to sit at just that right spot either further or closer to the center point of the lens to notice it. Or maybe the build of the headset caused the lens to be angled ever so slightly more while wearing it causing brighter lights from the screen to reflect differently toward your eyes and only you just happen to notice the issue. Sure I know the camera that caught the video isn't the exact same thing. But it's an idea of possibility. And you said no one else had that issue. Especially with the picture he showed of the grid which looks perfect with no distortions. But I can see an odd distortion too. It's not really noticeable if you aren't looking for it. But me, because I love new tech so much I am very observant of looking for flaws just to know that and what its limitations are. Though I am no expert in that specific field, it seems like a sound hypothesis. Edited again: I don't personally own a VR headset. I have been planning to get one but have built a new PC as my priority first, later this year if things go well or early next year. But when I do finally have the extra money to get one. I may consider this assuming it's not too far out of my price range when I do get a VR headset. Image quality is very important to me but cost to quality ratio is a factor in decision making too. Also, the thing how where the guy said it looked more 3D at 19:39. That may also be a reason to get this. 3D glasses and the only VR headset I have tried so far. They weren't as "3D" as I was expecting them to be. To my eyes, it just looked slightly more than just 2D but not full-on like I was expecting 3D to look. As if my ability to judge the distance and size of objects or rooms feels really off from my own ability to guesstimate the size of objects in the real world. As in one's ability to get relatively close to guessing the correct size of a room by simply looking at it and using their normal frame of reference to measure it. So hearing that has me wondering if this headset will be better for that.
Yes I saw that too... I'm just not sure if that is video compression from the phone or the effect I was talking about. Artur sent that to me and I'd imagine he looked closely at it first, but I see what you are talking about for sure.
@@GYGOtv Edited: It does look like video compression. I thought that as a similar way to describe what I see too. However, it only seems to occur in that one area of the video screen and always at those specific spots in the background of the VR scene. So that should rule out video compression though it still could be. Always good to test multiple times. The lighting and shadow changes of the scenery and the way the lens bend light seemed like a more likely cause if it wasn't compression is what I was thinking when trying to figure it out. But it could even be the VR environment glitching at those angles?
@@SeohnAranys Yes hard to say without the original video... Thru the Lens can also be misleading as I learned trying to do my Varjo Aero video. Maybe I'll get the chance to test this out again someday in the future and come up with a more definitive answer. Time will tell.
I hope they send you one. I would like to know how the size and weight feel for you after a two hour flight while using your DOF Reality motion simulator.
Do you hear that @artursychov? :) If I don't have to wear it down on my nose, I think it will be fine. It was much more comfortable than the Pimax and I've worn that for 5 hours straight in flight. Thanks for watching and the comment!
GYGO, hi brother. Glad to see you thriving in the Gaming space. Just wanted to catch up, and pick your brains about the VR1. Like you, I have been holding out for the VR1, with the promised deep blacks and other things to be ironed out. Also like you, I have a MAJOR aversion to anything PIMAX. Having just returned the Crystal light, after x2 failed lense replacements, each set being worst than the other. Total nightmare. Shame, because the screens were smoking hot gorgeous. So, where are we at with the VR1? I know "Flight-sim-buy-things-guy" says it had some issues with the XR-runtime, and was rather sluggish on MSFS. Trouble is, in his latest and "final" review, he totally makes no mention of the fact, which leaves me wondering whether the runtime was fixed. I see a general lack of information regarding the VR1. For example, i would like to know which bases stations are optimal for the VR1, and its nowhere to be found. Just wondering if you can give me a full "sit-rep" on all things VR1. Also interested to know whether you yourself are going to pull the trigger. What you say there captain? Cheers GYGO.
Great question, thank you for taking the time to write it. So I personally don't think the VR1 (or any non-OLED screen) will ever give me the black/blacks that I really want. If Artur sends me one to test once they sort that I'll for sure give you my honest opinion but I don't expect that to happen... Realistically I'm too small a channel. I just don't think the VR1 is anything really that more special than our other high end headsets and I am really suspicions of the dual lens design for glare (again I'd love to test it to find out for sure). My impression was it was just like the Varjo Aero visuals with a bigger FOV, which isn't a bad thing, but not sure worth that much money to me. I personally am not interested in the Mixed Reality for the price because if you mask your cockpit (even with a 100% replica) you are still not going to match the lighting effects of the sim in your room. Imagine flying at night in the game but looking down at your controls and they are all lit up with daylight... immersion breaker for me so I'll pass on that part. I've pretty much decided I'm not buying another VR Headset without OLED, so that means maybe the MaganeX or the Pimax Crystal Super OLED... and you know how I feel about Pimax. We will see and I can only hope that Deckard is closer than we think and that maybe it will be the headset I've been waiting for... of course I won't hold my breath on that, but one can dream right? Thanks again for the question.
@@GYGOtv Thanks GYGO. Really interesting. I think im in the same boat as you, and will wait. I see Maganex are taking pre-orders (gulp) !! Again, think i'll just wait and see what transpires. They state no FOV either. I like how its a subsidiary of panasonic, perhaps great things are just around the corner. A waiting game.
@@PaulMcDonagh-rv6vc I'm sure both the MaganeX and the Pimax OLED will be around 100 FOV is my guess. The big thing with the MaganeX is I'll have to use on ear headphones and I really prefer the off ear, which is a point for Pimax. Like you said, we will wait and see. Thanks for the reply.
@@GYGOtv I am really dissapointed in Somnium. I have emailed them, and received nothing back in 3 days! I dont think thats right. It raises a yellow flag for me.
@@PaulMcDonagh-rv6vc Thanks for the info! Yep as a new company it will be vital for them to establish a good reputation (especially at that price point). Sounds like that might not be happening. Keep us posted so others can know what to expect. Thanks for the comment.
Nope... I wanted to eliminate that variable completely so I wore contact lenses (you can catch a brief glimpse when I put the headset on in the video 2:17). Great observation however and I would have been questioning the same thing if I had worn my glasses.
Thats why a proper return policy is the single most important subject of any VR company. But the Somnium VR1 cannot be returned outside the EU AT ALL. If the comfort is not good for your faceshape or if you experience an distortion issue or if you have performance issues with your hardware: you simply cannot return it. Don't get me wrong, I think that its an amazing device but I simply won't recommend to buy it solely because of the unfair return policy. It's way to much money at risk. Second point: only 1 year warranty. This is also unacceptable for such a high price range. All high end hardware at such prices come with normal return and warranty policies, except high end VR and high end VR needs it more than everything! Thanks for the great video GYGO! I hope that Artur extends his warranty to minimal 3 years and adds a proper return policy for everyone, then we got a winner for sure.
We have a normal warranty policy of 1 year in US and 2 years in EU. Even if we allow “no reason” 14 day return from US to our European factory, customer would have to pay many hundred of $$$ for shipping fees and customs. We might do it in the future but I personally doubt people would want to do it. And we are consulting it with our lawyers currently
@@artursychov A premium(expensive) AV product should come with premium service. Eizo gives 5 years warranty on all their monitors, Epson gives 5 years warranty on their laser projector's, good speaker brands give 5 or even 10 year warranty, even a cheap motherboard comes with 3 to 4 year's warranty these days. So in my opinion 1 or even 2 years warranty is not normal. It's also not normal that Varjo had such a terrible service, it's not an argument that they do this too. And why do US customers get a worse service/only half of the warranty compared to EU Customers? Because the law allows it? That shouldn't be an argument, they pay the same so they should get the same service. Regarding returns: It should be up to the customer to pay the customs/VAT if they want to deal with that, you should give them the possibility to return it. VR is(as you also say in the video) a highly subjective experience, no matter what, it should be possible to try and return it. Or give people the option to get a demo unit to try before purchasing? I love your product and passion, but in my opinion you haven't thought about these subjects well enough. At a price range of up to 5000 euros/dollars including tax such services should be a basic part of your company. You're dealing with consumers here, they simply expect a good and fair/equal service at such a price range. It will boost your sales dramatically, I am sure of that and we all want you to succeed!
@@turbohenk702 As someone who has ordered a VR1 to the U.S. and has also had experience with long, great warranties on other products, I definitely agree with you here. I trust that Artur and the rest of the Somnium team have put a lot of thought and effort into their design and QC processes, but a good warranty and great customer service are the things that make customers feel more at ease and keep them coming back for more over time.
Ya and it sounds like we can adjust just about every aspect in the software settings too! That is why I wanted so much to love this experience... the headset is ticking all the boxes for me. Thanks for the comment.
@GYGOtv yeah thats pretty cool as assumptions regarding lens distortion profiles being perfect and stable location of lenses matters with these setups, so a great move, build quality looks excellent
PUPIL SWIM... I think that was the word I was looking for when I was in the headset, THANK YOU. Not really the effect I had on the floor however because it was more fixed in the headset and not contingent on moving my eyes around... Does that sound right?
@@girdsy9971 Went back and watched... So Brad saw a full vertical line vs. I saw more of a spot but it sounded like the same type of issue to me! I guess I'm in good company if Brad saw something similar because I know he may be even more picky than I am... and that is saying something! Appreciate you reminding me of that, maybe I'm not going crazy after all?
@@GYGOtv Pupil Swim is fixed in the lens like you describe, and would be noticeable when panning over a grid-like surface like the wood floor. Your visual recreation of it is very accurate from memory. You see it when moving your head around. It is a physical lens imperfection. The name for it is because it mimics a floater in your eye, but it's not contingent on moving your eyes around.
I ONLY tried it without my glasses :) I wanted to eliminate that variable completely so I wore contact lenses (you can catch a brief glimpse when I put the headset on in the video 2:17). Great observation however and I would have been questioning the same thing if I had worn my glasses.
@@GYGOtv That's good to know. Unfortunate though, as I would love to order the MR version, but at the price would be devastated if I put it on and saw what you did. I will watch how this plays out with interest.
Hi @GYGOtv and @artursychov, The fact you noticed this wobble spot and no one else made me think a little bit. Not saying this might be it but in your video Mark, you mentioned 1 more thing that made me think and might be related. You said in the video, you were able to sneak in early before all doos opened at the conference. What if the startup of the HMD, so meaning ‘cold start’ (to stay in flight terms ;) ) had to do with this. Maybe a condensation drupelet behind the lens? Maybe a too stiff mounting of the display layer to the pcb? Maybe by having it warmed up after half an hour to an hour it settled out? As I hear your experience it has to do with a displacement of something towards or from the lens it self which might have ironed out when heated up. This is maybe also the reason why the optic checks of the lens itself did not show any abnormality as well. Just thinking out loud here ;) Keep em coming Mark and Artur
Thanks for the comment @Lucas_Pit. I hadn't thought of that at all and that is certainly something to consider, well done my friend! The only thing I question is that it seemed to be both eyes instead of just one and the odds of getting a water droplet in the exact same spot on both lenses would be pretty amazing. However, maybe my brain was just "seeing it" in both eyes as I didn't have time to thoroughly test it conclusively. I like your hypothesis and makes me feel a little less crazy :) Thanks for sharing your ideas.
@@GYGOtv Yes, this hypothesis makes sense (if any) only if VR1 focus distance distinctly differs from other headsets. More experimenting is wanted for how those artifacts change with varying distance between eyes and lenses.
@@blekenbleu Hopefully I'll get to try it again to either confirm or dispute this is still an issue. I'm as curious about it as everyone else. Thanks for the comment and suggestion.
I can see the odd effect at the lower part of the image at 16 min in. Not sure if it's the true image or the way the through the lens image has been captured.
Ya I wonder if it is just video compression, I saw that too but can't tell. Thru-The-Lens can be deceiving as well... I learned that doing it for my Varjo Aero.
Thank you very much Marc for this video, the testing, your first experience and special thanks for Arthur for this short interview. I ordered a VR1 for some days and when I looked the first minutes of your video I was thinking..oops 😳🫣, no way. But than I remembered me on my first experience with Varjo (VR3 and Aero) and the really bad distortions. But they solved this problem with a very good software update and I am pretty sure that Somnium, with this kind of passion and enthusiasm, like you said too, will solve every possible issue on this headset. I really appreciate this communication of the small company and that they listening what people say and see and the feedback from them. When we will get our headset from them, I will give you my experience…happy flights ✌️🛫
You are welcome, and I agree with you that they will continue to refine the software just like Varjo did. Please do let me know what you think... I'm specifically interested in the Black Levels and how well the Local Dimming really works. Artur and I discussed a lot more on the call and people seem to be interested in the whole thing so I'm planning to upload the entire interview next week. Thanks for watching and good luck on your VR1!
didnt somnium state that the warping profile could be changed by the user by simply uploading a different file? assuming you could spend a few hours/days/weeks dialing in your personal distortion profile to make the warping go away for your personal combination of face shape and where you have the headset to be most comfortable, it would be a non factor after that right? there is so much to adjust in software that i guess most of the issues would be solvable without changing anything on the hardware side, and even then if you're outside of the eyebox you could potentially 3d print a different fitting interface so the headset sits in a better spot and it's comfy at the same time... don't forget this headset is fully modular and open source so customization/personalization is as open as can be
That is the million dollar question... well the $3000 question at least :) Was it a software issue or was it a hardware issue? I didn't have enough time to answer that but yes if it was a distortion profile you should be able to fix it... it it was something in the design of the headset itself then not so much. The fact nobody else saw this makes me wonder if it was something just set wrong when I tried it but I have no way of knowing. I do know if they truly can get OLED Level Blacks without glare AND this distortion issue goes away, this will be my next headset... but that is a lot of IFs... we will see what happens.
@@GYGOtv i have a visionary edition ordered, when i got the email the banner in the shop said it would he between september and october, so fingers crossed. Coming from a valve index it's a massive upgrade regardless
@@HowlerBikeVlogs Holy Cow, yes quite the upgrade from the Index. I think you will be pleased. Please let me know what you think when I get it... I'm sure it will be good! Looking like a good Christmas Season for you, Congrats!
@@mikokioLarger FOV for sure, screens had the same feel to me as the Aero, but I talk about the bad stuff in the video and the issue I personally had. For me personally, I would only buy this if the visual issue I had was gone (for me) AND it must do a better job than the Aero and the Crystal at Local Dimming for my black blacks... then I would consider it... otherwise I'm waiting for an OLED screen.
I think they should try to do more troubleshooting to find out why this warp effect happened to you. Even if no-one else got that. I can imagine how frustrating it must feel to not know what is causing it.
Boy you can say that again... If it wasn't so blatantly apparent to me, I'd probably start feeling gaslighted about now BUT I know what I saw and it was very noticeable for sure. I feel a little better because somebody pointed out that SadlyItsBradley saw a similar issue only his were full vertical lines instead of just a spot th-cam.com/video/aN0mefsFj9k/w-d-xo.html so maybe this has something to do with that? I'm hoping I can try the headset again just to find out if it was just that one headset I had issues with, if it was the way it was on my head or maybe a software setting. In the end I'd at least like to know I gave the Somnium VR1 a fair chance. Thanks for the comment.
If the comfort fit and weird warping issue you saw were fixed, would you you consider it a valid upgrade from the Aero? All I've wanted (besides Deckard) for almost two years now was an Aero with the FOV of my old Index. Could this be it?
ABSOLUTELY if you are looking for the Aero Experience with more FOV I think this is it. I think this is a perfect upgrade from the Aero because the visuals felt very much like the Aero only with a bigger FOV. For me however I need more than that. After the promise that Pimax made of their "amazing" local dimming (being very close to OLED and failing to deliver), I basically have decided I won't buy another VR Headset that isn't OLED behind Aspheric Lenses! NOW Artur has told me the Somnium Local Dimming will give me the OLED experience and NO GLARE (we talk about it in our extended interview that I will post next week). IF this headset delivers on that, I will be throwing my money at the computer screen as fast as I can (assuming this warping issue doesn't continue for me). I miss my Black Blacks so much when night flying so I've been waiting for this since I stopped using my Vive Pro many years ago. Hope that answers your question.
This might be the right choice then... the Mixed Reality looks like it is implemented well in the VR1 and the pass through cameras looked good for the brief time I got to see "thru" them.
Off subject because I don't know any other way to contact you and I need your expertise. We have chatted before and on other subjects. Can you look into having pop out panels working in VR. Now that we have passthrough I want to use my quest three with my realsimgear panels. Apparently, this has been an issue for two years base on msfs forums. I do have a video up showing the problem on my setup. If you have a pop out panel open and start vr the panel freezes as soon as you exit VR it starts back again.
Hey likes2fly! You can always email me... my email is in the description and on the main page of the channel. Unfortunately I have NO experience with the pop out panels and I wouldn't even know where to start with that. I'd hope someone on the msfs forums could be more help than I can on this subject. Sorry I don't really have any solution on this topic... now if you want to talk about Motion Platforms, I can help you there :) Thanks for asking anyway. Anyone out in the community have any suggestions?
@@GYGOtv I have the h6 like you with the gear upgrade but motors are five years old. I think the new motors are all I need and I'm not sure how they handle the motor brakes with the old boxes. Dof is selling the upgrade but I have not seen any reviews on the new setup especially for the older models. Thanks for the headsup on the email
I think the warping that you seen was what is called fish eye..it happened to me when I got the Pimax Crystal..I RMA and Got a New Headset and Boom it was gone! So what it boils down to is a bad Lense you probably got a bad Lense.
Ya but Artur checked the lens with the camera and it looked ok? Felt more like a software thing to me, like a distortion correction error, especially since I saw it with both eyes. Great suggestion however, and I guess I can't rule out anything at this point.
@@Simmymind360 I appreciate all of you watching our stuff! If Artur is able to eventually send one my way, you can be sure I'll try to get it all sorted out and report back to you all!
I don't think he knew why either. Obviously it wasn't the lenses... I personally think it was a software distortion as I was the first one in the headset that day. They had lots of little glitches with the demo when I tried it (the rudder pedals were moving the throttle, etc.) so I just think there was a setting that was off. I hope to try one again someday just for my own sanity. Apparently I am the ONLY ONE in the world who has seen this issue LOL. Thanks for watching.
@GYGOtv yeh it seemed he didn't want to commit to saying that though haha. Been enjoying a load of you older videos lately. The h3/6 stuff is great! I may even check out your crystal review just for a laugh haha I caught your podcast with seb. Was a hard listen having pre ordered the super you guys went in pretty hard. Although it's justified with both your personal experiences. Vr flight sim guy chipped in just now with a warning!
@@gizmo104drives7 I think the headset itself has a great chance of being very good. You will just need to look over it carefully when you get it and make sure it isn't defective. The good news is since it is the new kid on the block, I bet Pimax goes the extra mile to make sure they meet spec. I'm hopeful Pimax turns things around because they need to be in the industry for sure. I just don't want customers to pay the price if they get lazy. If you are watching my old stuff, check out the Virtual Pinball Machine that we built for my Mom a few years back... It is still one of my favorites! th-cam.com/video/0x4MEbPSIqw/w-d-xo.html
I was previously very interested in the Somnium VR1, but that interest has recently tanked because of the image I'm getting of the company behind it. Right now it feels to me like buying one is just going to be another Pimax experience but a lot more expensive. I agree with you that Artur's pride in his headset is palpable. But I'm also getting a read that this focus is on the headset itself, not on actual customers. These are not equivalent. That plays out in this company's decision to have no refund policy whatsoever outside of the EU/UK (where it is required by law). And the way Artur has talked about this sends a message of poor regard for his customers. This video just cements that image for me further. You tried the headset and had significant problems with it which caused it to not be satisfying for you. You express that you're afraid to say so (?!) and then have Arthur come on to tell everyone the problem is you, not his headset. So what I'm imagining if I purchased a VR1 is that when I have problems with it, this company is not going to take care of me. They're liable to say any problems I have with their product are my own fault. No refunds. It's not that I'm so concerned about the lack of refunds specifically, but overall whether I'm going to have a good experience if I buy one. Fundamentally, what makes Pimax a bad experience is that company makes deliberate decisions to leave serious bugs unaddressed (preferring instead to always focus their engineering on new headsets to sell you rather than fixing the one you already have). If Somnium also doesn't take care of my problems but for a different reason, the effect is the same. I'm willing to pay a high premium for a high end product from a company that will take care of _me_ and ensure that _I have a good experience._ I'm not writing this to rip up on Somnium but rather to give what may be actionable feedback. I'm sure that they don't want to give off this image, but I'm probably not alone in seeing it that way. It really doesn't help that the other side of their business is crypto. This is this company's first hardware product, and they have no prior track record to prove that they will take care of their customers or even stay in the game (*cough*Varjo*cough*). Taken all together, I have a significant fear that if I put money into this thing, I am at risk of getting burned one way or another.
I can understand your concern but the "feeling" I get from Somnium is 180 degrees from what I "feel" from Pimax. As you said, there is no track record but I'm willing to bet that years from now Somnium will NOT be viewed the same as Pimax and I do think they will do what is right. As for me being "afraid" to say something... that is from my own personal sense of fairness and honesty, certainly not from any concerns about repercussions from Somnium. Thank you for your well written and thought out comment, I hope it provides good feedback to Artur and the team.
And who will buy this thing for at least the price of an Apple Vision Pro? Not to mention Crystal Super that offers double VR1 specs for half it's price.
Hi @Szabby999, I would for one, if it truly has OLED quality blacks and no glare then sign me up. I've been looking for that since they quit putting OLED in headsets. The Apple Vision Pro is not a gaming headset, and the Crystal Super will still either use the current QLED which don't get dark enough with their local dimming, or you can go with their OLED which will use Pancake lenses that will be full of glare! Not to mention, nobody has tried the Super yet and lets just say Pimax has a STRONG HISTORY of over promising and under delivering. Also, if you haven't ever had to deal with Pimax Customer Service, let me tell you it SUCKS! Anyway, we will see what happens but I certainly would be a customer if the headset can deliver my black levels that I want. Thanks for watching.
@@GYGOtv I appreciate your answer, but I don't really get your point. I recommend you let's talk about facts instead of subjective assumptions of yours (no offence of course): 1. Thanks, I'm fully aware that Apple Vision Pro is not a PCVR headset... The reason I mentioned it was solely it's enormous PRICE and nothing else, as you see in my text. 2. Somnium VR1: 2880x2880, 35 PPD, 125 horizontal FOV, QLED display, ~850g weight, price *3120* eur + VAT Crystal Super: 3840x3840, 50-57 PPD, 130 horizontal FOV, QLED OR OLED display, ~500g weight, price *1670* eur + VAT These above are solid facts. With Super you will get double the specs for half the price of Somnium. So tell me, what justifies the 3120 eur price tag? No way you can objectively justify this insane price gap with anything rational in favor of Somnium. 3. You write Super's OLED will be full of glare, however you have not seen it yet. Besides, if you really think Somnium's QLED will give you better blacks than Super's OLED then you are in a delusion. 4. The base model of Somnium VR1 (with no eye tracking) will cost 1900 eur, and DOES NOT include controllers (+300 eur) and base stations (+320 eur) = 2520 eur. Now the exact SAME specs you get from Pimax Crystal Light for 899 eur. Crystal Light is already out, it is a real product and gets great reviews and you get it for 1600 eur LESS price than Somnium. So again, who will buy Somnium, who will pay 1600 eur more for the same thing? Even if Somnium would have slightly better blacks or slightly sharper image quality. The gap is marginal enough that people will not pay 1620 euros more. 5. Regardless of specs or experience, my solid opinion is that you can NOT sell a PCVR headset profitably for 3120 eur + VAT. You just can't, because people won't buy it.
@@GYGOtv I really appreciate how you communicate in a straight way about your experience and perspective. Since I've ordered a VR1, I'm hoping it meets all the high expectations that have been set for it. Artur's passion for and confidence in the product is obvious and certainly helped my order happen - in spite of the price, 1 year warranty in the U.S., and lack of audio (at least at launch).
@@DMan-ud6bt Ya I was really concerned about the Audio, but when Artur explained that you should be able to create a mount for just about any current audio solution my mind immediately went to figuring out how to mount my HP G2 strap to the VR1. I loved that strap and the audio is second to none. Please let me know your thoughts when you get yours.
Thanks for coming to our booth and thanks for giving me airtime to address your concerns! It was a pleasure talking to you and hope to see you soon with VR1 on your face :)
The pleasure was mine and again I thank you for taking time when you are in the middle of prepping for your Somnium Connect! I know your time is very valuable right now and I appreciate it.
Artur. why not send GYGO a headset to review?
I was there also and got a demo of the headset; amazing. I am getting ready to order my own shortly. Many thanks to Jorge for his assistance!
Jorge was THE MAN, great to get to know him a little.
I take it that you did not have any issues with the comfort or visual quality during your short demo?
I have my own on order.
@@DMan-ud6bt I think you are asking sjpeckham, but I found it comfortable when I first put it on.
I really liked that you had Arturo on. I liked his enthusiasm and genuine interest furthering VR. Wish them success. Thanks for sharing your insight and thoughts.
I know, his enthusiasm is contagious! Thanks for watching Joe.
Great first impressions video.
My guess is (and it really is, just a guess), since the sweet spot on the VR1 is so big, you can wear the headset slightly differently and still be within the eye box. It looks like you are wearing the headset high, with the centre point of your vision more at the bottom region of the lens. There, as you can see from the through the lens footage, is where you can start to see some geometric shifts. Interestingly, when you wore the headset lower down, you did not notice the warping issue, but it felt more uncomfortable. So as always, I think fitment is essential, for both comfort and to ensure you are inside that geometric sweet spot which aspheric lenses are known for. Very interesting video!
Totally agree, what you don't see in the video was me constantly adjusting the headset to try and find that "Sweet Spot". I think if I had more time with it I could get the warping on the bottom of the lens to go away and make it comfortable. I just didn't have enough time to finesse the fit. As for the weird bubble, it felt more like a distortion profile (software) thing to me rather than a bad lens... I say that because I saw it in both eyes instead of just one. I'm still perplexed by what I saw but it was certainly there.
@@GYGOtv I know they have been working on the warping profile for a long time now, and I do find that your feedback shows just how important it is that Somnium are going to make multiple warping profiles available as well as giving the users the ability to adjust the profile themselves - all in their software.
@@DMan-ud6bt If you remember, the Aero had some early issues with their profile too and they got it sorted out over time. I expect the same will happen here.
Great video. I also tried the same headset at FS Expo. Amazing clarity & resolution. I didn’t see any distortion or artefacts, my IPD is quite narrow (60mm) and I was wearing my glasses which fitted quite comfortably in the headset. For me it was distinctly front heavy. Thanks for your time on the DOF stand. You were a star!
Thank you very much for the kind words, means a lot coming from one of the TH-cam Stars in our industry. Yep, it looks like I'm the only one that saw this so I wonder if it was just not adjusted right, a bad software glitch or what... but it was certainly there for me. I know Artur's IPD is like 64 and mine is wide at 69.5... I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Would love to get you on the channel for an interview someday if you are game, and if there is anything I can ever do for you, just ask. Appreciate you stopping by GYGO and watching our stuff.
I am definitely interested in seeing your full discussion with Artur!
I have a Classic Edition ordered - a pretty early order number.
Thanks for your coverage and honest effort to preset the facts in a fair way!
Thanks DMan, I really try to be fair and honest in everything I do. Looks like a few of you want to see the full interview so I'll look at putting that together for you all.
Ohhh that was you at the DOF Reality Booth, I thought you looked familiar but couldnt recall. You did a great job running the DOF booth! Thanks for being so informative and friendly!
Yep that was me LOL, Thank you for the kind words... I absolutely love the DOF Products and I love the Flight Sim community so it made it easier for sure. Hope you got to take a ride in the H3 while you were there?
@@GYGOtv Yeah I did. I chose the take off in the cessna and on the take off said it was pretty jerky and you said you tried changing the yoke sensitivity and everything lol, but no worries, it was great trying!
@@FinalBossRises Yes I remember that. That Yoke needed some attention for sure... Glad you got to take it for a spin at least.
@@GYGOtv For sure!
What a great video for so many reasons. First, I truly like your honest and always nice and friendly attitude seen in all your clips I've watched so far.
Secondly focusing on this clip in particular, allowing Somnium to comment on what you experienced and give "their side of the story", that to me is so respectful and again...honest.
These kind of things to me is what sets apart serious content creators like yourself from kids with one single goal, to get as much attention and views as possible.
Finally, I really loved to see the passion the guy from Somnium showed and this made me even more inteested in their products. You already said it so well in this clip but this kind of passion and this kind of business is exactly the kind of business I love to sponsor by buying their products.
I recently tried out the Pimax Crystal Light where my plan was to replace my Varjo Aero but I only needed over the weekend to learn how that one wasn't for me. Very quickly started experiencing eye strain I never felt in any other headset. So I sent it back. Meaning I'm now back keeping my eyes open for what my next headset will be...maybe the Somnium VR1.
Like you said, it's a blessing living at this point in time when we can enjoy all this amazing tech!
Thank you for the kind words and taking the time to watch and comment! I always try to be fair and it is rewarding when people appreciate that, so thank you again. I started this channel not expecting anyone to watch it, and now here we are almost to 5000 Subscribers!!! I'll keep making content like this as long as people still find it valuable... and if I do end up testing the VR1 again, you know I will give it an honest evaluation. Thanks again!
Great video, thank you.
As mentioned in the interview, so many face shapes, so many different eyeballs, some perfect, some not so much. In Example, my last eye glass prescription, I started seeing really blurry for distance (I wear progressive glasses), but if I took my glasses off, I could see perfectly for distance. So after a few months, I got my eyes checked and they told me I'm in the early stages of cataracts which reshaped the roundness of my eyes to where it actually fixed my distance vision, in time, I'll need glasses again for distance and eventually, will need eye surgery. Since getting my eyes checked, I've removed ALL my prescription inserts from all my VR HMDs and it's soooooo nice to not have inserts, better FOV, less glare, just wonderful.
As with any HMD, fitting it to your head shape and eyes is so very important, higher or lower on the forehead, closer or farther from your eyes, tilting it on your face so your eyes see into the HMD at various angles, maybe even shifting it from side to side on your head (if one eye is closer to the edge of you head than the other). All this can have a HUGE impact as to how clear and in focus any given HMD can be.
Too many people are too quick to say they can't do VR but they haven't tried making VR work for them by simply properly adjusting the HMD to suit their face / head shape and eyes.
Yeah, such things happen unfortunately. Thank God it is rare but it does occur from time to time.
Glad to hear something good came from your cataracts, enjoy the correction free vr! When the time does come for the surgery, look into corrective lenses on your implants... my mom did that and could read without glasses afterward. If I do end up with a VR1, you can bet I'll be trying everything I can to make it look as good for me as I know it can. Thanks for the comment.
Dude! Fantastic video and impressions! Your Aero and Crystal first impressions were a huge factor for me while learning about both HMDs and figuring out if I wanted to purchase one. Now add the VR1 to that list.
I don’t trust too many people out there but your feedback and information is always in depth and something I fully trust. Now VR is very subjective, even when being objective, but knowing your experience is a huge help!
Thank you very much for your honesty as most people will just say the exciting “buzzwords” to get views and hype up people. You are very real when it comes to your content and that’s part of the reason you and I get along so well. So cheers to you my friend and great to hear you had an awesome time at the event!
@farmertrueVR How is my favorite Twitch Streamer Doing??? Miss gaming with you buddy... I'll try to jump back on one of these Fridays so we can dispatch some bad guys! Thanks for the comment... it was a great overall headset I just have to see if I can figure out why I was having this unique issue. Thanks for the kind words and as always thanks for watching!
Great video, very interesting learning about the stages of the QC process. I'm wondering if you could try culling the fov by 5%-10% to see if that warping goes away?
That most certainly would help. We had in the past few people who saw some distortions while at 130 FOV and when we measured their FOV and found out that they only can see 120 we dialed it down and it changed the situation completely for them. Unfortunately we did not have to do those things at the venue due to big line of people.
@@artursychov I love having an additional moderator here!!! Thanks for sharing your expertise with my viewers @artursychov... obviously there is a lot I won't be able to answer with my brief use of the headset so your experience is very helpful.
So are you going to send him a VR1 soon?? @@artursychov
I gather the reason is due to your contact lenses warping the image. That image recreation you showed with the "blob" distorting the image can be caused by contact lenses that have magnification for older folks. They are called "bi-focal" lenses, where they have to correct for Myopia (short-sightedness) whilst correcting for Presbyopia (farsightedness at close range). I have these types of lenses and this can happen when I'm focusing on reading text at really close range.
Hi @fredsas12... are you calling me old? :) Just kidding... great point EXCEPT I was using single vision lenses. I've tried the multi-focal lenses you talk about and hate them... to me they don't work well either way and I just get bad vision up close and at distance. I've also tried both near-vision and far-vision single vision lenses in VR to see which worked, and the far distance correction was the answer. VR Headsets are usually set to a focal distance of about 4 feet if my memory serves correctly. Anyway, great thought but that wasn't it. Appreciate the comment and you watching our stuff.
@@GYGOtv Haha. Not at all. I'm an old gen X-er myself, though one probably couldn't tell by looking at me. Cheers
@@fredsas12 Hey us Old Guys have to stick together... these young guns are hard to keep up with anymore.
I see a distortion during the clip at 15:57. I assume it's the same thing you are seeing.
It is almost like a watery/shadowy distortion, it is difficult to explain. I think the issue may be in the lightning as it changes as you turn the headset. On the wooden floor, especially near the bottom middle of the clip. The wood floor appears to change slightly as if the light is refracting shade through water droplets ever so subtly causing the brighter light to separate from the shade. (I am trying to think of exactly how to explain it.)
If you break the verticle clip into 4 pieces from top to bottom. About the middle of the clip, almost right below the line where the bottom first quarter and second quarter meet. If there were lines through the screen separating the video into 4 quarters. It's almost like the lighting is getting warped as a darker shadow or discoloration making it appear to warp near that area of the video. I'm also picky about image quality and notice things like that too. The thing is, as the headset moves so too does it appear to change the way it warps the image ever so slightly. Which makes it hard to call a darker shader spot or like looking through a water droplet very briefly.
Edited:
After rewatching it several times to try to figure out what it is. I think it is the bright lights from the blue sky being reflected on the lens of the headset contrasting with the darker colors of the wood plus the lighting change from turning your head to looking inside the room. This may all be accentuating the effect when looking up and down rather than side to side.
I wonder if your eye's distance from the lens may be affecting this? Like any window that warps light when it's curved. Maybe the curve of the lens is bending the light more and your eyes happen to sit at just that right spot either further or closer to the center point of the lens to notice it. Or maybe the build of the headset caused the lens to be angled ever so slightly more while wearing it causing brighter lights from the screen to reflect differently toward your eyes and only you just happen to notice the issue.
Sure I know the camera that caught the video isn't the exact same thing. But it's an idea of possibility. And you said no one else had that issue. Especially with the picture he showed of the grid which looks perfect with no distortions. But I can see an odd distortion too. It's not really noticeable if you aren't looking for it. But me, because I love new tech so much I am very observant of looking for flaws just to know that and what its limitations are. Though I am no expert in that specific field, it seems like a sound hypothesis.
Edited again:
I don't personally own a VR headset. I have been planning to get one but have built a new PC as my priority first, later this year if things go well or early next year. But when I do finally have the extra money to get one. I may consider this assuming it's not too far out of my price range when I do get a VR headset. Image quality is very important to me but cost to quality ratio is a factor in decision making too.
Also, the thing how where the guy said it looked more 3D at 19:39. That may also be a reason to get this. 3D glasses and the only VR headset I have tried so far. They weren't as "3D" as I was expecting them to be. To my eyes, it just looked slightly more than just 2D but not full-on like I was expecting 3D to look. As if my ability to judge the distance and size of objects or rooms feels really off from my own ability to guesstimate the size of objects in the real world. As in one's ability to get relatively close to guessing the correct size of a room by simply looking at it and using their normal frame of reference to measure it. So hearing that has me wondering if this headset will be better for that.
Yes I saw that too... I'm just not sure if that is video compression from the phone or the effect I was talking about. Artur sent that to me and I'd imagine he looked closely at it first, but I see what you are talking about for sure.
@@GYGOtv Edited: It does look like video compression. I thought that as a similar way to describe what I see too. However, it only seems to occur in that one area of the video screen and always at those specific spots in the background of the VR scene. So that should rule out video compression though it still could be. Always good to test multiple times.
The lighting and shadow changes of the scenery and the way the lens bend light seemed like a more likely cause if it wasn't compression is what I was thinking when trying to figure it out. But it could even be the VR environment glitching at those angles?
@@SeohnAranys Yes hard to say without the original video... Thru the Lens can also be misleading as I learned trying to do my Varjo Aero video. Maybe I'll get the chance to test this out again someday in the future and come up with a more definitive answer. Time will tell.
I hope they send you one. I would like to know how the size and weight feel for you after a two hour flight while using your DOF Reality motion simulator.
Do you hear that @artursychov? :) If I don't have to wear it down on my nose, I think it will be fine. It was much more comfortable than the Pimax and I've worn that for 5 hours straight in flight. Thanks for watching and the comment!
GYGO, hi brother. Glad to see you thriving in the Gaming space. Just wanted to catch up, and pick your brains about the VR1.
Like you, I have been holding out for the VR1, with the promised deep blacks and other things to be ironed out. Also like you, I have a MAJOR aversion to anything PIMAX. Having just returned the Crystal light, after x2 failed lense replacements, each set being worst than the other. Total nightmare. Shame, because the screens were smoking hot gorgeous.
So, where are we at with the VR1? I know "Flight-sim-buy-things-guy" says it had some issues with the XR-runtime, and was rather sluggish on MSFS. Trouble is, in his latest and "final" review, he totally makes no mention of the fact, which leaves me wondering whether the runtime was fixed. I see a general lack of information regarding the VR1. For example, i would like to know which bases stations are optimal for the VR1, and its nowhere to be found.
Just wondering if you can give me a full "sit-rep" on all things VR1. Also interested to know whether you yourself are going to pull the trigger.
What you say there captain? Cheers GYGO.
Great question, thank you for taking the time to write it. So I personally don't think the VR1 (or any non-OLED screen) will ever give me the black/blacks that I really want. If Artur sends me one to test once they sort that I'll for sure give you my honest opinion but I don't expect that to happen... Realistically I'm too small a channel. I just don't think the VR1 is anything really that more special than our other high end headsets and I am really suspicions of the dual lens design for glare (again I'd love to test it to find out for sure). My impression was it was just like the Varjo Aero visuals with a bigger FOV, which isn't a bad thing, but not sure worth that much money to me. I personally am not interested in the Mixed Reality for the price because if you mask your cockpit (even with a 100% replica) you are still not going to match the lighting effects of the sim in your room. Imagine flying at night in the game but looking down at your controls and they are all lit up with daylight... immersion breaker for me so I'll pass on that part. I've pretty much decided I'm not buying another VR Headset without OLED, so that means maybe the MaganeX or the Pimax Crystal Super OLED... and you know how I feel about Pimax. We will see and I can only hope that Deckard is closer than we think and that maybe it will be the headset I've been waiting for... of course I won't hold my breath on that, but one can dream right? Thanks again for the question.
@@GYGOtv Thanks GYGO. Really interesting. I think im in the same boat as you, and will wait. I see Maganex are taking pre-orders (gulp) !! Again, think i'll just wait and see what transpires. They state no FOV either. I like how its a subsidiary of panasonic, perhaps great things are just around the corner.
A waiting game.
@@PaulMcDonagh-rv6vc I'm sure both the MaganeX and the Pimax OLED will be around 100 FOV is my guess. The big thing with the MaganeX is I'll have to use on ear headphones and I really prefer the off ear, which is a point for Pimax. Like you said, we will wait and see. Thanks for the reply.
@@GYGOtv I am really dissapointed in Somnium. I have emailed them, and received nothing back in 3 days! I dont think thats right. It raises a yellow flag for me.
@@PaulMcDonagh-rv6vc Thanks for the info! Yep as a new company it will be vital for them to establish a good reputation (especially at that price point). Sounds like that might not be happening. Keep us posted so others can know what to expect. Thanks for the comment.
Curious if you were wearing your glasses in the headset? If so, the glasses lenses may have had an effect on the Somnium lenses.
Nope... I wanted to eliminate that variable completely so I wore contact lenses (you can catch a brief glimpse when I put the headset on in the video 2:17). Great observation however and I would have been questioning the same thing if I had worn my glasses.
Thats why a proper return policy is the single most important subject of any VR company. But the Somnium VR1 cannot be returned outside the EU AT ALL. If the comfort is not good for your faceshape or if you experience an distortion issue or if you have performance issues with your hardware: you simply cannot return it. Don't get me wrong, I think that its an amazing device but I simply won't recommend to buy it solely because of the unfair return policy. It's way to much money at risk. Second point: only 1 year warranty. This is also unacceptable for such a high price range. All high end hardware at such prices come with normal return and warranty policies, except high end VR and high end VR needs it more than everything! Thanks for the great video GYGO! I hope that Artur extends his warranty to minimal 3 years and adds a proper return policy for everyone, then we got a winner for sure.
Thanks for the comment, lets see if Artur responds to it.
We have a normal warranty policy of 1 year in US and 2 years in EU. Even if we allow “no reason” 14 day return from US to our European factory, customer would have to pay many hundred of $$$ for shipping fees and customs. We might do it in the future but I personally doubt people would want to do it. And we are consulting it with our lawyers currently
@@artursychov Thanks for the reply Artur!
@@artursychov A premium(expensive) AV product should come with premium service. Eizo gives 5 years warranty on all their monitors, Epson gives 5 years warranty on their laser projector's, good speaker brands give 5 or even 10 year warranty, even a cheap motherboard comes with 3 to 4 year's warranty these days. So in my opinion 1 or even 2 years warranty is not normal. It's also not normal that Varjo had such a terrible service, it's not an argument that they do this too. And why do US customers get a worse service/only half of the warranty compared to EU Customers? Because the law allows it? That shouldn't be an argument, they pay the same so they should get the same service. Regarding returns: It should be up to the customer to pay the customs/VAT if they want to deal with that, you should give them the possibility to return it. VR is(as you also say in the video) a highly subjective experience, no matter what, it should be possible to try and return it. Or give people the option to get a demo unit to try before purchasing? I love your product and passion, but in my opinion you haven't thought about these subjects well enough. At a price range of up to 5000 euros/dollars including tax such services should be a basic part of your company. You're dealing with consumers here, they simply expect a good and fair/equal service at such a price range. It will boost your sales dramatically, I am sure of that and we all want you to succeed!
@@turbohenk702 As someone who has ordered a VR1 to the U.S. and has also had experience with long, great warranties on other products, I definitely agree with you here.
I trust that Artur and the rest of the Somnium team have put a lot of thought and effort into their design and QC processes, but a good warranty and great customer service are the things that make customers feel more at ease and keep them coming back for more over time.
Hmm many warping profiles, sure. This will be a great HMD when tuned in 🎉❤
Ya and it sounds like we can adjust just about every aspect in the software settings too! That is why I wanted so much to love this experience... the headset is ticking all the boxes for me. Thanks for the comment.
@GYGOtv yeah thats pretty cool as assumptions regarding lens distortion profiles being perfect and stable location of lenses matters with these setups, so a great move, build quality looks excellent
cool video. thank you!
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it.
The effect you appear to be describing, and would fit with your visual recreation, sounds exactly like Pupil Swim.
PUPIL SWIM... I think that was the word I was looking for when I was in the headset, THANK YOU. Not really the effect I had on the floor however because it was more fixed in the headset and not contingent on moving my eyes around... Does that sound right?
I believe sadlyitsbradley had this issue right?
@@girdsy9971 I don't remember... I know its been awhile since I watched his... I'll go back and take a look.
@@girdsy9971 Went back and watched... So Brad saw a full vertical line vs. I saw more of a spot but it sounded like the same type of issue to me! I guess I'm in good company if Brad saw something similar because I know he may be even more picky than I am... and that is saying something! Appreciate you reminding me of that, maybe I'm not going crazy after all?
@@GYGOtv Pupil Swim is fixed in the lens like you describe, and would be noticeable when panning over a grid-like surface like the wood floor.
Your visual recreation of it is very accurate from memory. You see it when moving your head around.
It is a physical lens imperfection. The name for it is because it mimics a floater in your eye, but it's not contingent on moving your eyes around.
I am ordering this one!
@@holdenmcgroin5276 Great choice, please let me know what you think when you get it!
Great video, thanks for the effort.
Thank you for watching! Appreciate the comment as well. Glad you enjoyed it.
Did you try without your glasses? Maybe a interaction between the two lense stacks?
I ONLY tried it without my glasses :) I wanted to eliminate that variable completely so I wore contact lenses (you can catch a brief glimpse when I put the headset on in the video 2:17). Great observation however and I would have been questioning the same thing if I had worn my glasses.
@@GYGOtv That's good to know. Unfortunate though, as I would love to order the MR version, but at the price would be devastated if I put it on and saw what you did. I will watch how this plays out with interest.
❤
Hi @GYGOtv and @artursychov,
The fact you noticed this wobble spot and no one else made me think a little bit.
Not saying this might be it but in your video Mark, you mentioned 1 more thing that made me think and might be related.
You said in the video, you were able to sneak in early before all doos opened at the conference.
What if the startup of the HMD, so meaning ‘cold start’ (to stay in flight terms ;) ) had to do with this.
Maybe a condensation drupelet behind the lens? Maybe a too stiff mounting of the display layer to the pcb?
Maybe by having it warmed up after half an hour to an hour it settled out?
As I hear your experience it has to do with a displacement of something towards or from the lens it self which might have ironed out when heated up.
This is maybe also the reason why the optic checks of the lens itself did not show any abnormality as well.
Just thinking out loud here ;)
Keep em coming Mark and Artur
Thanks for the comment @Lucas_Pit. I hadn't thought of that at all and that is certainly something to consider, well done my friend! The only thing I question is that it seemed to be both eyes instead of just one and the odds of getting a water droplet in the exact same spot on both lenses would be pretty amazing. However, maybe my brain was just "seeing it" in both eyes as I didn't have time to thoroughly test it conclusively. I like your hypothesis and makes me feel a little less crazy :) Thanks for sharing your ideas.
You may need eyeglass prescription specific to VR1 focus distance (AKA reading or computer glasses).
Maybe, but my contacts work in all my other VR headsets? And it wasn't a blurry thing... it was a specific graphic anomaly.
@@GYGOtv Yes, this hypothesis makes sense (if any) only if VR1 focus distance distinctly differs from other headsets. More experimenting is wanted for how those artifacts change with varying distance between eyes and lenses.
@@blekenbleu Hopefully I'll get to try it again to either confirm or dispute this is still an issue. I'm as curious about it as everyone else. Thanks for the comment and suggestion.
I can see the odd effect at the lower part of the image at 16 min in. Not sure if it's the true image or the way the through the lens image has been captured.
Ya I wonder if it is just video compression, I saw that too but can't tell. Thru-The-Lens can be deceiving as well... I learned that doing it for my Varjo Aero.
Thank you very much Marc for this video, the testing, your first experience and special thanks for Arthur for this short interview. I ordered a VR1 for some days and when I looked the first minutes of your video I was thinking..oops 😳🫣, no way. But than I remembered me on my first experience with Varjo (VR3 and Aero) and the really bad distortions. But they solved this problem with a very good software update and I am pretty sure that Somnium, with this kind of passion and enthusiasm, like you said too, will solve every possible issue on this headset. I really appreciate this communication of the small company and that they listening what people say and see and the feedback from them. When we will get our headset from them, I will give you my experience…happy flights ✌️🛫
You are welcome, and I agree with you that they will continue to refine the software just like Varjo did. Please do let me know what you think... I'm specifically interested in the Black Levels and how well the Local Dimming really works. Artur and I discussed a lot more on the call and people seem to be interested in the whole thing so I'm planning to upload the entire interview next week. Thanks for watching and good luck on your VR1!
didnt somnium state that the warping profile could be changed by the user by simply uploading a different file? assuming you could spend a few hours/days/weeks dialing in your personal distortion profile to make the warping go away for your personal combination of face shape and where you have the headset to be most comfortable, it would be a non factor after that right? there is so much to adjust in software that i guess most of the issues would be solvable without changing anything on the hardware side, and even then if you're outside of the eyebox you could potentially 3d print a different fitting interface so the headset sits in a better spot and it's comfy at the same time... don't forget this headset is fully modular and open source so customization/personalization is as open as can be
That is the million dollar question... well the $3000 question at least :) Was it a software issue or was it a hardware issue? I didn't have enough time to answer that but yes if it was a distortion profile you should be able to fix it... it it was something in the design of the headset itself then not so much. The fact nobody else saw this makes me wonder if it was something just set wrong when I tried it but I have no way of knowing. I do know if they truly can get OLED Level Blacks without glare AND this distortion issue goes away, this will be my next headset... but that is a lot of IFs... we will see what happens.
@@GYGOtv i have a visionary edition ordered, when i got the email the banner in the shop said it would he between september and october, so fingers crossed. Coming from a valve index it's a massive upgrade regardless
@@HowlerBikeVlogs Holy Cow, yes quite the upgrade from the Index. I think you will be pleased. Please let me know what you think when I get it... I'm sure it will be good! Looking like a good Christmas Season for you, Congrats!
@@GYGOtv Is it comparable to Varjo Aero or beter? and in what areas?
@@mikokioLarger FOV for sure, screens had the same feel to me as the Aero, but I talk about the bad stuff in the video and the issue I personally had. For me personally, I would only buy this if the visual issue I had was gone (for me) AND it must do a better job than the Aero and the Crystal at Local Dimming for my black blacks... then I would consider it... otherwise I'm waiting for an OLED screen.
I think they should try to do more troubleshooting to find out why this warp effect happened to you. Even if no-one else got that. I can imagine how frustrating it must feel to not know what is causing it.
Boy you can say that again... If it wasn't so blatantly apparent to me, I'd probably start feeling gaslighted about now BUT I know what I saw and it was very noticeable for sure. I feel a little better because somebody pointed out that SadlyItsBradley saw a similar issue only his were full vertical lines instead of just a spot th-cam.com/video/aN0mefsFj9k/w-d-xo.html so maybe this has something to do with that? I'm hoping I can try the headset again just to find out if it was just that one headset I had issues with, if it was the way it was on my head or maybe a software setting. In the end I'd at least like to know I gave the Somnium VR1 a fair chance. Thanks for the comment.
@@GYGOtv Bradleys issues were caused by prototype lenses and it was in December so warping version was also old.
@@artursychovcould this be a similar issue just on a smaller scale?
@@artursychov i am thinking of ordering one, but it is beter to see others review first, just don't want to be an early adopter
If the comfort fit and weird warping issue you saw were fixed, would you you consider it a valid upgrade from the Aero? All I've wanted (besides Deckard) for almost two years now was an Aero with the FOV of my old Index. Could this be it?
ABSOLUTELY if you are looking for the Aero Experience with more FOV I think this is it. I think this is a perfect upgrade from the Aero because the visuals felt very much like the Aero only with a bigger FOV. For me however I need more than that. After the promise that Pimax made of their "amazing" local dimming (being very close to OLED and failing to deliver), I basically have decided I won't buy another VR Headset that isn't OLED behind Aspheric Lenses! NOW Artur has told me the Somnium Local Dimming will give me the OLED experience and NO GLARE (we talk about it in our extended interview that I will post next week). IF this headset delivers on that, I will be throwing my money at the computer screen as fast as I can (assuming this warping issue doesn't continue for me). I miss my Black Blacks so much when night flying so I've been waiting for this since I stopped using my Vive Pro many years ago. Hope that answers your question.
@@GYGOtv Yessir it does thank you
I have a full scale F16 simulator cockpit and right now I stick with the beamers until mixed vr is better developped
This might be the right choice then... the Mixed Reality looks like it is implemented well in the VR1 and the pass through cameras looked good for the brief time I got to see "thru" them.
Off subject because I don't know any other way to contact you and I need your expertise. We have chatted before and on other subjects. Can you look into having pop out panels working in VR. Now that we have passthrough I want to use my quest three with my realsimgear panels. Apparently, this has been an issue for two years base on msfs forums. I do have a video up showing the problem on my setup. If you have a pop out panel open and start vr the panel freezes as soon as you exit VR it starts back again.
Hey likes2fly! You can always email me... my email is in the description and on the main page of the channel. Unfortunately I have NO experience with the pop out panels and I wouldn't even know where to start with that. I'd hope someone on the msfs forums could be more help than I can on this subject. Sorry I don't really have any solution on this topic... now if you want to talk about Motion Platforms, I can help you there :) Thanks for asking anyway. Anyone out in the community have any suggestions?
@@GYGOtv I have the h6 like you with the gear upgrade but motors are five years old. I think the new motors are all I need and I'm not sure how they handle the motor brakes with the old boxes. Dof is selling the upgrade but I have not seen any reviews on the new setup especially for the older models. Thanks for the headsup on the email
I think the warping that you seen was what is called fish eye..it happened to me when I got the Pimax Crystal..I RMA and Got a New Headset and Boom it was gone! So what it boils down to is a bad Lense you probably got a bad Lense.
Ya but Artur checked the lens with the camera and it looked ok? Felt more like a software thing to me, like a distortion correction error, especially since I saw it with both eyes. Great suggestion however, and I guess I can't rule out anything at this point.
@@GYGOtv ooh for sure..please keep me posted especially you get to try another Headset from the company.. appreciate you 😁
@@Simmymind360 I appreciate all of you watching our stuff! If Artur is able to eventually send one my way, you can be sure I'll try to get it all sorted out and report back to you all!
Weird that he didnt really address why u could see such distorions...
I don't think he knew why either. Obviously it wasn't the lenses... I personally think it was a software distortion as I was the first one in the headset that day. They had lots of little glitches with the demo when I tried it (the rudder pedals were moving the throttle, etc.) so I just think there was a setting that was off. I hope to try one again someday just for my own sanity. Apparently I am the ONLY ONE in the world who has seen this issue LOL. Thanks for watching.
@GYGOtv yeh it seemed he didn't want to commit to saying that though haha. Been enjoying a load of you older videos lately. The h3/6 stuff is great! I may even check out your crystal review just for a laugh haha
I caught your podcast with seb. Was a hard listen having pre ordered the super you guys went in pretty hard. Although it's justified with both your personal experiences. Vr flight sim guy chipped in just now with a warning!
I should add I enjoyed the podcast though. Not hating on anyone here at all
@@gizmo104drives7 I think the headset itself has a great chance of being very good. You will just need to look over it carefully when you get it and make sure it isn't defective. The good news is since it is the new kid on the block, I bet Pimax goes the extra mile to make sure they meet spec. I'm hopeful Pimax turns things around because they need to be in the industry for sure. I just don't want customers to pay the price if they get lazy. If you are watching my old stuff, check out the Virtual Pinball Machine that we built for my Mom a few years back... It is still one of my favorites! th-cam.com/video/0x4MEbPSIqw/w-d-xo.html
@@gizmo104drives7 Didn't take it that way at all! Appreciate you watching my stuff and all the comments.
what a cute and tiny convention.
It was awesome... I've been to some of the big stuff and this was more busy for our booth than anything like PRI was LOL.
I was previously very interested in the Somnium VR1, but that interest has recently tanked because of the image I'm getting of the company behind it. Right now it feels to me like buying one is just going to be another Pimax experience but a lot more expensive.
I agree with you that Artur's pride in his headset is palpable. But I'm also getting a read that this focus is on the headset itself, not on actual customers. These are not equivalent.
That plays out in this company's decision to have no refund policy whatsoever outside of the EU/UK (where it is required by law). And the way Artur has talked about this sends a message of poor regard for his customers.
This video just cements that image for me further. You tried the headset and had significant problems with it which caused it to not be satisfying for you. You express that you're afraid to say so (?!) and then have Arthur come on to tell everyone the problem is you, not his headset.
So what I'm imagining if I purchased a VR1 is that when I have problems with it, this company is not going to take care of me. They're liable to say any problems I have with their product are my own fault. No refunds.
It's not that I'm so concerned about the lack of refunds specifically, but overall whether I'm going to have a good experience if I buy one. Fundamentally, what makes Pimax a bad experience is that company makes deliberate decisions to leave serious bugs unaddressed (preferring instead to always focus their engineering on new headsets to sell you rather than fixing the one you already have). If Somnium also doesn't take care of my problems but for a different reason, the effect is the same.
I'm willing to pay a high premium for a high end product from a company that will take care of _me_ and ensure that _I have a good experience._
I'm not writing this to rip up on Somnium but rather to give what may be actionable feedback. I'm sure that they don't want to give off this image, but I'm probably not alone in seeing it that way. It really doesn't help that the other side of their business is crypto. This is this company's first hardware product, and they have no prior track record to prove that they will take care of their customers or even stay in the game (*cough*Varjo*cough*). Taken all together, I have a significant fear that if I put money into this thing, I am at risk of getting burned one way or another.
I can understand your concern but the "feeling" I get from Somnium is 180 degrees from what I "feel" from Pimax. As you said, there is no track record but I'm willing to bet that years from now Somnium will NOT be viewed the same as Pimax and I do think they will do what is right. As for me being "afraid" to say something... that is from my own personal sense of fairness and honesty, certainly not from any concerns about repercussions from Somnium. Thank you for your well written and thought out comment, I hope it provides good feedback to Artur and the team.
Two comments from me...supply the bloody base-stations yourself, Somnium, and SELL TO JAPAN ffs.
too expensive for my SS check old man lifestyle. odyssey will have to do. oh well.
@@a-fl-man640 I can understand that. Do yourself a favor and look at a Quest 3... Visual Clarity is a huge improvement over the Odyssey.
I am interested in the uncut version 🫶
Awesome, thanks for letting me know... get a few more requests and I'll do it.
And who will buy this thing for at least the price of an Apple Vision Pro? Not to mention Crystal Super that offers double VR1 specs for half it's price.
Hi @Szabby999, I would for one, if it truly has OLED quality blacks and no glare then sign me up. I've been looking for that since they quit putting OLED in headsets. The Apple Vision Pro is not a gaming headset, and the Crystal Super will still either use the current QLED which don't get dark enough with their local dimming, or you can go with their OLED which will use Pancake lenses that will be full of glare! Not to mention, nobody has tried the Super yet and lets just say Pimax has a STRONG HISTORY of over promising and under delivering. Also, if you haven't ever had to deal with Pimax Customer Service, let me tell you it SUCKS! Anyway, we will see what happens but I certainly would be a customer if the headset can deliver my black levels that I want. Thanks for watching.
@@GYGOtv I appreciate your answer, but I don't really get your point. I recommend you let's talk about facts instead of subjective assumptions of yours (no offence of course):
1. Thanks, I'm fully aware that Apple Vision Pro is not a PCVR headset... The reason I mentioned it was solely it's enormous PRICE and nothing else, as you see in my text.
2. Somnium VR1: 2880x2880, 35 PPD, 125 horizontal FOV, QLED display, ~850g weight, price *3120* eur + VAT
Crystal Super: 3840x3840, 50-57 PPD, 130 horizontal FOV, QLED OR OLED display, ~500g weight, price *1670* eur + VAT
These above are solid facts. With Super you will get double the specs for half the price of Somnium. So tell me, what justifies the 3120 eur price tag? No way you can objectively justify this insane price gap with anything rational in favor of Somnium.
3. You write Super's OLED will be full of glare, however you have not seen it yet. Besides, if you really think Somnium's QLED will give you better blacks than Super's OLED then you are in a delusion.
4. The base model of Somnium VR1 (with no eye tracking) will cost 1900 eur, and DOES NOT include controllers (+300 eur) and base stations (+320 eur) = 2520 eur. Now the exact SAME specs you get from Pimax Crystal Light for 899 eur. Crystal Light is already out, it is a real product and gets great reviews and you get it for 1600 eur LESS price than Somnium. So again, who will buy Somnium, who will pay 1600 eur more for the same thing? Even if Somnium would have slightly better blacks or slightly sharper image quality. The gap is marginal enough that people will not pay 1620 euros more.
5. Regardless of specs or experience, my solid opinion is that you can NOT sell a PCVR headset profitably for 3120 eur + VAT. You just can't, because people won't buy it.
@@GYGOtv I really appreciate how you communicate in a straight way about your experience and perspective. Since I've ordered a VR1, I'm hoping it meets all the high expectations that have been set for it. Artur's passion for and confidence in the product is obvious and certainly helped my order happen - in spite of the price, 1 year warranty in the U.S., and lack of audio (at least at launch).
@@DMan-ud6bt Ya I was really concerned about the Audio, but when Artur explained that you should be able to create a mount for just about any current audio solution my mind immediately went to figuring out how to mount my HP G2 strap to the VR1. I loved that strap and the audio is second to none. Please let me know your thoughts when you get yours.
@@GYGOtv And why did you delete the answer I wrote you on this comment of yours?