Returning my G2 - anyone else?

[flightsim1818 79]

I got my G2 last saturday and was like a kid on christmas. After a long wait and countless emails and phonecalls to HP Store I finally got my headset. Good times....right? Sadly, that feeling slowly started to fade to grey when I noticed the limited sweetspot. At first I wondered if they edges were not clean after removing those plastic protectors but no...after cleaning the issue is still there. 

It's not about me not being able to find the sweetspot. I am in it and everything in the sweetspot is crystal clear. Like real life and truly amazing and for sure a new VR generation. However, moving your pupils juuust outside that little area and you suddenly notice the sharpness falloff. And it starts early and aggressive. To give an example: During final approach I have my eyes focused on the runway. If I have my head in the right direction (takes a few moments to get it right) I can see the runway crystal clear miles and miles away. It really feels like real life. However, keeping an eye on the gauges at the same time is simply not possible without moving your head downwards quite dramatically in order to keep everything in that little sweetspot. Imagine you're in an Airbus looking at the runway and need to check your speed. You quickly look down to confirm...the gauge is blurry. As I mentioned, you physically have to move your head down to keep gauges in sweetspot. This totally ruins the immersion for me. My CV1 is better. Yes, obviously way worse resolution, screendoor and overall bluriness but it is more consistent and even. Maxing out SS on the CV1 makes the cockpit look very good throughout the frame. That is NOT the case with G2. Also, when looking around at the scenery, either for navigation or just enjoying the sim you're in a combination of sharpness and blur at the same time and it messes with your brain.

It is sad and I am torn since the sweetspot is SO word not allowed good and  surprisingly, the G2 runs very well on my 1080ti. I am able to run Xplane with decent settings AND some SS on top of that. I was NOT expecting that. But then again, nor was I expecting the display/lens tradeoff. It is a shame really because HP has something here that has the potential to destroy everything in its path. And they failed with the lenses (shipment and FOV is a separate story but I would happily accept that if it weren't for the lens design).

Maybe it works fine in other games, but for flightsim I can't accept this tradeoff. Sadly, for me  there are no other alternatives right now since I've seen what it can look like. Valve Index; If you are listening; take that Index, slam the G2 highres display in there, finetune the lenses, keep the FOV and call it a day. 

Ps. I also find the blacklevels quite bad. Nightflying is not the same anymore - but not a showstopper.

 

[blueshark747 1,758]

16 hours ago, flightsim1818 said:

I got my G2 last saturday and was like a kid on christmas. After a long wait and countless emails and phonecalls to HP Store I finally got my headset. Good times....right? Sadly, that feeling slowly started to fade to grey when I noticed the limited sweetspot. At first I wondered if they edges were not clean after removing those plastic protectors but no...after cleaning the issue is still there. 

It's not about me not being able to find the sweetspot. I am in it and everything in the sweetspot is crystal clear. Like real life and truly amazing and for sure a new VR generation. However, moving your pupils juuust outside that little area and you suddenly notice the sharpness falloff. And it starts early and aggressive. To give an example: During final approach I have my eyes focused on the runway. If I have my head in the right direction (takes a few moments to get it right) I can see the runway crystal clear miles and miles away. It really feels like real life. However, keeping an eye on the gauges at the same time is simply not possible without moving your head downwards quite dramatically in order to keep everything in that little sweetspot. Imagine you're in an Airbus looking at the runway and need to check your speed. You quickly look down to confirm...the gauge is blurry. As I mentioned, you physically have to move your head down to keep gauges in sweetspot. This totally ruins the immersion for me. My CV1 is better. Yes, obviously way worse resolution, screendoor and overall bluriness but it is more consistent and even. Maxing out SS on the CV1 makes the cockpit look very good throughout the frame. That is NOT the case with G2. Also, when looking around at the scenery, either for navigation or just enjoying the sim you're in a combination of sharpness and blur at the same time and it messes with your brain.

It is sad and I am torn since the sweetspot is SO word not allowed good and  surprisingly, the G2 runs very well on my 1080ti. I am able to run Xplane with decent settings AND some SS on top of that. I was NOT expecting that. But then again, nor was I expecting the display/lens tradeoff. It is a shame really because HP has something here that has the potential to destroy everything in its path. And they failed with the lenses (shipment and FOV is a separate story but I would happily accept that if it weren't for the lens design).

Maybe it works fine in other games, but for flightsim I can't accept this tradeoff. Sadly, for me  there are no other alternatives right now since I've seen what it can look like. Valve Index; If you are listening; take that Index, slam the G2 highres display in there, finetune the lenses, keep the FOV and call it a day. 

Ps. I also find the blacklevels quite bad. Nightflying is not the same anymore - but not a showstopper.

 

I reported on this with the G1 and look at how triggered some became😭

 

[jimh 21]

Hi,

We're all very different.  I don't really notice the sweet spot in my G2.  Perhaps I move my head more than most.  I do have a pair of special glasses I got from VR lens Lab for my original CV1, which I'm using in the G2 until proper conversion lenses arrive, and the maximum IPD adjustment just happens to match my own.  I'm just lucky, I guess.

Jim

[dilore 126]

Yes, the Sweet Spot is much smaller than I expected. And all those previewers who talked about how clear the display is - bs.

But I will still keep it.

[peppy197 165]

I love my Reverb G2

google about improvement hints there are a few good ones

 

[jimh 21]

Hi,

Just to add a little variety to the conversation, my Reverb G2 has ceased to connect after only around 10 days use.  No Mixed Reality entry in Device Manager, Headset not connected in MRP.  I've tried every permutation of connections I can think of to no avail.

I've replaced it for now  with a Vive Pro, and boy is there a difference!  ☹️

Now I can see the sweet spot!

Jim

Edited December 18, 2020 by jimh
additional remark

[threegreen 2,557]

I'm still waiting for my G2, but I've read several times reports of people who said the sweet spot in the G2 was really big or at least bigger than in the G1 (that I currently use). I feel there are a lot of contradicting reports. That's not to say that any of them are wrong, but maybe there is something rather subjective about the visual perception.

I'm also not sure whether a narrow sweet spot is a trade off for very high resolution. I'm not educated a lot about the technical stuff in VR headsets but perhaps we're just not at the point yet at which it's reasonably feasible to have such a sharp picture over the entire lense, maybe even for performance reasons.

Edited December 21, 2020 by threegreen

[Pilot53 499]

I just got mine, the sweetspot is small but the worst is the black levels for me, maybe something is wrong with my settings but my initial results are not promising.  

[speedbird2503 0]

I really had luck: Read that the MSFS update went live on 22th and ordered on 25th my G2 and got it on the 30th of December. This is my first VR headset.

Well, you are right, I was also not satisfied with the sweetspot in the beginning, also thought about returning it. It was totally unnatural to turn my head to have a sharp view on something. However, I mostly got used to it. I also played around with the placement of the headset a lot and there was some room for improvement at least for me. With the A/C I fly (C172 G1000, CJ4) at the moment I can read the displays. For the A320 it was bad. All in all I will keep it because the immersion I have is much better than the monitor setup I had before. I love watching my wing from the Cockpit 😃.

[tpete61 208]

It could be returned but I've owned a few different models, currently it is one of the best on the market.

There is room for improvement with all VR equipment. It will come in time if demand stays good.

Right now I will keep my G2 as it has one of the sharpest views on the market. It is also quite comfortable.

I've yet to see a VR headset come anywhere close to replicating a 4K monitor. For the current price point of these VR headsets it is probably not realistic expectation.

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by tpete61

[NeilC 3]

I am loving the G2. As a long time oculus user (CV1, Rist S) I find the G2 to deliver better resolution with better performance. Things are much clearer than the Rift S, and in P3D v4.5/Assetto Corsa/Euro Truck sim things are a lot smoother. 
 

I have just stated playing Half Life Alyx and my mind is truly blown. It is so smooth yet so clear. Shows what can be achieved with software specifically written for VR. I have a modest system (6700k @ 4.6 and a 1080) but still get good results. Hopefully, if my 3080 Ever turns up things will improve further. 
 

One final point. The audio solution of the off ear phones is also superb. Blows the Rift S away!

Edited January 8, 2021 by NeilC

[DerekG 1]

I agree the sweetspot is an issue with the G2 but I'm wondering if it's related to the cockpit resolution of the Airbus flight model in MSFS2020.

I say this as I owned the G1 along with the PMDG NGXU, which has a very high-res cockpit. The view suffered less from the sweetspot issue and was nothing short of stunning IMHO. I have not gone back yet to try the G2 with the NGXU as I'd need to go back to P3D.

I'm aware that the lens design was changed between the G1 and G2, I'd expect that the engineering would be improved. Anyone on the NGXU with a G2?

Agree with NeilC that the sound from the off-ear headphones of the G2 is incredible. Even with some in-flight music!

Edited January 9, 2021 by DerekG
added

[shafs67 3]

I have found the G2 to be much better than the G1 more comfy as i have a big head. Also the sweet spot is better than the G1. Only issue Ive been having is it crashes to desktop in X plane if go out of VR back into 2D for the cruise part of the flight then try and go back into VR. 

[jfri 41]

On 12/17/2020 at 12:52 AM, dilore said:

Yes, the Sweet Spot is much smaller than I expected. And all those previewers who talked about how clear the display is - bs.

But I will still keep it.

What should we believe ? I second the statement about contradictions. I saw a long customer review of the G2 stating among good things that the sweet spot is enormous.

[dilore 126]

 

On 2/6/2021 at 4:15 PM, jfri said:

What should we believe ? I second the statement about contradictions. I saw a long customer review of the G2 stating among good things that the sweet spot is enormous.

Could be a matter of head shape. Or the type of game you are using, maybe the Sweet Spot is actually better in certain FPS and racing games?

BTW, after having exchanged the gasket (eyes closer to the lenses) I find the Sweet Spot in P3D acceptable.