Donka

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'm thinking of sticking with the Pico 4 for the time being. It's a very good product for the money and I'm hoping to see some new options open up next year.

Good to hear. There are still lots to change but those were just a few key things to consider first.

I'm using the Pico 4 as my first VR headset and really enjoying it in MSFS. I am looking at possibly picking up the Varjo Aero for improved visuals but the one concern I have is the vertical FOV which many say is reduced from the likes of the Quest and Pico series. Has anyone mad a similar upgrade and can comment on this? Does it have a noticeable impact?

You've got some fairly robust PC specs there. Can I suggest just a few basic settings to try. MSFS: TAA mode at 100% resolution Sharpness set to 0% Virtual Desktop: Use VDXR - make sure SteamVR is not running at all. Godlike quality HEVC10 Bitrate set to 150 Sharpness at 70% SSW disabled (for now) Increase nominal video range (can't remember exact name but gives greater contrast) OpenXR Toolkit: No sharpening initially (can be changed later to taste) Override resolution set to 3120x3120 Fixed Foveated Rendering using Quality preset See what kind of performance you can get with the above. From there, you can consider switching from TAA to DLSS Quality in MSFS or enabling SSW in Virtual Desktop if you are not getting acceptable performance. There is a lot more to 'tweak' but these are some of the basics for now. I recommend only applying one layer of sharpening in Virtual Desktop. The more sharpening you introduce, the more shimmering and other artefacts you will see, especially if you add it in both MSFS and OpenXR Toolkit as well. If you want to add additional sharpening, I would recommend only in Open XR Toolkit and avoiding in MSFS - like photography, sharpening is best being applied later in the process or preferably last - hence only using it in Virtual Desktop. The override resolution has the biggest impact on clarity, too much sharpening can make your image much worse.

I raised this as a bug during testing so will hopefully be addressed in a future update.

I use a Wifi 5 router supplied by my ISP and it works flawlessly with a solid 866Mbps connection - granted I'm only around 8m away with a good line of sight. Wifi6 is not a requirement, it's just recommended.

I only use wireless via Virtual Desktop and I would guess this is the preferred way for many people provided you have a solid wifi connection. For something like MSFS, latency is less of an issue as responses are typically slow anyway and don't require ms timing like a fast paced, action shooter game.

For anyone in the UK interested in the Pico 4, Smyths currently have it in-store for £199.99. Absolute bargain at that price for a great headset for MSFS imho.

In my experience, no it doesn't. I have my IPD fixed in the headset and the majority of the aircraft are at the correct scale however there are a few that stand out as appearing too large or too small. In headset, the IPD should be static based on your own IPD.

Yes, World Scale should be used as required - it's offered in Sim for that very reason. I change world scale depending on the aircraft and while it does change for everything, not just the cockpit, it's only really apparent on the cockpit since that is much closer to the viewpoint.

I haven't tried the 320 in VR yet but I've found some aircraft require an adjustment of the world scale setting so they feel the right size. I actually wish this setting could be saved per aircraft.

Carenado shared this video on the anniversary of its release. I also got a chance to play around with the latest 2.01 version and it's working beautifully for me. I've never been impacted by the fps drop others have reported although granted I normally only do shorter flights.

I haven't bought it and may do soon but surely the concerns over SU14 should only apply when that is officially released and the aircraft is not patched to work with it? It's normal for developers to target the current official release given the fluid nature of a beta. It could be that any fix for SU14 would break the aircraft in SU13 hence the need to hold off. It's certainly a valid argument once SU14 releases though.

Yup, the traditional way is to use an install media, usually USB these days and boot from that allowing you to wipe the 😄 drive and perform a clean install. The reset method I used and mentioned by Cognita is much simpler and found under Windows settings. It allows you to perform a Windows reinstall via the cloud without the need to prepare any boot media - it's all automated. It also provides the option of wiping everything including user programs and files or wiping only the Windows files while retaining user programs and files. For a true clean out, I would recommend wiping everything. This means you need to manually reinstall your apps but it's a good way to trim down by not installing apps you haven't used in a while or no longer need.

I recently upgraded to Windows 11 but knew my PC was carrying a bit of bloat and fancied a proper clear out. To that end, I performed a Windows reset but chose the option to remove all user files and settings, essentially like doing a clean install. My MSFS community was on a separate drive but I didn't realise that would also get wiped as part of the reset. So now with a fresh Windows 11 containing no 3rd party apps/tools, I needed to reinstall MSFS and add back in all the World updates via Content Manager. I fired up my first session in VR post install and was shocked just how well things were performing. I reviewed my graphic settings which were all still on Ultra with the one change being render scale at 80% instead of 100%. Now this was just using the stock Caravan flying between a Glasgow and Edinburgh airport but hitting the Pico 4 limit of 90fps over the default scenery. The smoothness was also really noticeable. It seems having a clean install of Windows without other tools running in the background (Except Virtual Desktop and Open XR Toolkit to handle the VR connection) and forgoing the likes of custom airports, Orbx GB add ons and other tools like JF FS Traffic and We Love VFR makes a massive difference. I'm impressed just how performant MSFS is stock. I'm starting to add back in some custom airports like PD Edinburgh and Glasgow but performance is still way better than it was previously. I will see some very minor stutters as I approach these airports but nothing compared to how these used to impact frames. TLDR; A clean install of Windows and MSFS does wonders for performance. Worth a try if you are not happy.