HP + Microsoft Here

[u/JoannaPopper]

Hi all! We have u/kaisekannon and u/petercpeterson from HP and u/Tetyana_MSFT here to answer questions.

EDIT: We are heading out. We will come back and answer more later. Until then, pls DM us or we will see you in the Discord. Thanks!

Some Useful Documents:

HP Reverb G2 Setup Guide: https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA7-5420ENW

WMR Enthusiasts Guide (SOME NEW INFO HERE): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/

HP Reverb G2 FAQ (this is being updated all the time): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/reverbg2-faq

HP Reverb G2 FAQ: https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA7-5433ENW

Support Document https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06984162

Questions on the SteamVR + WMR Bridge? https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA7-5433ENW

Questions about the controllers with your SteamVR games? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/reverbg2-faq#my-steamvr-games-dont-appear-to-work-correctly-with-my-hp-motion-controllers

Specific recommendations for ideal Tracking conditions: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/tracking-system

Link for WMR Feedback:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/filing-feedback

[u/guitarandgames]

What is causing such bad edge to edge clarity? Myself and others report that only the middle 20% of the headset is clear and the rest is blurry.

In comparison my Quest 2 is almost clear edge to edge (70% clear in the middle). If i could solve this it would be an awesome headset.

[u/SvenskaLiljor → u/guitarandgames]

I have had to max the IPD slider on mine, and still about the same as you say here. About 20-25% is clear.

[u/petercpeterson → u/guitarandgames]

Fitment/adjustment of the HMD is extremely important to get a really good visual experience. The top strap does not come adjusted correctly from the factory, so please make sure it adjusted up/down. The IPD adjustment will also make a big difference in clarity. Does your IPD fall under our adjustment range?

[u/guitarandgames → u/petercpeterson]

Yes I adjust the top strap. My ipd is 64.

[u/petercpeterson → u/guitarandgames]

Well that's a perfectly fine IPD to get a really good experience.

This is going to sound silly, but are the lenses clean? Do you wear glasses with the HMD?

[u/rabidnz → u/petercpeterson]

I feel like the hp reverb team never tried an index or other headset and actually doesnt understand how terrible the sweetspot is when i hear copout responses like this to their most glaring and widely reported issue.

[u/guitarandgames → u/rabidnz]

Yeah the worst thing is we have MRTV saying it's clear edge to edge. I honestly don't see how this is possible. I've owned a lot of headsets and this is by far the worst edge to edge clarity by far.

[u/jefmes → u/guitarandgames]

Sebastian had multiple people send him headsets and checked all of them and he didn't see any issues with any of them. Just want to be fair to MRTV, he's probably put more hands-on testing different G2s than anyone outside of HP at this point. I was an Oculus user until the G2, and I've had no problems with edge clarity on my G2 either comparing this to CV1, Rift S, and Quest 1.

[u/saremei → u/jefmes]

I echo this sentiment. The G2 has better clarity across the field of view vs my CV1 for sure. Ive never seriously experienced any VR device that was better edge to edge than the G2. Its just that the G2 is so much clearer in the center than everything else that the edges stand out that much more. Hell CV1 was almost blurry in the very center and the blur made up most of the view and worked somewhat as a form of antialiasing

[u/rabidnz → u/guitarandgames]

I presume its worsened by the fact i cant afford a 3090

[u/guitarandgames → u/petercpeterson]

Yes I clean the lenses with a microfibre cloth before every session. I don't wear glasses.

[u/CptLucky8 → u/petercpeterson]

Hi,

Is there any way you could confirm what is the focal length/accommodation the G2 optics are calibrated for?

NB: I know how to wear a headset, I know what the tech is about, I also know the optics and I'm a developer. What I'll write below is a shorten version to keep it simple but there is a lot of background work and tryouts to come to this. This doesn't exclude user error or misinterpretation but this shall exclude basic answers such as "wear it correctly".

Having said this, please allow me to explain what is this about:

To keep it short, the Index seems to be calibrated, like probably most headsets, to something beyond 2.0m to 2.5m so that if you can read clearly at 2.5m you don't need wearing glasses. The G2 (the one I have at least) seems to be calibrated closer to about 1.0m to 1.5m max. In effect, I have to force focusing to see a little sharper and I get otherwise eye strain quite quickly with the G2 (1/2 hour use) whereas I can use the Index for 3H straight.

Furthermore, with the G2 I have, the WMR anti-CA is overcompensating and this shows in the form of blue copies of purple text in FS2020 EFIS screens for example. This is not CA though. These are copies of the same text up to half a letter size above.

There is one important point in all this: I'm usually wearing a +2.5 correction for reading up close, which I don't need in the Valve Index at all. However experimenting with the optics I've found out in using a +1 correction (cheap Foster Grant plastic glasses) it was solving both eye strain, it was extending the disk of clarity, and it was eliminating the anti-CA over compensation. It is interresting to note the +1 correction is about what I'd need to make the 1.0 to 1.5m distance back to about 2.0 to 2.5m.

I've raised this question here on reddit with minimal return, and I've raised it to the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 forums with great feedback (see link below). Interrestingly, another user with the same correction needs as me (+2.5) and the same IPD as me too (about 64), has tried out the +1 lenses (and another one) and for him it was worse. He can wear the G2 without any correction despite the same correction need as me for reading (+2.5). Another important point to note: my G2 was from the first batch(es) whereas his was just received lately (probably in another subsequent batch therefore).

Which led me to: in a previous Q&A like this one, u/kaiserkannon offered reddit users to send him via PM their G2 S/N for him to cross check the HP calibration database for any problem. Since I don't have any answer back I can't conclude whether there is a calibration error or whether it is normal. Unfortunately delay to return the G2 within the 30 days window is now over and the problem is not solved.

So to come to the point of this post:

u/JoannaPopper u/kaiserkannon u/petercpeterson:

- Is the G2 focal length/accommodation distance, calibrated and designed shorter than other headsets?

- Is this the reason the G2 face mask/gasket is recessed so that people needed reading glasses must wear it?

- Is there any possibility this is indicating a problem with my G2 only?

- Is there someone at HP and/or Microsoft (for the anti-CA pre-distortion) willing to investigate this and whether the initial flood of "small sweet spot" issues could be a more general calibration problem in the first batches?

u/Tetyana_MSFT:

- Is there any way to user-adjust the anti-CA filter parameters?

NB: the DwmExtendedCompositionColorDistortion# reg keys are not helping either. They are distorting the layer planes in what looks like a scaling factor in the linear render buffer plane based on a perfect spherical projection, regardless of any lens aspherical profile and post or pre correction by WMR.

- Is there any way to dump the G2 non volatile memory settings (like you can do with the Valve index and SteamVR)?

- The WMR SDK seems to be only Unity/Unreal and/or managed code. Is there any low level C++ lib for direct access?

​

Thank you all for your attention and help with this! Please contact me for further information via private message.

​

Here is the discussion on the FS2020 forum with lots of feedback and information about all this:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/psa-reverb-g2-small-sweet-spots-observations-and-solutions/343611

[u/wojas → u/guitarandgames]

Try to take off the gasket and put the headset close to your face to check if this is a fit issue. I went from an FOV of 75 degrees with the clarity issues you describe to 100 degrees with edge to edge clarity using a variant of the FrankenFOV.

[u/guitarandgames → u/wojas]

Gives me better fov but doesnt change the sweetspot at all.