Keep in mind that the G2 load on the GPU is higher for the same stated resolution due to the lens design…one of the videos from VR Flight Sim Guy covered this and it was surprising to see that the Aero on a 3080/3090 can give higher clarity/sharpness at same final resolution with same or higher fps because the G2 has to actually render at higher pixel count due to the lens design….I may have some of the terminology wrong but that was the gist of it. I’ll report back when I get my aero, I ordered maybe 3 weeks after launch so hopefully it shows up in the next month or so. I’m on a 3090 and use the G2 now for quite some time so I have it dialed in with NIS scaler, full reprojection etc. I do wish the Aero had a reprojection option but that may be coming as they evolve their software over time.
What is the truth here? I have asked Varjo support the following question:
I haven’t ready anything about the possibilities regarding 1. Motion Reprojection and 2. Motion Smoothing. I don’t know if I’m using the exact right terms, but with 1 I mean rotational compensation for lower framerates to the native refresh rate and with 2, the same but positional.
Is this something that is being worked on? Can we expect the Aero to feature this, or not at all?
And got this response:
Regarding your question about motion reproduction/smoothing, we have information that I believe covers both your questions here:
Getting the perfect image quality – Varjo.com
Motion Prediction:
The Motion Prediction feature in Varjo Base improves image quality by predicting and smoothing movement in applications. This can be helpful if, for instance, some objects in your application are moving erratically. Motion Prediction takes into account both the headset moving in relation to the scene and objects in the scene moving in relation to the headset.
From this, I would be under the impression that reprojection is available?
Thanks for this. It’s helpful but still not very clear. When I read it I don’t thing motion smoothing in their software is actually interjecting additional frames to go from say 30fps raw sim output up to 90fps in the headset. Maybe I am interpreting their response incorrectly though. With all the shipments starting I have to believe this question will keep coming up and perhaps a more clear answer will emerge.
Why shouldn’t there be one? Only, efforts are being made in the direction of being able to do without this cheating system (repro) at some point. 
I don’t have the Aero yet. According to several reports elsewhere (Discord, etc.), there is an option to enable motion prediction/smoothing in the Varjo Base software. However, it’s implementation appears to be flawed. It has been described as producing severely wobbly/distorted images and thus can’t be used in the current state. People have also tried to get it working by activating motion reprojection in SteamVR/OpenXR, but haven’t succeeded. I don’t know to what extend this has been reported to Varjo yet.
So, it seem Aero users will have to go without until it will be fixed. For me that might be a reason to return the Aero, but I’ll decide on that when I got mine and did some testing.
I am pretty sure I read somewhere that their Motion Reprojection will be able to interpolate like 2 frames for every 1, 3 frames for every one, all the way up to 7.
But yeah I think it is currently still under development. I am not overly concerned myself at this time.
A correction to me previous post, based on what I’ve learned from the Discord channels: Currently Varjo Base Software (VB) only supports an option for “Motion Prediction”. This appears to be something different than what we used to know as motion reprojection from OpenXR/SteamVR by design, and it will only work if explicitly supported by the app/game. Therefore options are “Disabled”, “Enabled” and “Enabled if supported”. As experienced by different users, it won’t work with MSFS, for example, so it’ll be best left on “Disabled” or “Enabled if supported”. A “true” motion reprojection obviously hasn’t been implemented yet.
I have the Aero. First day use.
My rig is not high spec, but may be similar to many, so here are my first thoughts…
It appears to be a little more resource-demanding than my previous Reverb G2, however the extra clarity means I can reduce the rendering level, so no real issue.
On my system anything over the default PPI setting causes stutter and much reduced FPS, so I’m using the default 35PPI.
The lenses really are a HUGE improvement, but there IS barrel distortion. We know that Varjo have worked on this, and I assume (hope!) will continue to do so.
The view curves VERY slightly as the head moves. It’s not “gold-fish bowl”, just a slight sense, becoming more obvious at the edges. I think that it might take some getting used to - probably by moving the head slower…
I find that the lateral edges are always quite blurred (maybe about 5% overall?), which is disconcerting. Maybe I’m missing something on adjusting the zoom level in MSFS…
FOV seems very similar to the G2, maybe a little more.
Colours and lighting are great.
The extra clarity brings out so many landscape details, and not a hint of shimmering anywhere. For example - one scenery add-on has multiple cable car lines - these are no longer a shimmer-fest! All buildings are razor-sharp and clear.
I’m using two SteamVR 2.0 base stations, but just one works quite well when seated, with the occasional jitter…
It’s definitely a different experience to anything on the G2, visuals much improved. Is it worth the extra dosh? There will be opinions of course, but I’m keeping mine - the Missus would only waste the money on some none-toy…
Brit
Intel i7 6700 4Ghz RTX 3080Ti, 32Gb Win10 NVIDIA 511.23
Forgot to mention - the “Motion Prediction” doesn’t work well at all in MSFS…
Brit.
Thanks for the review Brit!
Waiting for mine, can’t wait to try it in mfs2020 and Il 2.
Awesome to hear that there is no shimmer… were you suffering from shimmery buildings and tress with the G2? That’s my main issue with the game as of now…
Thanks for your thoughts Brit. I recently upgraded from an Index to a G2 and am absolute astonished by the clarity… in the middle. I’ve got an Aero on order.
I understand from others that the Aero has this clarity practically edge-to-edge (minus the 5% of outer edge you mention in your review). How big of a leap, clarity wise, is the Aero to the G2, when you focus on the center of the image? Is that actually even sharper/better? Or is the improevement mosly because of having a larger sweet spot?
Shimmer - indeed. It was miserable in the G2. The complete lack of shimmer in the Aero was the first thing I noticed…
The so-called “sweet spot” is wider - but of course with the graduated foveat rendering it will be a more gradual tail-off anyway, I suppose.
I think that the barrel-effect is something that one has to get used to. I suppose there is a limit with what you can do in optical physics. The thought did occur that some sort of internal warping effect is required, and I assume that is exactly what they have done - in which case there may be room for improvement…
Cockpit clarity is much better. For example can sit in the A320 and look up and read all the overhead switches perfectly. For some reason the FMGC type still seems a bit blurry…
Brit
I turned it on (using OpenVR) firstly as Enabled If Supported (nothing seemed to happen) then as Enabled; the result was appauling so I’d say they haven’t finessed it yet. I am now using OpenXR which I prefer although still don’t think it uses Open XR Motion Projection either. That said it works fine without Motion Projection IMO.
Having now used the Aero for a couple of days (using OpenXR) I can honestly say this is vastly superior to my G2. The headset design means I can wear over ear hedphones for full immersion. The clarity of the image is fantastic, but the FOV is slightly less (both horizontal and vertical) than the G2. That said I had removed the G2 face plate and put on a Samsung mask with velcro so my eyes were closer to the lenses than the Aero. Having now flown a few hours, the FOV is not really an issue as the clarity is so good. In addition there are virtually no God rays and the blacks are much better than the G2. I’m getting as smooth a performance from the Aero as I was with the G2 on mainly high settings, 80% render scale in Open XR and 100% render scale in the sim. I am delighted with the headset despite it’s high price.
To all those who have already tried the Aero: on Discord, someone is trying to figure out if the distortion and chromatic aberration seen depend on one’s IPD (interpupillar distance). Please note that this poll is for the Varjo Aero only! It would be much appreciated if you took the time to answer this short poll:
Thanks.
Mine should be shipping sometime this week, getting excited now.
I will be very happy if this can replace my Vive Pro 2 and Reverb G2. I use the Reverb G2 for MSFS2020 and VP2 for DCS and IL-2 Great Battles along with some other made for VR games.
Watching with interest. I’m waiting to see what Meta, Valve and HP offer later this year before I bite the bullet on the Aero. The main reasons aside from price obviously are that I don’t have base stations or controllers nor do I have any desire or need for them so it feels like wasting £650 to buy them for the Aero when my other headsets (Quest 2 and G2) work fine with inside out tracking and their own controllers.
I’m also a bit concerned the headset sounds like its only really good for flight sim. Some have said there are no distortions in MSFS but they are really bad in Half Life Alyx.
I don’t want to buy a headset just for one use.
But with no sign of Valve releasing anything any time soon, and Meta’s Cambria apparently only having 2160 x 2160 per eye screens, the same as my G2, it doesn’t sound so appealing now.
I just wish all the other manufacturers would announce their plans so I know what to order!
Would you say the aero at 80% render scale is better than the G2 at 95% render scale ? I will have to lower the render scale on Aero to take into account:
-no motion reprojection
-no NIS scaler for the aero
-running at 90Hz (vs 60 Hz for my G2)
NIS scaler will be possible on the Aero as all the other headsets. NIS works on openXR and the Aero is fully compatible with it. What I saw is that as the Aero has a native openXR runtime, you can even play msfs without Steam VR, like on the G2, and get better performance.
The question is: what is the resolution your PC can handle without reprojection to obtain let’s say 30 fps? Given the Aero is around 2800x2700 per eye, then you will know what rendering resolution and % to choose in the NIS scaler or inside msfs.
On my side I found out that I can go higher in resolution with repro deactivated. Motion reprojection also consume additional ressources.
I still have fun with my G2 but really wait and excited for my Aero to come.