Not so much impressed by Reverb G2 and MFS2020 - blurry outside sweetspot, unlike Google Earth VR

Virtual Reality (VR) General
#1

I’m new to VR with brand new Reverb G2. Following CptLucky8 advice I managed to configure my system based on 3070, to display 25-30 FPS with repojection in OpenXR “preview runtime”. The picture is a bit choppy, especially when looking thorugh the side windows, but this is not my biggest issue.

The sweet spot in G2 is disapointing to me. I find myself constantly correcting the placement of my headset vs. my head/eyes. While the C172 steam gauges cockpit looks decent (I’m RW pilot so flying VFR I glance mostly on the airspeed indicator), the scenery is disapointing. On my monitor (1920x1080) I can see crisp scenery, buildings etc. In VR the scenery is more like a blurry mess (even at TAA render scaling 100% and scaling in Open XR dev tools at 100%), especially outside the small sweetspot.

I will be experimenting with replacing the original headset gasket, to place my eyes closer to the lenses. Or maybe it’s just my eyes - I’m 50+ and still avoiding the reading glasses, but as far as I undetstand, the picture in the headset is focused in the distance like in the real world, so I should not have issues with the outside scenery, which anyway looks decent but only in the small sweet spot. Some reviewers of G2 said that the sweet spot of G2 is actually decent, the high quality of the picture in the sweetspot is even more contrasting in G2 with the blurriness outside the sweetspot.

While the cockpit looks great in 3D, and the head movements are more natural in VR (like observing the runway when judging the turn to final), what is most important to me when flying VFR is the outside view, and with it I’m not so impressed, when comparing it to my triple display setup (even limited by the lack of angled side displays support in MFS2020) with TrackIR - the picture is crisp across 3 displays, FPS much better even with most settings on high or ultra.

What is strange - when I “fly” over the landscape in GoogleEarth VR I don’t notice the scenery blurriness outside the sweet spot which is very apparent in MFS2020. I can actually spend hours “flying” in GoogleEarth VR over the areas I already visited in reality, especially the mountains and ski resorts. I wonder why this blurriness outside sweet spot is so apparent in MFS2020 despite having render scaling in MFS at 100% and also scaling in Open XR developer tools set at 100%.

Am I doing anything wrong? Or are my expectations set to high?

4 Likes
#2

I have observed same blurriness outside sweet spot with my G2.

i9 9900@5.2 HT on, Z390, 32GB Dominator @3800, Nvme 1Tb, MSI RTX2080S OC

#3

Blurry visuals outside the sweet spot of the lenses is a common “feature” of all current gen headsets. We just have to live with it and compensate with head movement.

#4

If you want to avoid bluriness and small sweetspot, you have to go the Pimax 8KX- route. Much wider FOV and sweetspot as well. But this is in another league concerning costs and hardware required.

#5

Hi,
I’m not sure you can compare it with Google Earth VR, as that is nothing near as demanding as MSFS.

I have just tried MSFS in VR for the first time, also using a G2 and I am very impressed! The scenery is slightly blurry but you get used to it. The immersion is the main thing & this is fantastic.
One thing though… mine was very blurry at first, but when I checked the graphic settings I found that everything had been changed to minimum. I have now put (most)things back up to ultra/high.
I noticed that when I start a flight, it is sometimes a bit jerky for a few moments but then usually clears. This is even more obvious when I exit VR & then go back in. Not sure why this happens, but once it’s clear it’s very enjoyable.

By the way, I recommend the Aermacchi MB339 jet fighter/trainer addon. It was good before, but it VR… wow!

Regards
Steve

#6

Yep it’s the same for me with a 3080. I can get it to run smooth but can’t seem to get rid of the blurriness. Maybe it’s my eyesight but its not like it in other sims / games.

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#7

Yes, i can confirm that blurry visuals outside the sweet spot is normal in all current gen headsets. But i have to add two notes:
1.) The G2 sweet spot is smaller than in Rift S for example.
2.) Don’t know why but for me the sweet spot in MSFS2020 ist extremely small in my G2. In other sims like DCS or XP11 the view outside the middle is much more clear to see. Maybe MS can adjust something here?! It’s like @brichiuk mentioned before.

2 Likes
#8

I’ve just posted this you might find useful:
PSA: Reverb G2 small sweet spots, observations and solutions

1 Like
#9

To answer the google earth question:

Bing map data is’nt in the same quality as google maps. So the general quality is not comparable. To assess the quality of your headset try a modelled area in the sim like monument valley for example. There is a major difference between the generic (bing)mapped and the handmade scenery, Also fligh simulator has to emulate a lot more than google earth, at the cost of performance, of course.

#10

totally agree, the reverb g2 visuals are overrated and not that impressive imo. No way is it worth 300 more dollars than quest 2. weak fov, tiny sweet spot, cheap feeling controllers, poor tracking…Got it in the mail, fiddled trying to get the visuals to not be meh for like 3 hours, then packed it up. It’s going back.

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#11

I can only comment for the G1. Despite having fixed IPD the sweet spot is ok for me (61.5mm). It’s not great compared to the Quest1 but bearable. Sharpness degrades indeed quite hefty outside the sweetspot. My advice: don’t look around with your eyes use your head instead.

#12

yeah but i can look around with my eyes in the quest tho. Why am i gunna pay 300 extra dollars for inferior optics, worse fov, bad controllers, bad tracking, no virtual desktop just for a small amount of extra pixels that i cant even push with my current system?

1 Like
#13

You made your decision and that’s ok. So you must justify it with negativity. But the Quest also has quite a few bad points too if you think about it.

#14

For me it’s only MSFS its blurry in other sims / games it’s Very clear, so i’m not so sure its the headset.

1 Like
#15

Exactly my observations. It’s only MSFS, all other sims or games are absolutely clear in the G2.

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#16

I’d say MSFS is slightly lower quality than other things I’ve tried but I assume that’s down to how demanding it is in general. It still has the same fundamental issues in everything.

I’ve had the G2 for a few weeks now. I can’t say I’m impressed enough to keep it so I’ll move it on.

The sweet spot is indeed much smaller than anything previously but it’s also the build quality. I just don’t think it’s going to last very long before something fundamental breaks. It doesn’t help that my head is so huge it’s right at the limit of adjustment.

The clarity is indeed very good. I’ve learnt that’s only one part of the equation. I’ll wait for another generation or two.

#17

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