I get excellent results with my Q2/rtx3090/win10 with both Link and Air Link using TAA and OpenXR toolkit. Only advantage with Link is that distant object pop in earlier. Still, maybe not as nice as with your G2. I don’t know because I don’t have a G2. I also have an OG Vive Pro (amoled screens, etsy lens mod, and Index controllers) and wired this works a bit better, esp. with night flying.
I believe that the Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop only requires the Oculus software installed if you want to play any of your Rift store apps. Obviously you’ll need Steam and SteamVR installed to play Steam apps. For other apps you may be able it import them into VD with their VD function. Probably best to go to the VD discord channel for more info on all this.
Good luck with your new Pico 4 mate and I hope it works out well for you. Cheers.
Thanks!
Getting my Pico 4 in just a few hours, so then I will find out.
I did some tweaking with the wired connection with Quest 2 and MSFS, and… way better than the default settings. And yes, I used the Open XR toolkit as well.
Virtual Desktop and Project Cars 2 and Half Life Alyx and the other games are very sharp and good looking indeed on my Quest 2, and I can defineatly see myself swithcing to the Pico4 for all my
SteamVr content. I dont play them with the Quest 2 and VD because of the discomfort with the Quest 2. Front heavy, freshnell lenses and so on. I have only testet Q2 and VD to see what it looked like. I was very surprised how well it looked. Lag was also not too bad either.
You can try after buying from Amazon, then return if you’re not happy. Did that with original Quest, though I ended up ordering another one and keeping it when Link was introduced.
That’s also why I initially ordered Quest 2 from them.
Interestingly it looks like I could sell my Q2 and buy a Pico 4 for about £100 cost. (There aren’t many hardware upgrades that can be done for that cost these days!)
Are there any downsides that you see going from Q2 to P4 ? I use Virtual Desktop Ultra mode. Thanks!
I think the only real downsides for Q2 - Pico4 that have been pointed out by reviews I’ve seen are the software considerations. Anything you’ve bought on the standalone Q2 store obviously won’t be able to carry over (although if any are cross buy you could still play them from the desktop app through virtual desktop)… and pico can’t (yet?) match the general software/feature set of the Q2. You will of course have to buy VD’s app on the pico store again too.
From a hardware perspective it doesn’t seem like there’s any real downside other than of course to get the best out of it you’ll be running at a higher resolution thus have more demanding performance needs. Obviously the lack of a headphone jack is mildly irritating but can easily be solved by a USB - 3.5mm and usb splitter or there are some low latency wireless earbuds that have a little USB-C dongle with passthrough so you can still charge too. Conversely you may not be bothered by the latency of the built in bluetooth audio if you are playing games like MSFS.
I’ve actually had a pico 4 waiting for me at home for the last few days but I’ve been away with work so not seen it yet. Looking forward to getting my hands on it this evening and seeing how it stacks up to the G2… I’m very much looking forward to being able to go wireless for HL2 VR and the latest Alyx mods, something I missed greatly from my original Quest when I sold it for the G2.
My main concern is the performance overhead of having to encode the stream, so will be interesting to compare performance between the G2 and pico 4 at same resolution.
I’d be very interested in your comparison between G2 and Pico 4 at similar fidelity.
I like the idea of going wireless and I only really use my G2 for MSFS, but having never experienced “streaming” headsets such as Q2 (either on Link or VD/Airlink) I have no idea whether the compression/latency is something I could live with. I’ve only ever had PCVR, so CV1, then Rift S and now G2.
I’m sure things have moved on a bit since I last used VD, but I recall not having any issues with the latency. I did notice some colour banding from the compression, especially in the greys and blacks, but again this was a long time ago and on an original Quest.
For standing VR games even back then for me it was a more than worthwhile trade off for the freedom of no wires, but that’s obviously less of a concern for seated VR experiences like MSFS.
I will post my experiences when I’ve had a good chance to test it out and mess with settings. I’m expecting slightly less clarity at centre due to compression vs the G2, but from what I’ve seen the lenses are far better so should give a better overall image away from centre imo, an area where the G2 suffers considerably. My main worries revolve around the performance hit from encoding and running through VD - in a game like MSFS that could be a deal breaker.
I use VD on my quest 2, it’s a great piece of software and I have always preferred using it over Oculus link, primarily due to gamma and sharpness adjustments. There are zero latency issues assuming you have good wi-fi, I bought a dedicated and recommended router for £40.
However even at maximum bit rate, ultra mode and HEVC, there is still visible colour banding in clouds in MSFS (quest 2 via VD) which I guess will be a downgrade for those going from G2.
But yes, playing HL Alyx wirelessly is excellent and I couldn’t imagine playing it wired ! I recommend turning with your body and just using the controller for big movements / teleports
Yes, very much agree about the limited sweet spot on the G2. I’ve got used to it over time, but if the performance and image quality is comparable on the Pico 4, as well as a larger sweet spot given the pancake lenses, then that could be interesting!
Regarding tethered not being such an issue with seated VR like flight sims - I was of the same opinion for years, from when I got my Rift CV1 in 2016.
Then last year, for the first time I tried dogfighting in IL-2 GB with my Quest 2 and Virtual Desktop and my opinion changed completely. Even though I couldn’t identify other aircraft at the same distance as with my Index, I still much preferred using the wireless Quest 2 for the freedom of movement.
Somehow, even just being conscious of that cable is an impediment, even if not a big one - being completely free of those concerns means a huge difference and I can tell you I was smiling again like when I first used VR in a flight sim!
I agree and wireless is a huge benefit when using VR controllers (something I often do in MSFS but not as much as I would like due to the bugs with Yoke+Stick control) as you really feel free to reach and lean around the cockpit, its great in the big airliners
I do agree ultimately - it’s always preferable to be wireless, it’s just much less off a nuisance when seated in a sim rig than when doing standing games so I feel the pro/con balance is different.
I found that adding a lighting stand behind the rig to suspend the cable made it almost “vanish” so at that point the quality gained from the wired connection is perhaps a bigger pro than the con of the wire.
Had a first play with the Pico 4 last night. First impressions are pretty good but I haven’t yet tried any sims… had a play of the Undertow HL: Alyx mod and it’s great in the pico.
Image quality is pretty similar to the G2 overall with virtual desktop streaming I would say - no colour banding like I used to have back with earlier implementations but as expected there is a little lack of clarity from the compression, it looks pretty similar to TAA style blurryness. It is definitely significantly offset by the better clarity from the lenses though. They are pretty good for I would say at least 80% of the field of view, then only get particularly noticeably poorer in the last 10% or so.
So at dead centre the G2 wins by a bit, then the pico progressively starts to win out the further out from centre you go. I think the Pico has a better feeling FoV too and I prefer the overall image even if it’s technically not as detailed.
There is definitely some significant performance overhead though so I’m not convinced it’ll be a workable solution given I already struggled with running my main sims at acceptable settings. We shall see… I think I may end up with the G2 for the sims and the Pico for everything else.
I dont play them with the Quest 2 and VD because of the discomfort with the Quest 2. Front heavy, freshnell lenses and so on. I have only testet Q2 and VD to see what it looked like. I was very surprised how well it looked. Lag was also not too bad either.
