Pimax Crystal Dynamic Foveated Rendering available to selected users

General Discussion & Community Support Virtual Reality (VR)
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You can do that yes. This shouldn’t even affect DCS (as in DCS hand tracking will still work even if you have the checkbox in PimaxXR unchecked).

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It worked…
You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman!

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Some more, not so optimistic, impressions on DFR vs. FFR in MSFS which lacks native implementation of FR/QuadViews.

4090, res. in OXRT supersampled to 4600 x xxxx, DLSS Quality (better for the scenery - GA/VFR, however may produce artifacting in brightly lit clouds when FR is eanbled)
or
4090, res. in OXRT downsampled to 3500 x xxxx, TAA 100 (better for glass cockpits - airliners/IFR)

With DFR enabled when my gaze moves, there is an issue at the edges of inner-medium and medium-outer rings, where resolution changes, resulting in some areas being rendered in different res. which causes some artifacting/shimmering. This attracts attention (peripheral vision reacts to the movement, with the instinctive urge to move the gaze to the area in which brain detects movement).

This probably explains why I have better impression in MSFS with FFR (preset quality wide, not very aggressive, more or less reflecting the gradual blurriness of Crystal lens towards the edges) - the areas where resolution changes (shimmer) are fixed vs. the headset position, not constantly reacting to the eye movement.

So for now I’m going to stick with FFR. Possibly disabling ET in Crystal will also help conserving the battery and extending the duration of the VR session on one battery.

Some day we may have proper native FR/QuadViews implementation in MSFS done by Asobo, but given the level of attention Asobo/Microsoft pays to VR, I’m not optimistic.
PimaxXR and OpenXR Toolkit do wonders, but at some point these tools are hitting the wall - only to be demolished by the sim developer - see the DCS example (multithreading, QuadViews support).

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I’ve been crook, so haven’t been able to test the eye tracking until today. At first it simply didn’t work, so I could not complete the calibration routine, but carefully reseating the lenses fixed that.

For me it really didn’t do much in MSFS. Running native resolution with DLSS Quality I can get 55 fps in a glider over the Alps, and enabling DFR really didn’t boost it much. Since that framerate is nowhere near as smooth as enabling lock to half frame rate at 45fps in PimaxXR any boost in FPS was wasted anyway.

I’ve also noticed my battery going down again in the latest Pimax Client beta, whereas using the hub before it was staying fully charged.

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the eye tracking LEDs seem to demand about 0.5A more, so might be the cause of the drain. try turning off the eye tracking features and see if it goes back to normal?

Quad views is definitely where it’s at for performance gains from eye tracking - just been playing with Pavlov and I literally get over double the performance! Same settings in the shooting range for consistency - 35-45fps without it and locked 90fs with quad views enabled.

If you have DCS, give that a go (needs to be MT version) as that supports quad views.

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Thanks, but the battery drain was caused by the beta firmware. The new public release of the eye tracking firmware fixed it and the hub now keeps the battery charged again.

As for quad view DFR, yeah, I’ve been reading up on it in various Discord servers…seems to be the way to go. Pity it’s unlikely to be introduced by Asobo for MSFS 2020. Hopefully it will be for MSFS 2024.

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From what I gathered it may be problematic if they use the same approach to VR as 2020 - it involves rendering 4 views and since MSFS isn’t using instanced rendering it would probably result in a serious CPU limitation having to draw the scene 4 times.

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How can I check if DFR is actually activated/working in MSFS?

I have it turned on in PimaxXR and OpenXR Toolkit but when I turn eye tracking off via the toolkit my FPS stays exactly the same.

Is there some kind of overlay that actually tells me if DFR is working?

(7800X3D / 4090)

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DFR will give the same FPS as FFR. Theoretically you should be able to set more aggressive FR profile in OXRT, and you should not see it, as the high resolution area should follow your gaze.
To check if ET/DFR works: in OXRT in the Foveated Rendering menu section set custom profile and use Cull option for any of the FR rings. You will see then if the FR rings are following your gaze.
Then set any resoultion multiplier as you like.
Personally with DFR I can perceive the shimmer at the edges of FR rings, which is annoying for me, so I settled with FFR. Side benefit: ET LEDs off, battery lasts longer.

1 Like
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Great information. Thank you!

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just got my pimax and tried DFR in DCS - its amazing!
however just wondering how we cab get it on MSFS and the benefits? (assume the quad view app will not work) - so the only option is to enable it on the pimax software or one of the other apps?

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  1. Enable Eye Tracking in PimaxClient.
  2. Calibrate Eye Tracking in PimaxClient.
  3. Enable “PimaxXR” in “PimaxXR - OpenXR Control Center”.
  4. “Allow use Eye Tracker” in PimaxXR - OpenXR Control Center.
  5. Enable Eye Tracking in in-sim menu of OpenXR Toolkit.
  6. Enable Foveated Rendering in in-sim menu of OpenXR Toolkit.
  7. Play with OpenXR Toolkit Foveated Rendering Presets.
  8. Expect circa 10% FPS increase due to Foveated Rendering (no matter Fixed or Dynamic) in MSFS.
  9. Expect some shimmering at the edges of DFR circles.
  10. Don’t expect DCS/QuadViews-level FPS increase.

With 4090, enabling FFR gave me 10% FPS increase. Switching from FFR to DFR alone provides no FPS increase. DFR theoretically allows usage of more aggressive FR settings in OXRT for 4% more FPS increase, but I returned to FFR due to shimmer at the edges of the FR circles, visible when the FR circles are moving with the gaze (ET).

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thanks for the reply.
1)so can see its been implemented very differently from DCS - so is the FFR (fixed) one something you would enable directly from the Pimax software (can see there seems to be an option) and is the DFR one that you have to configure in the openXR in game menu? (I remember there was a preset and custom option in the in game openXR settings menu?)
2)In terms of the DFR openXR presets are there many and which would you recommend? (guessing you select one from a drop down in the desk top openXR tool then select FR preset in the openXR game menu?)
3)guessing from your reply you would recommend the FFR? (which assume can also easily be selected in the pimax software and assume for this to work should not select any of the FR settings in the openXR apps or setting menu?)

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Indeed, MSFS does not support QuadViews, DFR results will by way worse compared to DCS.

If you will follow the steps I specified, you should make DFR operational in MSFS.

In Pimax Client you enable only ET, DFR option in Pimax Client is irrelevant for OpenXR/PimaxXR it applies to SteamVR only.

For FFR - see my recommendations in my posts above.
I don’t recommend DFR for MSFS due to small performance gain over the FFR in MSFS on 4090 and the shimmering at the edges of the FR circles.

But your preferences and perception may be different, VR perception is very personal.

36

thanks - I will give the FFR a try using your suggestion but:
1)assume in the openXR in sim settings your selecting the “FR - preset option”? - if yes where can I select the specific preset this loads up - is it from within the main openXR desktop app (and there is a selection of already pre-configured presets to choose from?
2)I already have the quad view app installed and everything configured for DCS DFR - assume as I jump between the sims I just need to set everything up again? (for example in DCS all my openXR in game settings are set to default) - or does it remember the settings for each game your using and eventhough I have the quad view app installed it will not conflict with my MSFS FFR?

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  1. In the OXRT in-sim menu, see my recommendations in one of my posts above. You can select presets like: Quality, Balanced, Performance, Wide, Narrow.
    You can also enter custom settings and define each FR ring size and resolution divider.
  2. I don’t have any DCS knowledge. I’m very peaceful pilot :wink:
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got it thanks
1)so basically you select FFR preset from the performance openXR ingame menu and in the same menu you should be able to select one of the presets?
2)your answer to 10 above suggests you might have used it in DCS!

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thanks managed to get it all working (seems to boost my FPS but as you say its not the 20+ I am getting in DCS - i seem to get the best experience when selecting custom and leaving the settings untouched - also I use it with turbo mode and the CSR sharpening)
but just wanted to check within the In game menu of openXR under FoveatedRendering custom - there is an eye tracking option should this be selected if your selecting custom or preset FR?

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  1. Enable Eye Tracking in PimaxClient.
  2. Calibrate Eye Tracking in PimaxClient.
  3. Enable “PimaxXR” in “PimaxXR - OpenXR Control Center”.
  4. “Allow use Eye Tracker” in PimaxXR - OpenXR Control Center.
  5. Enable Eye Tracking in in-sim menu of OpenXR Toolkit.
  6. Enable Foveated Rendering in in-sim menu of OpenXR Toolkit.
  7. Play with OpenXR Toolkit Foveated Rendering Presets.
  8. Expect circa 10% FPS increase due to Foveated Rendering (no matter Fixed or Dynamic) in MSFS.
  9. Expect some shimmering at the edges of DFR circles.
  10. Don’t expect DCS/QuadViews-level FPS increase.