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Vive Pro 2 - the good and the bad - need help with some issues please


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I've had the HTC Vive since release back in 2015/2016? I've been using the wireless adapter and it has been just fine. I then used the Gear lens mod and wow that literally improved the clarity. No more god rays and in actual fact, it was so sharp and clear, the low resolution of the OG Vive was more noticeable. I was tempted by Pimax, Index and the G2, but then this came out...Vive Pro 2...

- Zero screen door effect
- FOV - yes the vertical FOV is low, it is like a letter box. It is not an issue, as I have the thinner Kiwi VR cover face pad and I can get used to it.
- Very comfortable & evenly balanced
- Sweetspot - it's tiny. The text starts to blur just a few degrees off center. 
- Clarity/sharpness - it almost feels like there is a plastic film on the lenses. I have it on High setting as I only have the 1080TI. I need a better card with display port 1.4 to unlock Ultra and Extreme modes.
- God rays are a bitch across all text
- LCD and the black levels - dark scenes, yes they are grey and not black.
- Panel is quite dark compared to the original Vive which was almost blindingly bright. I noticed it has variable automatic brightness which is actually hindering me in games and dark scenes.
- Sound is good with the on-ear headphones

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After 4 days of playing with this, I've come to a conclusion that I'm going to go blind wearing this. It's not the sweetspot, because when you adjust the IPD with the dial, the green vertical and horizontal lines are in focus. The white text below that isn't sharp.

- Clarity - the blur is just too much. I really did look a few times just to see if there was actually plastic film on the lenses because that's what it looks like.
- Low humming sound from the built-in headphones (multiple people reporting the same)
- Screen gets quite warm
- Passthrough cameras not working "camera communication error" - is this working for anyone?

Note:- I am using a GTX 1080 Ti so I am limited to the High setting. Obviously it's impossible to get graphics cards lately, but would that actually improve the clarity? Bump it up to Ultra or Extreme will clear the text? I don't think I have an issue with the resolution, there isn't any anti-aliasing around text, it's just like someone has smeared vaseline all over the lenses or have I already gone blind?

Anyone tried it with the RTX 3080 or better? Unlocked Ultra or Extra, how is your text?

I get less headaches compared to the OG Vive as that resolution was too low. This is brilliant for the resolution, it's just the smear view I'm looking through now.

What is the returns process for this if I do decide to send it back?

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I have the same issue as you with the front cameras not working. 

As for the text I've tried it on my 3090 and text is bit blurry outside the sweetspot. I've found that it gets a bit clearer if I kind of hold the lenses a little farther from my face, kind of replicating as scenario where the pads are thicker. This might be a personal thing though.

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I have to send my Vive Pro 2 back 😐

The displays are broken. They're both showing vertical coloured lines in the lower half and will not go away. There is a YouTuber that had the same issue, he thought it was just his press release version. Then about 10 others posted in the comments with the same thing. Quite gutted because this is the 1st real upgrade from the OG Vive which is over 5 years ago. I skipped the Pimax headsets (bad quality cracking plastics on the HMDs and lens distortion), skipped the Index (due to God Rays) and I skipped the G2 (due to WMR and horrible tracking). So I thought the Vive Pro 2 would be perfect for me to upgrade from the OG Vive, continue using the lighthouse boxes and the Index controllers.

I was having some issues, but sadly there is always some compromise to VR headsets. There is no perfect one out there and often it's just incremental updates...
 

  • Heat from the screens
  • Low humming sound from the headphones
  • Passthrough cameras not working (I had to opt into SteamVR beta and that got them working)
  • Text is all blurred (like Vaseline smeared over the lenses)
  • Displays now broken with vertical lines in the lower half

    W6EJE7Q.jpg
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On 6/8/2021 at 10:13 AM, AmazingTechVR said:

Note:- I am using a GTX 1080 Ti so I am limited to the High setting. Obviously it's impossible to get graphics cards lately, but would that actually improve the clarity? Bump it up to Ultra or Extreme will clear the text? I don't think I have an issue with the resolution, there isn't any anti-aliasing around text, it's just like someone has smeared vaseline all over the lenses or have I already gone blind?
 

Running none native resolution is probably the main culprit. At high settings you're only seeing 1836x1836 per eye rather than the full blown 2448x2448 which is a reasonable bump in resolution. Not much you can do as the 1080ti is DisplayPort 1.2. Running some some super sampling may help but it won't fix the underlying challenge of stretching a lower res image to fit a high res display.

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3 hours ago, MixedupJim said:

Running none native resolution is probably the main culprit. At high settings you're only seeing 1836x1836 per eye rather than the full blown 2448x2448 which is a reasonable bump in resolution. Not much you can do as the 1080ti is DisplayPort 1.2. Running some some super sampling may help but it won't fix the underlying challenge of stretching a lower res image to fit a high res display.

Yes which I totally get, it needs to stretch those pixels out. It's impossible to get any graphics cards right now and I refuse to pay scalper prices. I can wait.

On 6/8/2021 at 7:43 PM, Blobfish said:

I have the same issue as you with the front cameras not working. 

As for the text I've tried it on my 3090 and text is bit blurry outside the sweetspot. I've found that it gets a bit clearer if I kind of hold the lenses a little farther from my face, kind of replicating as scenario where the pads are thicker. This might be a personal thing though.

So I just did a test. When I got the Vive Pro 2, I instantly removed the original face gasket/cover. I stuck on my thinner Kiwi VR cover instead. You are right. I actually noticed this before swapping my VR face gasket back on. The other night I moved the VP2 off my face, so it is further away and I noticed the clarity was a little better. What I have done now is put the original face gasket in the bag and put on the thickest Kiwi VR cover I have. I was using the thinnest, then I tried the middle thickest and now I've gone to the thickest one I have, as it comes in a pack of 3. The clarity is a little better. I do still believe with the 3090 you should get very clear text. Have you tested it with 120Hz now?

We've fixed the passthrough cameras, needed SteamVR beta installing.

I posted above about the lower half of my display all breaking with vertical lines. Others posted the same on youtube comments, some stating after a few hours/a day the display panels fix themselves. So I waited 24 hours and skipped a day of VR, put them on again (had it boxed ready to send back). It was still there, but less obvious. I gave it a few hours and it went down to about 5% visible in both displays. You could just make out a ghost image of the vertical lines/different colours. I am very concerned this comes back and outside the window of a replacement or refund. As bad as it sounds, knowing that others are experiencing the exact same as me is beneficial knowing it's not a one off, but a manufacturing defect. I don't think HTC know what the issue of these displays breaking is just yet. I hope they announce something and confirm these can be fixed / replaced if it happens again. Some sort of assurance, especially as it has happened in just a matter of hours/days for people.

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Second day using it, I'm also having these lines appear out of no where on the bottom half as well. I haven't actually seen a reason for the issue and iwhile it's reassuring that other people have had it and it self resolves. it would be nice to know if this is a hardware problem or not. 

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15 minutes ago, Dltprm said:

Second day using it, I'm also having these lines appear out of no where on the bottom half as well. I haven't actually seen a reason for the issue and iwhile it's reassuring that other people have had it and it self resolves. it would be nice to know if this is a hardware problem or not. 

My lines almost disappeared. Turned it on the next day and they're back again. Not as prominent, but definitely noticeable. This wont self fix. HTC technicians are looking into it. I would highly suggest you open a support ticket. They need to know how many people are getting this. It's all different motherboards and graphics cards, so it's the Vive Pro 2 itself having some issue. I think when the PC and VR is turned off, then when it receives power again, then it happens. The YouTuber posted his and stated he left it for 15 hours, came back and it was broken. I left my off overnight, turned PC on, turned lighthouse basestations on and my VR...then I got the same.

f7SLmFx.jpg

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Yeah I opened a ticket, my limited testing so far I fully unplugged everything for a bit since the HMD / link box for a bit (10ish minutes) and it got "better" (the area closer to the middle of the visual field was less pronounced but the edges it's still noticeable). 

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Ah I would have just edited post if I could...spent the last hour with chat trying a few things so I figured I'd document what hasn't worked for me so far. 

1) changed display port

2) changed USB port. 

3) Rolled back Nvidia graphics driver to 27.21.14.6663

4) Reset USB in Vive Console

5) Reset USB in Steam Console

6) Confirmed accelerated GPU scheduling was off

7) unplugged and replugged the headset into linkbox

8 unplugged and replugged linkbox from PC. 

===

I will say resetting the USB has made it better, but if it goes to a gray screen it's still noticeable. although as others have mentioned (as far as I can tell mostly on reddit), it sometimes comes back. So I guess we'll see tomorrow. I'll have my wireless kit then too and see if it replicates there, i've read it may "fix" it. 

 

Photo was from before fixes. 

565156165_PXL_20210611_012037577-Copy.thumb.jpg.2646d8329630f416aa2530e4b1013e23.jpg

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