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posted by martyb on Tuesday March 20 2018, @06:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the next-best-thing-to-being-there dept.

HTC's Vive Pro virtual reality headset is now open for preorders. Resolution has been increased to 2800×1600 from 2160×1200, a microphone for noise cancellation analysis has been added, and it has two front-facing cameras instead of one, possibly allowing it to detect objects and hand movements:

The Vive Pro was announced early this year at CES, marking the first major upgrade to the Vive since its launch in 2016. It substantially increases the Vive's screen resolution, using two OLED displays that offer 1400 x 1600 pixels per eye compared to 1080 x 1200 on the current Vive. It also includes a variety of ergonomic changes, including built-in headphones and a head strap that tightens via dial instead of velcro. You could get these options via a kit for the original Vive, but now they're built into the core device, and we've found the hardware to be a distinct improvement over its predecessor.

The Vive Pro will not come with accessories at its launch price of $799, although existing Vive accessories can be used:

HTC's higher-resolution Vive Pro, first announced back in January, is setting new records for the price of a mass-market virtual reality headset. In pre-orders starting today ahead of planned April 5 shipments, customers will have to shell out $799 for the improved Vive Pro headset, a price that does not include any controllers or Lighthouse tracking base stations.

[...] HTC currently sells Vive controllers for $130 each and tracking base stations for $135 each. That means new Vive Pro customers will have to pay $1,330 for a higher-fidelity version of the same basic hardware included in the package for the original Vive (which is being reduced to $499 today, from the $599 price it has held since last April).


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  • (Score: 2) by mmh on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:08PM

    by mmh (721) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:08PM (#656342)

    cell-phone based vr is a joke compared to anything powered by PC hardware. Quick list of limitations, but nowhere near complete:

    • Software is gimmicky
    • Graphics are crappy and can't provide a smooth 90FPS per-eye resulting in choppiness and for people prone to motion sickness makes the experience much more barf-tastic.
    • tracking has a noticeable "lag" and often get confused as to which way you actually moved.

    If you're judging a Vive based off of experience with Cardboard of Samsung VR, you're really doing yourself a disservice. It'd be like judging sex based off an experience with a blow-up sex doll.

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