Oculus vs Vive IQ?

[reaper12]

Who would spend thousands on pc components and vr hardware and then not go the extra .01 miles to have everything operating at tip top shape aka usb3.0?

The vive comes with camera wall mounts, its practically a must for a room without shelving or bookcases.

The usb cables need to go, it really makes your room sloppy to have 4 extended cables running along the walls. If your room isnt small you cant run them along the floor or ceiling neatly, having them go vertical only in the corner of the room, or you exceed max length. Its not practicle to run usb in wall and the cable is usually never in wall rated.

Yes 3 sensors is adequate but again, spending thousands of dollars if i get a hiccup in say onward at an inopportune moment and it gets me killed ill be pissed and ordering that 4th sensor immediately.

So you know better than the actual developers of the Rift? They advice you to use USB 2 for 3rd and 4th sensor.

3 sensors has perfect tracking if setup properly.

 

[VulcaN]

They advise you to do that becuase they dont believe the average consumer is smart enough to not overload their singular USB3.0 controller on their motherboard.

Their software is not (yet) able to alert you that you have exceeded the bandwidth of a USB 3.0 controller other than giving arbitrary error messages about "poor tracking quality".

We are smarter than that, we know that limiting the sensors to 1 with a maximum of 2 per controller is ideal, and that the optimal setup is 1 controller per sensor, something that can easily be achived on the startech 4 port 4 controller PCI-E card.

USB 2.0 sensors have worse tracking quality, the resolution is not as high when the sensor is run in USB2.0 mode. It would be foolish to advise anyone to use USB 2.0 if they are even remotely technical. It doesnt take a computer scientist to understand the difference.

 

[eclypse]

I guess im real lucky mines going in a basement with a blacked out ceiling. Runing cables there is easy. Sensors will be like hidden.

 

[reaper12]

They advise you to do that becuase they dont believe the average consumer is smart enough to not overload their singular USB3.0 controller on their motherboard.

Their software is not (yet) able to alert you that you have exceeded the bandwidth of a USB 3.0 controller other than giving arbitrary error messages about "poor tracking quality".

We are smarter than that, we know that limiting the sensors to 1 with a maximum of 2 per controller is ideal, and that the optimal setup is 1 controller per sensor, something that can easily be achived on the startech 4 port 4 controller PCI-E card.

USB 2.0 sensors have worse tracking quality, the resolution is not as high when the sensor is run in USB2.0 mode. It would be foolish to advise anyone to use USB 2.0 if they are even remotely technical. It doesnt take a computer scientist to understand the difference.

People have shown that there is no difference in tracking quality between Usb2 and usb 3 when using the third and 4th sensor. There were numerous videos on it when the 1.12 update dropped. It was on the threads in reddit you had to post a video using the drawing software which shows up tracking issues very quickly.

The problem with the Rift tracking, up until 1.12, wasn't with the speed of the USB ports, it was with the software.

 

[reaper12]

I guess im real lucky mines going in a basement with a blacked out ceiling. Runing cables there is easy. Sensors will be like hidden.

Yes, and that's my point, not everyone will have to spend money to get a neat setup and some people wouldn't know a neat setup if it hit them in face. So the added costs for making things look neater should not be included when comparing costs between the Rift and the Vive.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Well, first of all you don't need USB 3.0 for the rear sensors, Oculus recommends USB 2.0. And when you buy a sensor you get a USB extension cable.

And you can't factor in the cost of wall mounts and making the room nicer, that's all up to you. You don't need to get these things. The only extension cable you really need is for the HDMI.

Lastly, 3 sensor setup works perfectly when setup correctly. I have no little jumps in sensor tracking no matter what corner I am facing and that includes crouching on the floor. But setting up for 3 sensors correctly does require a bit of time as it involves redoing the setup each time you move the sensors.

The USB extension cable is only 2.0, which is fine to start with, but like VulcaN said, some of us like to go the extra mile and have USB 3.0 running on the extra sensors.

Also remember that getting an HDMI extension cable for the Rift HMD isn't going to do you much good without a USB 3.0 extension of equal length, so that's two discrete extensions!

As for the cost of wall mounts, well, that goes hand in hand with setting up the sensors correctly. My computer room is not one of those rooms where piling up things high in the corners for all the sensors to stand on is viable, and even then, the stock sensor stands don't allow them to pivot downwards all that much. Mounting them high is critical for me, or else they'll get occluded by all the furniture in here when trying to get a view of the floor.

Yes, three sensors will get you most of the way there, but from my own personal experience, tracking toward the sensorless corner was clearly not optimal, what with my body and all the desks in the computer room occluding the controllers from a good view of the sensors. I saw jumps that went away with the fourth sensor. More sensors means more lines of sight, and in turn, less occlusion. Even Valve's Lighthouse system has to deal with that basic limitation, and the Vive can't scale beyond the two included stations at the moment.

Perhaps you had better luck with your three-sensor setup, and if so, I'm happy for you, but I didn't have that luck. I had to go all the way - four corners, four sensors.

Maybe most people don't want to spend the extra $60 + accessories to get that fourth sensor if it's good enough already with three, but hey, we're [H]ard like that in the pursuit of the best possible performance.

 

[Nenu]

Perhaps the difference is in the size of the play area.
I can see that 4 sensors will be needed for a very large play area because there is a distance maximum.
For 3 sensors, the 3rd sensor will have to be pulled back a very long way if centre placed on the rear wall. It wouldnt have enough reach to be placed in one rear corner.

This guide should help.
https://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-roomscale-tips-for-setting-up-a-killer-vr-room/

 

[TheSmJ]

My 3 sensor setup has been excellent since 1.12. Before 1.12 I was having glitches while facing the sensor-less corner, but since the update I don't even feel the need to purchase a 4th sensor anymore. It's that much better. My friend who owns a Vive couldn't even tell a difference with tracking quality between the two HMDs.

FWIW, my play area is 11'x11'. 2 sensors are on USB3, while the third is on USB2 using the supplied active USB2 extension cable. I have all three sensors mounted to the wall in each corner of the room, near the ceiling and pointed towards the floor at 45 degree angles using three cheapo security camera wall mounts that cost less than $3 each from Monoprice (they don't seem to sell this model anymore otherwise I'd link to it). I only needed to buy one passive 10' USB3 extension cable to reach from my PC to the front-right sensor, and a 3' surface mount HDMI extender that brings my HDMI port from the back of the PC to the front of the case. All in all, I spent less than $20 in cables and mounting brackets to use with my Rift.

 

[reaper12]

The USB extension cable is only 2.0, which is fine to start with, but like VulcaN said, some of us like to go the extra mile and have USB 3.0 running on the extra sensors.

Also remember that getting an HDMI extension cable for the Rift HMD isn't going to do you much good without a USB 3.0 extension of equal length, so that's two discrete extensions!

As for the cost of wall mounts, well, that goes hand in hand with setting up the sensors correctly. My computer room is not one of those rooms where piling up things high in the corners for all the sensors to stand on is viable, and even then, the stock sensor stands don't allow them to pivot downwards all that much. Mounting them high is critical for me, or else they'll get occluded by all the furniture in here when trying to get a view of the floor.

Yes, three sensors will get you most of the way there, but from my own personal experience, tracking toward the sensorless corner was clearly not optimal, what with my body and all the desks in the computer room occluding the controllers from a good view of the sensors. I saw jumps that went away with the fourth sensor. More sensors means more lines of sight, and in turn, less occlusion. Even Valve's Lighthouse system has to deal with that basic limitation, and the Vive can't scale beyond the two included stations at the moment.

Perhaps you had better luck with your three-sensor setup, and if so, I'm happy for you, but I didn't have that luck. I had to go all the way - four corners, four sensors.

Maybe most people don't want to spend the extra $60 + accessories to get that fourth sensor if it's good enough already with three, but hey, we're [H]ard like that in the pursuit of the best possible performance.

There is no difference in tracking when using USB 2 for the two extra sensors. Software was the problem, not the speed of the USB ports. You can waste money and buy USB 3.0 extension cables, but, your tracking won't be any better.

And thanks, I did forget about the USB extension cable for the headset, but people have been trying it on a USB 2.0 port and it has worked for them.

I really was just quoting you post because you made it sound like everyone has to buy an USB 3.0 adapter card and a USB hub and USB extensions and another sensor, when in fact, a lot of people won't have to buy any of these things.

Before the 1.12 update, the software was so bad that you needed all USB 3.0 ports, you needed the speed and power. IT was a kind of brute force solution to the tracking problems.

And guess, maybe I am lucky with the space I have, but, it's not an ideal space by any means. But, It took me a long time to find the best angle and placement for the 3 sensors, maybe it might have been easier with 4.

 

[noko]

I am just glad I don't have to worry about more cables sprung around the room to make room scale work, extra cameras, extra USB ports etc. Vive room scale is fantastic for tracking and just works. Once the wire free options become available, getting off of the umbilical cord that will be a big upgrade especially for more interactive type scenarios such as boxing.

 

[Omegas]

I'm with you on the wireless, I hope they keep expanding/upgrading for the current Vive. But I assume in 2 years I'll be looking to sell it for the next best thing, which hopefully includes wireless and better optics.