HTC kicked off its Vivecon 2021 digital occasion with a giant announcement. Through the opening keynote immediately, the corporate revealed a pair of near-5K decision VR headsets, the HTC Vive Professional 2, which connects to a PC, and a standalone product known as the HTC Vive Focus 3. HTC mentioned these upcoming gadgets are primarily for companies, however the specs and options, together with an information compression method not but seen among the many greatest VR headsets, will even curiosity players with a penchant for a high-end headset improve.
HTC Vive Professional 2
Picture 1 of 5
HTC new PC VR headset, the Vive Professional 2 is, extra of an evolutionary change than a revolutionary change from the unique HTC Vive Professional. HTC poured its consideration into bettering the visible expertise you get from the brand new headset reasonably than redesigning your complete construction of the product.
The HMD maker labored with AMD and Nvidia to implement Show Stream Compression (DSC) on the Vive Professional 2 – a primary for a VR headset – enabling lossless transmission of high-resolution information. The Vive Professional 2 consists of twin fast-switching RGB subpixel shows, giving the headset a complete decision of 4898 x 2448. These shows additionally function at a speeder 120 Hz refresh fee to cut back movement blur. Quicker refresh charges additionally enhance consumer consolation, as we realized with Valve’s Index.
DSC, which is standardized by VESA, helps the high-bandwidth show sign keep throughout the constraints of DisplayPort 1.2. It even permits HTC’s Vive Wi-fi Adapter accent to hold the Vive Professional 2’s high-bandwidth sign, which upon launch will make it the very best decision wi-fi PC VR answer.
The Vive Professional 2 shares the identical form and design as the unique Vive Professional, together with a inflexible, mechanical headstrap and built-in adjustable headphones. This time, nevertheless, the headphones function 3D spatial audio and Hello-res-certified audio system. The brand new headset additionally retains compatibility with all SteamVR and Vive Professional equipment, such because the Vive Trackers, Vive Facial Tracker and Valve Index controllers. The screens and the lenses are the numerous adjustments.
HTC mentioned you would wish an Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card or an AMD Radeon 5000-series or higher to get the complete potential out of the Vive Professional 2. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to set the screens to run at 90 Hz if obligatory, which ought to mean you can use the brand new headset on lower-end graphics playing cards when you wait out the GPU scarcity.
Past rising the decision and refresh fee, HTC additionally expanded the area of view (FOV) by a slight margin in comparison with the unique Vive Professional from 110 levels to 120 levels. The development closes the FOV hole between the Vive Professional and the Valve Index (adjustable as much as 130 levels), but it surely’s nonetheless a far cry from ultrawide Pimax headsets.
HTC developed new dual-element lenses to realize the FOV enhancements throughout the current Vive Professional type issue by enabling the shows to take a seat nearer to the lenses and retain focus.
HTC is approaching the market with the Vive Professional 2 the identical means it did with the unique Vive Professional headset. The headset will initially hit the market as an improve package for individuals with an current SteamVR-based VR system. It really works with each the 1.0 and a couple of.0 variations of Valve’s base stations.
The headset alone will promote for $749 (£659 / €739), with pre-orders open immediately and {hardware} delivery earlier than the tip of the month. An entire Vive Professional 2 package, with base stations and controllers, can be accessible on June 4 for $1,399 (£1,299 / €1,399).
HTC Vive Focus 3: A Standalone Vive
Picture 1 of 5
The Vive Professional 2 is HTC’s prime PC VR providing, however that is not the one incoming Vive headset. The Vive Focus 3, which doesn’t require tethering to a system, shares a handful of the brand new options launched on the Vive Professional 2.
HTC’s new standalone consists of the identical dual-element lenses discovered within the Vive Professional 2, giving it the identical 120-degree FOV because the PC VR headset. The Vive Focus 3 additionally has twin 2448 x 2448 RGB panels, however they’re restricted to 90Hz. HTC’s new headset additionally options adjustable IPD (interpupillary distance, the quantity of area between your pupils), with a granular vary of 57-72mm.
In contrast to the Vive Professional 2, which borrows its exterior design from its predecessor, the Vive Focus 3 options a wholly new industrial design. HTC decreased the load by 20% in contrast by constructing it from magnesium alloy as an alternative of plastic. HTC mentioned the metallic housing can be 500% stronger than plastic.
To assist stability the load evenly, HTC put in the battery pack underneath the rear cushion of the headstrap. The battery offers the headset roughly 2 hours of run time, with a cost time of roughly half-hour. The battery can be detachable, so you’ll be able to all the time hold a spare able to go. The headset does not have a backup energy supply, so you’ll be able to’t hot-swap the batteries whereas it’s working.
The Vive Focus 3 has a pair of audio system embedded within the inflexible head strap, plus a headphone jack in an effort to use your favourite headphones with it. 4 onboard cameras embedded within the entrance of the visor deal with inside-out monitoring and supply monitoring for the 2 wand controllers that ship with the headset.
On this period of working in a pandemic, nobody needs to share one thing like a VR headset. That is why HTC appeared to make the Vive Focus 3 easy to maintain hygienic. The entrance and rear cushions are straightforward to take away for cleansing, because of a magnetic mounting mechanism.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 SoC does all of the heavy lifting to energy the Vive Focus 3. HTC put in a copper heatpipe and an lively cooling fan to extract probably the most efficiency potential out of the XR2 platform. In contrast, Fb throttled the XR2 within the Oculus Quest 2 standalone headset to maintain it inside sure temperature constraints.
Not Actually for Avid gamers
On paper, the Vive Focus 3 appears like a worthy competitor to the Oculus Quest 2. Sadly, it isn’t priced for customers and does not embrace a sport library to again it up. Nevertheless, HTC mentioned the brand new headset will help streaming PC VR content material wirelessly over WiF, so possibly we’ll see help for PC VR gaming.
The Vive Focus 3 can be accessible on June 27. Shopping for one will set you again $1,300 (£1,060 / / €1,180). For this worth, you get the headset with controllers and a enterprise guarantee.
A Enterprise Ecosystem
HTC is providing greater than only a pair of recent VR headsets. The corporate has put collectively a whole ecosystem for utilizing VR in enterprise introduced immediately. Vive Enterprise offers a handful of business-focused VR options, such because the Vive Enterprise Gadget Administration System, which provides IT departments the instruments obligatory for preserving observe of a fleet of gadgets.
The Vive Enterprise platform additionally consists of an Android-based progress monitoring system for instructors known as Vive Enterprise Coaching and a VR assembly place known as Vive Sync.
In the meantime, the Vive Enterprise AppStore presents a curated assortment of off-the-shelf business-related VR software program for the Focus 3 headset. HTC mentioned it will launch with roughly 20 titles, with extra content material in improvement from numerous ISV companions.
With all of those instruments, HTC hopes to speed up the adoption of VR within the office. The corporate believes that as extra individuals encounter VR for the primary time at work, it’s going to drive extra adoption within the house. So don’t assume we’ve seen the final gaming-centric Vive headset fairly but.
Supply By https://www.tomshardware.com/information/new-htc-vive-pro-2-vr-headset-taps-amd-nvidia-for-display-stream-compression
