PlayStation VR2’s PC adapter is now delivery, and we have been testing it for the previous few days. This is what we consider PSVR 2 as a PC VR headset.
A New Arrival In The PC VR Market
With the adapter priced at $60 and the headset again to $550, PlayStation VR2 is now successfully a brand new $610 PC VR headset.
It is not fairly that easy, although. Within the package deal you may discover the adapter itself, a built-in USB cable, and a DC energy adapter. However what you will not discover is the DisplayPort 1.4 cable you might want to join the adapter to your PC. So if you do not have a type of mendacity round, add one other $10 or so to the fee.
You may additionally want Bluetooth in your PC to attach the controllers. In case your motherboard does not have this built-in and you do not have a USB or PCI-E Bluetooth adapter, that provides one other $15 or so.
However when you have of the NVIDIA RTX 20 sequence or AMD RX 6000 sequence playing cards with the now-discontinued VirtualLink USB-C port, you do not want the adapter or DisplayPort cable in any respect. You’ll be able to merely plug PlayStation VR2 immediately into your GPU and set up the app on Steam.
No matter whether or not you are paying $550 or $635, PlayStation VR2 is a novel arrival within the PC VR panorama. A headset priced solely barely above Meta Quest 3 with an uncompressed wired picture and OLED panels.
So does this make PSVR 2 the brand new PC VR headset of alternative?
Setup & Ease Of Use
The adapter takes within the PlayStation VR2’s single USB-C cable on one aspect. On the opposite aspect is a hard and fast USB-A cable to your PC, a DisplayPort port to your graphics card, and a DC energy port (an influence adapter is included within the field). So long as you may have a free energy socket close to your PC, it is a easy and painless connection.
The subsequent step is to obtain and set up the PlayStation VR2 App on Steam. This accommodates the headset’s SteamVR driver and guides you thru pairing the controllers by way of Bluetooth, updating firmware, and establishing the security boundary.
Some folks have reported their USB Bluetooth adapter not working with the PSVR2 controllers, however my TP-Hyperlink UB5A labored immediately with no points.
Security boundary setup is completed contained in the headset, working the identical means as utilizing PSVR 2 on PlayStation 5. As with different VR platforms like Meta Quest, you select between a small stationary space or a room-scale boundary. In case you go for room-scale, the headset will immediate you to pan your head so it may well scan your environment to counsel a boundary, and in case you’re not proud of the suggestion you’ll be able to edit it along with your controllers.
After this preliminary setup you need not hold the PlayStation VR2 App open and even launch it once more, until you might want to replace the headset or controller firmware. Any further, you simply activate the headset, launch SteamVR, and also you’re good to go.
In SteamVR you’ll be able to select between 90Hz and 120Hz refresh charge, and re-launch Sony’s boundary setup expertise at any time.
OLED Shows
In contrast to each different delivery VR headset available on the market immediately, PlayStation VR2 makes use of common OLED panels. Not LCD, not micro-OLED (which is technically very totally different), however common OLED.
Why OLED Does Infinite Distinction & LCD Cannot
LCD pixels solely present coloration, not mild, whereas OLED pixels present each (they’re self-emissive).
Meaning LCD panels want a backlight, or a number of backlights in costlier panels. So that you can see any of the picture, that backlight must be on, which limits how darkish any of the picture may be.
OLED alternatively can fluctuate brightness on a per-pixel stage, exhibiting a vibrant mild in a single space of the picture and full darkness in one other.
That’s why OLED can show true black and ship a near-infinite distinction ratio, when you’ll see a murky gray glow on LCD panels in darkish scenes.
Common OLED offers the true deep blacks and near-infinite distinction that LCD cannot, at a fraction of the price of micro-OLED. This additionally permits a wider coloration gamut than common LCD for extra intense colours.
In PC VR video games like Elite Harmful, Star Wars, Squadrons, Aircar, and Beat Saber the vibrancy of PlayStation VR2’s picture blows away what you get from a Quest 3 or Valve Index. Gone are the murky gray approximations of black, and the colours can really feel really breathtaking at instances. In case your solely expertise of VR to date has been LCD, you is likely to be blown away.
| Headset | Show Tech | Decision Per Eye |
| Oculus Rift & HTC Vive (2016) | OLED | 1080×1200 (PenTile) |
| Valve Index (2019) | LCD | 1440×1600 |
| Meta Quest 2 (2020) | LCD | ~1680×1870 (est) |
| PlayStation VR2 (2023) | OLED | 2000×2040 (PenTile) |
| Meta Quest 3 (2023) | LCD | 2064×2208 |
| Bigscreen Past (2023) | Micro-OLED | 2560×2560 |
| Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional (2024) | Micro-OLED | 3660×3200 |
Nonetheless, common OLED additionally comes with important disadvantages which can be evident in PlayStation VR2.
The primary is that OLED tends to have more room between subpixels. This often ends in a extra seen “display door impact”, however that’s not the case right here. Sony seems to be utilizing some form of diffusion filter to keep away from that. The tradeoff of such a filter is that the picture appears to be like considerably comfortable, not solely crisp, so PSVR 2’s picture seems barely much less sharp than even LCD headsets with decrease decision.
The second, extra problematic concern is that there’s a non-uniform mounted sample noise over all the display, referred to as mura. It’s extremely noticeable and distracting in loading and transition scenes, or when taking a look at a skybox or different low element area. How a lot you care about this when you’re in a recreation will fluctuate from individual to individual, however for me it is at all times there, and it is arguably worse than the compression artefacts you see in standalone headsets streaming PC VR, negating PSVR 2’s on-paper benefit of its lossless picture.
Lenses & Discipline of View
PlayStation VR2 makes use of fresnel lenses. In case you’ve tried the pancake lenses in Quest 3, Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, or Pico 4, going again to fresnel will really feel like a major downgrade. And even when you have not, you may end up working up in opposition to its limitations.
The fresnel lenses in PSVR 2 have a remarkably small eye field (often known as candy spot), that means it’s important to place your eyes nearly completely within the heart to get a transparent picture. Outdoors of this small space, you’ll see each blurring and coloration fringing (chromatic aberration). Meaning you may usually spend the primary couple of minutes of utilizing PSVR 2 getting your eye positioning good, one thing you do not actually have to consider anymore with pancake lenses.
While you do handle to get your eyes into the candy spot, PSVR 2’s picture is evident and centered to close the sides of the lens, although not all the way in which to it. It is the perfect readability I’ve seen from a fresnel lens – however nonetheless a noticeable step down from pancake.
PSVR 2 has eye aid adjustment, that means you’ll be able to regulate how shut the lenses really are out of your eyes. The nearer you deliver them the bigger the sector of view, however the tougher the padding will push into your face. While you deliver the lenses as shut as potential the sector of view is impressively immersive, noticeably taller than Quest, however that may come at the price of consolation for some face shapes.
Monitoring & Controllers
The headset monitoring is servicable. It doesn’t have any fixed jitter, irrespective of the setting, but it surely continuously reveals minor shifting into place when in something however perfect circumstances, as if to appropriate itself. That is notably obvious close to sturdy synthetic or pure mild sources, similar to a window or PC monitor.
The controller monitoring alternatively is basically flawless for me. Whether or not I attain again, transfer them quickly, and even occlude one controller with the opposite, it simply didn’t matter. I’m assured these controllers can deal with any VR recreation different inside-out headsets like Quest 2 can. The spectacular efficiency might be due to the sheer measurement of the controllers and thus their infrared LED rings. They’re larger in actual life than they seem in photos.
One drawback you may discover is that many VR video games on Steam are designed with Quest and Valve Index controllers in thoughts. This may often result in moments of “clunk”, similar to needing to deliver them nearer collectively than their rings permit, or barely offset alignments. The benefit of utilizing PSVR 2 on PS5 is that each recreation was designed for precisely these controllers, and also you lose that on PC.
What’s Sorely Lacking
On PlayStation 5, PSVR 2 helps eye monitoring (which might energy foveated rendering), excessive dynamic vary (HDR), and precision haptics on the controllers. Uniquely amongst delivery VR methods, it even options headset rumble and resistive controller triggers, for a richer haptic expertise than any of its opponents.
Sadly, none of those standout options can be found on PC. Meaning no eye-tracked avatar in VRChat, and no foveated rendering in Microsoft Flight Simulator or DCS, for instance.
PlayStation VR2’s help on PC is the naked minimal. Certain you get the fundamentals of show, monitoring, and controllers. However this headset is able to a lot extra, and in case you’re solely utilizing it on PC these options are useless weight and price.
We have reached out to Sony to ask whether or not it has plans to deliver these options to PC in a future software program replace, and can replace this text if we get a response.
Unusual Rotational Warping Distortion
Lacking options apart, utilizing PlayStation VR2 on PC feels similar to utilizing it on PlayStation 5 – with one main distinction.
When rotating my head aspect to aspect horizontally I see a warping distortion, the place vertical straight traces bend and curve. This is not reprojection, as a result of it solely occurs on one axis and even once I disable SteamVR’s Movement Smoothing. It additionally solely occurs in PSVR 2 on my PC, not every other headset.
Given this concern does not occur on PS5, I can solely assume it is a bug with the present PSVR 2 SteamVR driver. We have requested Sony about this too, and also will replace the article if we get a response.
Conclusion
PlayStation VR2 is successfully a novel new PC VR headset. However on PC it lacks its flagship options, and whether or not you favor PSVR 2’s comfortable however wealthy picture over the sharp however boring different of its LCD opponents will come down to private choice.
I additionally skilled a warping concern which I would contemplate a dealbreaker if it may well’t be mounted, but it surely’s unclear whether or not that is widespread or only a bug.
In case you decide up the PlayStation VR2 PC Adapter and have your personal ideas, particularly in regards to the obvious warping concern, please tell us within the feedback beneath.
