VALVE INDEX KIT UPGRADE
VALVE INDEX KIT FULL
VALVE INDEX KIT PC

The sensors themselves are compatible with all the flavors of Vive hardware and the Index, although the sensors that ship with the Index itself provide more capable tracking and can be purchased separately for $149 each.

VALVE INDEX KIT UPGRADE

If you already have a Vive or Vive Pro and just want to upgrade to the Index headset, the hardware by itself costs $499. Having two screens also means that it’s possible to physically adjust the interpupillary distance using a slider on the bottom of the headset, to find positioning that makes everything as clear as possible.

Valve estimates that the “typical user” will experience a field of view that’s about 20 degrees greater than the original Vive - a significant improvement. The closer the screens, the wider the field of view. Each eye gets its own screen, and there’s a dial on the right side of the headset to bring those screens closer to or further from the eyes to find a position that’s comfortable. Valve achieved it through various means - you can read about them in this exhausting blog post if you’re interested in details - but it’s mostly a matter of how much mechanical know-how went into the design of the headset. Being able to see more of the world makes a big difference, and it’s one of my favorite features of Index after days of testing. The smaller the field of view, the more the player may feel claustrophobic or isolated.Īnd Index has a massive field of view it’s significantly larger than anything offered by an Oculus system. A smaller field of view blocks off your peripheral vision, making it appear as if you’re seeing the virtual world with blinders. It’s a beast, and one of the biggest improvements from past systems is the large field of view.įield of view is the term we use to describe how tall and wide the image inside a virtual reality headset looks to the player.

VALVE INDEX KIT PC

The higher frame rates produce an effect that’s very difficult to describe, but everything just feels more solid and real.įinding the right combination of settings that provide the best image and frame rate for my system took a while - this is a platform for enthusiasts and tinkerers - but Index will gladly use all the power of the beefiest gaming PC and spit back an image that can’t be matched by any other headset. The two 1440x1600 LCD screens provide a higher-resolution image than competing headsets, and they can be set to 80, 90, 120, or 144 Hz to provide increasingly high frame rates during play.Ī high frame rate is clutch for smooth VR, and the 144 Hz mode is a thing to behold - if you have the hardware necessary to drive it. The optics and screens are another area where it’s easy to get bogged down in stats, so I’m going to try to keep this as brief as possible. And right now we’re just talking about fit. Index is a premium headset with a price tag to match, but the headset itself delivers a premium experience. The headphones sit a few inches away from the ear - which might be annoying for other people in the room if something loud is playing - but they’re simple to adjust, and the sound is absolutely phenomenal. The mechanical dial on the back of the headset itself makes it a snap to loosen or tighten the fit, and the dial on the side makes it just as easy to adjust the distance between the screen and my eyes. It’s a much cleaner setup than the breakout box in the original HTC Vive, but there are still a lot of cables to manage once everything is connected and ready to go. A really nice headset.Ī single cable runs from the display and connects to a small splitter that includes the DisplayPort and USB connections that need to go to the computer, as well as a power cable that needs to be plugged into the wall. So what does Index do that’s so impressive? Let’s dig in, because there’s a lot to talk about here, both good and bad.

VALVE INDEX KIT FULL

The question is, how many hoops are customers willing to jump through to get to that experience, and how much are they willing to pay? A full Valve Index setup costs $999, although you can also buy the pieces a la carte. The flip side to those complaints is that, when everything is humming, Index delivers one of the best virtual reality experiences I’ve ever seen. Those wires snaking down opposite walls in your VR space aren’t the most attractive decorations. You still need to set up the external sensors somehow, and mounting them on your wall is likely the easiest solution, although you’ll also need to plug each one into an outlet. Not everything works perfectly all the time, although that aspect of the system is getting better. And then you might have to start over when someone else wants to use the headset. It can be a pain to set up getting the whole thing calibrated perfectly can take hours. The Valve Index, Valve’s latest virtual reality offering, is an uneasy mixture of all the good and bad aspects of modern VR.

Valve index kit