With three major virtual reality head mounted displays on offer I take a look at which one is the best all round in my opinion
I tried and tested the first Oculus dev kit and although I found it fun it didn’t seem ready for prime time. I skipped DK2 and eagerly awaited the final release of the Rift consumer version and after a few delays it seems that 2016 is finally the year of VR. By the end of the year, not one, not two, but three consumer headsets should be strapped firmly to heads around the world – taking their lucky owners out-of-this-world! The timing is uncanny, and obviously some people are going to be buying one, so we have ourselves a fight.
The contenders for virtual supremacy are the trailblazing Oculus Rift, the space-detecting HTC Vive, and the PS4-compatible PlayStation VR. The technical differences mean they all have their ups and downs but which is the one for you. I will cover of the main aspects below
Specs:
The display toates a 2160 x 1200 resolution, or 1080 x 1200 over two OLED displays for each eye. That works out to 233 million pixels per second with a refresh rate of 90Hz. Additionally, it has 360-degree positional head tracking and a 100-degree field of view
The HTC Vive features similar 2160 x 1200 resolution, or 1080 x 1200 over two OLED displays for each eye. It has a 90Hz refresh rate, over 70 sensors (e.g. an accelerometer, a gyroscope, etc.) for fluid and seamless movements, and will operate in a 15ft x 15ft tracking space if you have the supporting wireless cameras.
the PlayStation VR will feature a 5.7in OLED display touting a resolution of 960×1080 per eye and 100 degree FOV. It has a 120Hz refresh rate with 18ms response,
Winner (Draw)
Gaming
Oculus Rift has a number of games being natively developed for it. So far, there are over 200 games, including titles like EVE: Valkyrie, Airmech VR, and more. Many developers are working to bring their games to the Rift and they have Facebook backing them.
The HTC Vive is being developed in conjunction with SteamVR, which is a big name to have in your back pocket. There are already over 171 games that claim to have VR support in the Steam store, and the list will only get bigger as we get closer to launch. SteamVR will give HTC Vive the platform it needs to succeed.
Playstation VR is going to launch in October this year with the support of 50 games. Sony claims that there are many more than this in development and will be able to rival some of the numbers mentioned above. Being the first to market in the console space and a handy install base of 35 million could give Sony the edge…
Winner (HTC Vive)
Price
Oculus Rift is coming very soon. The first wave of orders will be shipping out on the 28th March, but anyone who hasn’t already pre-ordered one will now have to wait until July at the very earliest before they can get their hands on their very own headset. It’s not cheap, either, as it will cost you a whopping £499 (without shipping costs)
HTC Vive: Price. HTC has announced that its Vive VR headset will be priced at a whopping £689
Sony has always stated that PlayStation VR would be priced as “a new gaming platform” so it should come as no surprise to hear its virtual-reality headset will cost £350 on launch. To be clear you will also need to purchase the(£40) PlayStation Camera and the (£27) apiece Move controllers. bringing the total up to around £420
Winner (Sony Playstation)
Overall conclusions
When it comes to virtual reality this really is the first wave. Buying now is going to get you bugy software and at a premium price point. The cost of a PC that is capable of running a Oculus Rift or a HTC Vive (note GTX 970 required) is around £600. The Playstation on the other hand can be had for around £270 coupled with the VR headset and mandatory peripherals you are still looking at £720 which is the lowest price point to get onto the VR bandwagon come September/October. I will personally be waiting until there is a killer app/title available.
