First Thoughts, Installation and Setup

Featured Picture: Our new Pimax Crystal Gentle in evaluate

In at present’s article, I’m going to kick off a collection of small guides to the Pimax Crystal Gentle, my newest acquisition for the sim racing room.

Quite than dive straight in and set up it on the simulator, I made a decision to begin by looking at just a few essential adjustments between the model new Pimax Crystal Gentle headset, and its predecessor the Crystal (additionally detailed on the Pimax website, here). (Maybe I ought to say “guardian” or “sibling”, as these two merchandise praise one another).

I’m additionally going to unbox and write up my expertise of putting in the machine too. I’ve set it up on my gaming (and work) machine to do a correct runthrough of the machine’s capabilities and set up process, simply to get used to it for basic gaming earlier than we go sim racing.

Total I’m fairly excited, because the Gentle does truly really feel lighter (it’s not only a intelligent identify) and the cabling / extra extras are a lot much less burdensome. I’m OK with the battery characteristic being eliminated, for instance, – as I all the time use the Crystal plugged into my gaming PC.

Crystal Gentle Pricing

Worth smart, the Crystal Gentle begins at round $799 USD / £749 GBP (Native dimming, no controllers). The model I’ve got here with controllers ($899).

In comparison with the Pimax Crystal’s RRP of: $1599.00, it is a main low cost. The Gentle has disbursed with a few of the greater options, like auto IPD and batteries, which is why it’s a lot cheaper and lighter.

My view earlier than getting began is that I don’t anticipate it to be higher however in its decreased “Gentle” kind, however is it truly extra handy as a VR headset than its “full fats” sibling? It ceratinly appears to have addressed just a few minor inconveniences. Weight, being a signicant issue.

Earlier than we get began I’ll additionally word that the Gentle got here in a short time (it was with me inside 3 days of order) which, distributed from China, could be very spectacular.

Preliminary Unboxing

The Pimax Crystal Gentle is available in a easy, effectively packed black field. Whereas the headset is on the centre of the acquisition, my model additionally got here with controllers and a separate energy provide.

The ability cable connects to a breakout part on the primary Pimax cable, which appears like a wise discount to the facility / battery setup of the Pimax Crystal.

The PSU comes with each native variation of mains connector, so that you shouldn’t have any bother localising your PSU.

On first impression, the Gentle actually is considerably lighter, too. It appears like virtually half the burden of the Pimax Crystal with a battery put in (ed: it’s truly a 3rd!).

Pimax Crystal vs Crystal Gentle: What’s the Distinction?

For these of you questioning what the important thing technical variations between the Crystal Gentle and its predecessor, the Crystal are, I’ve created a fast technical abstract beneath:

• Weighs considerably much less: 951g vs the Crystal’s 1268g
• Auto IPD: Eliminated
• Eye monitoring: None
• Foveated Rendering: Mounted foveated rendering as an alternative of dynamic (see: What is foveated rendering?)
• Lenses: Non-interchangeable
• Audio in: One much less microphone
• Storage: No inside storage
• Standalone: Not accessible
• PSU: Simplified energy provide (by way of DP cable solely – I feel it is a plus!)

I’m not getting the sensation that I’ll miss all of these options; of all of the objects within the listing, auto IPD might be my favorite characteristic of the usual Crystal. With that stated, it’s OK as a “set and neglect” characteristic, your interpupillary distance isn’t one thing that adjustments a lot. I hope!

And let’s not neglect what we get for round half the value of the orginal. A technically spectacular VR headset:

Technical Specs

• Decision: 2880 x 2880 per eye
• Panel: QLED (Mini-LED non-obligatory)
• Refresh charges: 60, 72, 90, 120 Hz
• IPD vary: 58-72mm (guide alter solely)
• Eye-tracking: None
• Foveated Rendering: Mounted
• Monitoring: Inside-out (Lighthouse non-obligatory)
• Lenses: Glass aspheric, 35 PPD
• Audio: Built-in, 3.5 mm jack, 2x microphone
• Chipset: PCVR Engine Twin-processor
• VR modes: PCVR
• Connectivity: Pimax 4.5m DP cable + PSU

Pimax Crystal Gentle: Setup

In line with the guide, the minimal GPU / CPU mixture to adequately energy the Crystal Gentle is NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 2070 or above and the CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-12500 / AMD Ryzen™ 7 3700X.

The 2 machines I’ve are a eleventh gen i9 with an RTX 3080 (my previous sim racing PC) and a thirteenth gen i9 with a 4090 (on the racing simulator). Both, based on the specs, will likely be ample however based mostly on my earlier expertise with Crystal’s performance optimisation, I’m fairly assured the 4090 may have a far simpler time working the Crystal Gentle.

Step one, then, is to put in Pimax Play. The newest model is v1.25.01 and it may be downloaded from their website here.

On first open and detection, Pimax Play appears to not totally detect or hook up with the machine, citing a DisplayPort connection failiure:

This expertise feels extraordinarily acquainted and hasn’t modified for the reason that Pimax Crystal, so I adopted the directions to restart my PC after updating the graphics driver. Hopefully Pimax techs will discover a strategy to resolve this small bump within the street, nevertheless it’s not an enormous deal.

A restart did certainly remedy my drawback, and PimaX Play detected the headset. Upon detection, the activation course of begins. Activation is a straightforward two step course of of putting in the newest firmware and registering your machine.

When the preliminary set up is full, that is how Pimax Play ought to look:

To energy the controllers, press the little Pi brand button on the underside proper of the controller:

Only a small factor to level out – I feel it’s smart to place the controllers on cost when you’re unboxing and setting every part up, simply in case a number of are flat after they arrive.

Getting Began

Upon getting a working headset put in, I like to recommend (when you don’t already) putting in SteamVR – Pimax Play provides you with entry to your VR suitable video games by way of Steam VR. To seek out it, seek for “SteamVR” and set up. That’s all you might want to do.

By the best way; I checked and SteamVR doesn’t detect the headset except Pimax Play is working. If Steam is working with SteamVR put in, clicking “Begin SteamVR” will open Steam and take you to Steam’s Dwelling in your headset.

Room Settings

Room settings could be very easy. From the place you’ll be utilizing your headset, click on “Room Settings” and put the Crystal Gentle on. Fortunately the headset makes use of video passthrough on this mode, so it’s simple to discover a controller.

The app asks you to attract a line on a grid it overlays on the ground. You maintain the set off and draw.

From this I collect the headset calculates the horizontal top above the ground, as as soon as I’d accomplished this step, the headset view horizon was set accurately.

Manually Modify IPD

As we now know, the auto IPD (InterPupillory Distance) characteristic has been ignored of the Crystal Gentle with a view to save weight. That is completely advantageous – you simply want to seek out the guide alter, and have a good friend close by that will help you measure your IPD.

The IPD alter on a Pimax Crystal Gentle is situated within the high left of the casing. Up will increase the space, down decreases the space.

Preliminary System Settings

Whereas I plan to cowl machine settings in a extra in-depth put up, for now, listed here are the machine settings I used:

For getting began, I feel you solely must match your “Room LIghting Frequency” which is the mains AC frequency for the nation you reside in. For the UK, that’s 50Hz and the USA, 60Hz.

“Horizontal Calibration” must be clicked to set the machine’s understanding of “horizontal”. I carried out this calibration carrying my headset within the place I’d be utilizing it in.

First Impressions: Visible Efficiency

So I suppose the essential level to notice right here is the underlying decision at 2880×2880 per eye is similar because the “full fats” Crystal, and performance-wise the refresh charges are the identical. On an RTX 3080, I discovered that 72Hz refresh had the sting, quality-wise over 90Hz. It decreased artefacts and a slight stutter brought about once I was trying round vigorously in numerous instructions. Easy head motion and extra typical inputs didn’t pose a lot of an issue.

Fast head actions should not a mirrored image of how this headset will likely be used within the simulator.

On a extra highly effective GPU and CPU setup, I believe I’ll return to my unique iRacing optimised settings for the Crystal with out noticing any distinction. iRacing’s FPS meter can be helpful when optimising the VR headset settings; if I recall, 100 to 120 FPS is to be anticipated on most settings.

For enjoyable, I let Titans of Space Plus fly me across the photo voltaic system to refine the visible settings. I struggled just a little with the default settings for darkness and stumbled throughout this thread on Reddit. I’ll be referring to those settings in my subsequent article, however as a fast abstract, you’ll be able to modify the ‘profile.json’ (situated at C:UsersusernameAppDataLocalPimaxruntime) file to regulate the native dimming black degree.

There’s additionally a helpful suggestion to scale back the backlight settings, to darken the blacks additional. I can’t consider a single VR headset that left the manufacturing unit with the optimum backlight settings – I virtually all the time discover all of them to be too shiny by default.

My first impressions have gone very effectively. It’s all the time lots of work to get to know a brand new VR headset, and the method can take days if not weeks to fine-tune the settings and are available to phrases with the know-how.

The load of the Crystal Gentle is a big enchancment for me, and any “loss” in performance isn’t essentially a loss in any respect. I wasn’t utilizing the free roam capabilities of the Crystal headset, for instance, making the batteries a cumbersome addition to the setup.

If I hadn’t used my Pimax Crystal for a very long time, the batteries would wish a protracted cost earlier than I may use it once more. This took the spontaneity out of utilizing VR, which was a disgrace. The Gentle solves this drawback completely!

The guide IPD adjustment simplifies the consumer expertise, because the novelty of auto IPD eager to make changes fairly commonly may very well be distracting. There’s maybe a minor distinction in backlight and black distinction as I discussed earlier than, however because the Reddit thread I shared earlier notes, it is a matter of discovering the correct settings.

1. Faceplate
2. Monitoring Digicam
3. Speaker
4. Facial Foam
5. DP Cable
6. Headstrap
7. Prime Headstrap

Consolation-wise, I’d have most popular a barely thicker “Facial Foam” insert; as I can’t assist however really feel I’m very near the lenses. I feel I’ve nonetheless bought some work to do on enhancing the general match.

Lastly, and maybe most significantly, the Crystal Gentle performs very intently when it comes to visible constancy to the Crystal and the readability of the show is superb.

Now I’m put in and arrange, the Crystal Gentle will likely be discovering itself rendering iRacing in my subsequent article. I just like the Crystal Gentle up to now, so, it’s time to seek out that optimum sim racing setup.

Associated Articles

Matter: VR Headsets for Sim Racing