HP Reverb and Star Citizen – What resolution to use?

[rich0550]

What is the best resolution to use with good system? For best results live a good fov so forth

[rich0550]

sorry reason I ask this is the 2160×2160 is the correct native resolution but it looks like a square box in the middle of the screen, and its impossible to zoom correctly into it with Vorpex setting.

confused about resolutions to use in VR, in the past its always been native resolution with projectors and so forth but now what is the best practice?

[Ralf]

Before I answer the question the usual Star Citizen disclaimer: the game is not officially supported due to its ever changing alpha status. The provided profile is meant for those you like to try the game nonetheless.

That said: a square resolution would only make sense for the ‘FullVR’ play style with perfectly matched FOV, I’m not sure whether that is still possible with the latest SC version since unfortunately it doesn’t allow to set the FOV via ini/console freely anymore.

The easiest way to get it working in FullVR is sticking to a 16:9 res, max out the FOV in the game options, and then use an image zoom value of ~0.65 (at the expense of a reduced vertical FOV). That’s what the profile does per default. Not perfect, but super easy. For a perfect solution you would have to find a way to raise FOV beyond the max value in the enu like it was possible in earlier SC versions.

BTW: Never use exact square resolutions, even for FullVR games with a high enough FOV. That can partially mess up G3D heuristics in some games. Always add about 5% or so horizontically.

[rich0550]

Thank you for your quick response Ralf. Without you VR would be dead for us.

I printed your response will follow it to the letter.

That is so odd not to use the native resolution, still trying to get my head around the concept

So if your profile is 16:9 res, what do I set the game resolutions at as well?

Dellrifter22 mentioned this setting for reverb.
3200×2880 = quality (my recommended for Reverb)

Should I use this or should I use 2160 x something or something x 2160.. still stuck on the native resolution concept.. I think Dellrifter had 10:9 but that was for RDR2. Maybe not applicable for Star Citizen.

[Ralf]

The key is to find the right balance between image quality and performance, which depends on the game as well as your personal preferences. What you consider OK in both departments is up to you. Some favor a crisper image over framerate, for others it’s the other way around. Try something like 2560×1440 and see how that goes performance wise. Considering the image zoom value of 0.65 that should be relatively close to 1:1 pixel mapping on your headset in this particular case.

Aspect ratios similar to your screen aspect ratio only make sense for games that allow to set the FOV high enough to fill the entire screen vertically. That is not the case anymore for the most recent Star Citizen version as far as I’m aware. Since you will need ImageZoom to account for the missing FOV, 16:9 is the right choice in this case.

If that all (understandably) sounds like mad gibberish to you, just trust me.

[rich0550]

Thank you. Here is the thing that is really confusing. If is set a very wide and narrow resolution on my PC monitor would get black space top and bottom or it would be stretched.

How does this work in VR headsets or in Vorpex? So if I have a square screen with HP Reverb 2160×2160 and pick a landscape aspect of some type to use laymen terms.. What then happens. Streching or black boarders?

I guess don’t understand how it is possible to use panoramic wide resolutions on a square screen.

Thanks sorry to continue thread its just confusing as hell.

[Ralf]

I can’t really tell you anything fundamentally different than above twice already, sorry.

If you set the game res to be square and then use the ImageZoom option in vorpX to compensate for missing FOV like necessary for SC you get borders on all sides, that’s how it works. Hence you should set a 16:9 res in this particular case. With that you only get top/bottom bars when ImageZoom is used. Still not 100% perfect, but obviously way better.

Square resolutions only make sense in games that don’t require ImageZoom to compensate for missing FOV. Unfortunately the Star Citizen devs recently removed the ability to force a high FOV via console/ini, so compensating with ImageZoom is your next best bet to get an FOV that doesn’t make the game look zoomed/distorted in FullVR mode.

If that all sounds too confusing, just do the below without thinking about it further. That’s as good as it gets unless you find a way to raise the game’s FOV enough again.

1. Select a 16:9 res
2. Max out the FOV in the game options
3. Set the ImageZoom in vorpX to ~0.65 (should be the default)

[rich0550]

ok will do thank you! i still do not get how a wide resolution fits on a square one, without losing top and bottom areas. when you zoom does it push the rendering beyond the screen? gah. Thank you for the key points with what to do, will proceed!

[rich0550]

Ok Sorry edit is off so will have add to thread.

So 2560×1440 is lower than the resolution of the HP Reverb. Then you zoom in another 65% clipping the sides you get 1772×1440. Is that right?

So in order to achieve the maximum resolution of the Reverb you would need to divide the horizontal resolution suggested of 1440 by .65 = 2216
and the horizontal 2560 by .65 = 3938

so would need to set at 3938×2216, if zoom in by 65% in order to achieve the maximum resolution of the HP Reverb in such case?

Thanks!

[Ralf]

I’m not really sure whether you understood yet that there is no way to get the image looking right FOV wise in this game without ImageZoom unless you find a way to circumvent its recently introduced FOV cap. So that’s what you have to understand first.

Apart from that: your calculation is backwards. With a lower imageZoom value you need less pixels for 1:1 mapping, not more. The correlation between the setting and the resolution is linear: when you lower the setting by 20%, you need 20% less pixels in either direction.

Also for a pixel match calculation you would have to factor in the lens distortion correction that is applied by SteamVR. VR headsets aren’t monitors. Game pixels are never mapped directly to screen pixels, not even in native games, there always is a distortion algorithm applied before the image is displayed to counteract lens distortion.

Which pretty much brings us back to my original reply: unless you find a way to circumvent the game’s recently introduced FOV cap, you need ImageZoom for FullVR mode. Select a 16:9 resolution in this particular case that you consider looking good enough while still providing performance that you consider good enough. That’s the most useful advice I can give you.

[rich0550]

Thanks Ralf. Very complex indeed. Thank you for taking the time out to try to explain all this. If you don’t mind my last question is then do I need to do anything different settings for Vive Pro versus Reverb?

looking forward to seeing your future releases in Vorpex. I am happy to support further as well if donations are something you accept.

Thanks!

[Ralf]

Nope, vorpX takes care that profiles work the same way across all headsets.

One unfortunate exception exists: there was a bug until last summer that affected FullVR user profiles not created with an Oculus headset with an ImageZoom value <1.0. If you happen to download one of these user profiles the ImageZoom value will not have the exact same effect the user profile author intended.

That does not apply to any official profile though and also not to newer/updated user profiles, so in general there is nothing that has to be adjusted per headset.

[rich0550]

ok thanks I was not sure how to deal with headsets that has higher resolutions. If each one needed its own manual input.

same thing with unreal engine I don’t get how it knows what resolution to use for the headset. After 40 years of staring at a screens from CRTs to now, is that i always had to tell the program to match my monitor. Possibly VR is allot more complex than that. Being that, steam Vr, mixed reality portal, vorpex, the game, windows in general all play some kind of role in getting the signal to the headset it is quite complex.

are you accepting donations? you have gone above and beyond always would like to compensate people for extra time and work on things..

[Ralf]

A appreciate the offer, no need to send me a donation though. I’d be more than happy if you just would take my advice:

Stop counting pixels, you make things more complicated that way for yourself than they really are. A higher resolution will always look better, even beyond your headset’s screen resolution, but a super high resolution is worth nothing if the game only runs at 20fps.

Rules of thumb you should keep in mind are: 1. Resolution as high as possible while still keeping the framerate high enough to be comfortable for you. 2. Square/4:3 aspect ratio if you (or vorpX automatically) can set the FOV high enough to fill the entire screen, 16:9 if you need ImageZoom to compensate for FOV. That’s fairly easy and the best advice on could give in this regard.

Hope that helps.

[chtiblue]

I noticed that on the HP Reverb I had to set ImageZoom in vorpX to ~0.80 to avoid black borders in the bottom of the headset… Both in Far Cry 5 and RDR2

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