The Best Gaming VR Headset Available RIGHT NOW!
The best gaming PC VR headset in 2022 is a tight fight with manufacturers producing the best latest high quality units to date. The latest generation of incredible headsets set a new standard in visual quality. The latest units offer a higher pixel counts per eye than ever before. These also come at a higher price than some of the older units like the Oculus Rift S which was quite budget friendly.
The latest headsets are bringing resolutions per high plus better quality optics resolving the issue of the screen door effect. The screen door effect was prominent in the first generation of VR headsets making the image less clear to the user. This is very pleasing improvement for VR consumers with the newest units pretty much removing this issue.
Gaming PC VR Screen Resolutions
The latest screen resolutions in 2022 have sky-rocketed to previously unseen levels. Quality as always come at a cost in PC performance so you could require an upgrade in GPU. If you have more detail then your going to need a more powerful PC to run it. It’s just a fast of life that improved quality comes with a cost.
One of the highest Pixel counts currently is the Varjo VR-3 PC VR Gaming headset. This unit has incredible picture quality and is really aimed at professional instruction but would also be incredible in gaming. It sets a new level of performance. If you have thousands to spend just on a headset. There are a number of professional VR Headsets with near human eye quality quality. These units all come with huge demands on PC as well as a premium price. Not what we will discuss today. The average VR gamers is where we will focus.
It’s screen resolution for the Varjo-VR3 is an impressive 2880 ×2720 pixel resolution. It has a 90 Hz Refresh Rate plus a FOV of 115 degrees. This is a little wider than most previous units which were around the 110 degrees field of view typically. The Pimax VR headsets are the exception offering around 160 degrees field of view.
Top End Specs.
- Various VR. – 2880 x 2720
- Star VR – 2560 x 1440
- Pimax 4K – 1920 x 2160
- Pimax 8K – 3840 x 2160
- HP Reverb G2 – 2160 x 2160
The selection of models above forms the highest pixel counts displays out there. There are more great units in the 1440 × 1440 pixel range and we shall look at all of them as a group below.
VR FOV – How Much do You Need?
The FOV of the best PC gaming PC headsets is disputed my manufacturers with the bulk of modern units having a FOV of around the 110 to 115 degrees advertised.
This field of view does seem to be adequate for PC VR gameplay as the human eye focuses in on a very central middle point of the display. This is important to note because non VR users expect you will see the edges of the display being so narrow. In fact it’s absolutely not the case when playing.
Personal Experience.
The Oculus Rift S I own has only 110 degrees FOV. I can honestly say I don’t see any edges of the headset other than in start menu’s but even then it’s not even that common. When chasing fighters around the sky in DCS World on PvP servers or X Plane 11 doing touch and goes at my local airport it is simply not an issue. You are so focused on the area your looking at you can forget I you even have a VR headset in.
Models with 1440 Resolutions.
This region of resolutions holds a group of HMD players. All the units certainly are worth considering.
- Lenovo Explorer. – 1440 x 1440
- Dell Visor. – 1440 x 1440
There is a wider range of models that may be regarded as the best gaming PC VR headset group. Prices are reasonable in this range so gamers can afford to spend hard earned cash on an upgrade to their current VR unit.
Is greater than 115 FOV Needed?
PC VR Headsets like the Pimax models bring an extremely wide FOV as their marketing ploy but is it even needed or is the average 110 enough? Measuring the FOV of all the latest HMD’s is a great way of looking at what you actually get in FOV. The MRTV YouTube channel has a great video showing the actual FOV in all these headsets. The results are in the graph below. It’s a very interesting test and gives us the complete picture in fov results. The overall winners from these tests is the REVERB G2. This wins for its improved FOV but as much is the quality of the picture which is reported to be amazing.
The diagram above shows the main focus of human sight is about 114 degrees. Then the Pimax and others with wider Fov worth buying? The answer is as always personal choice. Their displays are of a high Pixel count as well as amazing FOV worth buying.
The Answer!
There will also be an personal perspective on this answer. The testing in research shows that a wider fov is great but it’s not everything. A high quality picture within the fov is just as important. Testing shows that the REVERB G2 having average FOV but not the widest has the best picture quality. The combination of these two factors makes the REVERB G2 the best choice at least for under $1000 in the best Gaming PC VR headset currently.
New Technology is Coming
Technology is already available to track your eye movement in VR. This can be done in real time and adjust the clearest part of the screen for you to see. What this can achieve a much crisper vision right where your eyes are focusing. When implemented in new HMD’S it will allow more PC graphics resources working to make your central view a much higher quality. When implemented in new HMD’S it will allow more PC graphics resources working to make your central view a much higher quality.
Wrap up
The world of VR is just growing with quality units and reasonable prices. The Reverb G2 is loved by those who use it on forums and YouTube. At under $1000 dollars it’s not cheap but for the resolution it falls at a great place in the price stack. If your in the market for a first pc gaming VR unit then this is a fantastic option. Enjoy your VR.
Author:
Brendon McAliece is a multi lingual expat who brings over three decades of flight simulator/PC building experience as well as over two decades of real world jet fighter experience as a weapons/egress technician. He holds a sport pilot certificate giving him real world flying experience. Hi travels have taken him from Europe to the Middle East, Asia and his home of Australia. He has a passion for travel, languages, flight simulation as well as guitaring and coffee. You can read more in his blogs below.
Learn more @ DreamingGuitar.com – DreamingCoffee.com – LetsFlyVFR.com
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