I ordered mine with free shipping Thursday afternoon and got it yesterday.
+Good build
+Comes with a hard case (device is already in it, along with sd card)
+Fairly straight forward process
Before putting the device on head:
1. Dragged the Gear sd card folders to my 128gb card
2. Installed the VRintro APK to get the software install process started (the main apps are installed)
3. The process requires a simple registration to access the Oculus market
4. I skipped the card process since already dragged the content to my 128.
5. Once registered, the Oculus Cinema installs
6. Then the fun starts! Put the N4 in the Gear and adjust the gear to fit head
7. Then a brief simple calibration process and tutorial
Quick perspective / review:
1. More immersive than expected
2. Games are good for demos, but I mainly got it for movies
3. The 3D & 360 are surprisingly good
4. The Oculus Cinema ROCKS!!!
5. 2D movies worked fine. The only thing I could not get to work was an older concert from Youtube that was in FLV format and one avi. AVI, MP4, WMV and MKV worked fine.
6. The best Cinema options IMO are Cinema and Void. Void is nice since you can lay down and re- orientate the device view Void also provides the most display real-estate , so highest resolution. That said, I prefer Cinema a tad more due to the immersion.
7. Speaking of resolution, it is best described as between around 720p or a tad less. Before you balk at that, the experience more than compensates and the sense of large scale is impressive and the image quality is very good. Screen door goes away in your mind after a minute or two.
8. Device got real warm, but Void mode was less so, since just a black background.
9. Battery life for me was a tad over four hours watching video. Void mode might add 30 minutes.
10. Did not test a controller yet, but forum reports are any bluetooth controller should work.
11. Also did not test many images, but the immersion was great there too.
I can see this becoming HUGE for Note 4 owners and others companies jumping on the bandwagon. Also eating my words on Qhd being overkill. I now want HIGHER res on the Note 5 so video looks even better
If you are a Note 4 owner and video fan: Buy This Now
mine comes in Thursday. can't wait!
Mine is in 9n Friday and I am PUMPED. Only thing that concerns me is future support. I would really like samsung and Oculus to continue support and place a lot of effort in nourishing a healthy developer environment.
rushless said:
6. The best Cinema options IMO are Cinema and Void. Void is nice since you can lay down and re- orientate the device view Void also provides the most display real-estate , so highest resolution. That said, I prefer Cinema a tad more due to the immersion.
7. Speaking of resolution, it is best described as between around 720p or a tad less. Before you balk at that, the experience more than compensates and the sense of large scale is impressive and the image quality is very good. Screen door goes away in your mind after a minute or two.
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I too want this mostly for movie watching. I'm wondering how crazy I'd look on a plane with this. :laugh:
Can you describe a bit more about the movie experience? Is it like watching a 60" tv from a few feet away, a movie theater screen from far away, etc?
Awesome review! +1
PS - 3 New games came out on the Gear VR Store. Check it out.
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
loaferkan said:
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
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Wonder if 2k video improves pixel issue... have you tried watching 4k in cinema mode?
Even with the Note 4 high resolution its still not enough not to notice pixels. I heard that you need like a 16k display which sounds impossible. And it is normal for the phone to get hot and that's per the operator's manual.
But not everyone can physically handle this type of experience. That's the reason why Samsung did not allow this product to be sold in stores like bestbuy. This product is not targeted to the casual user. The majority of experiences will be us geeks showing it off to other people which will drum up interest. And it also gives Samsung and Oculus time to fine tune it for Note 5. Gear VR is a step above the development kits but slightly below a consumer ready product.
Bruce lee roy said:
Wonder if 2k video improves pixel issue... have you tried watching 4k in cinema mode?
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yes the 2k videos look great, and even the 3D does a better job......
EvanWasHere said:
I too want this mostly for movie watching. I'm wondering how crazy I'd look on a plane with this. :laugh:
Can you describe a bit more about the movie experience? Is it like watching a 60" tv from a few feet away, a movie theater screen from far away, etc?
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Click to collapse
It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
loaferkan said:
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
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Click to collapse
If you look for the pixels and focus on them, it could detract, but the point is the total experience and the screen door fades from focus. Kind of like anything else if you focus on it Case in point, I notice and could count pixels in movies theaters and plasma sets. Especially the bigger digital screen systems. Everything is relative
The best view is Void if you want to minimize the pixel issue (also reduces device heat and extends battery). The home theater mode makes the pixels stand out and is like 480p due to less space for the video.
Just imagine a 1080p device with a Gear VR. That would be like an old school bar projector . Samsung knew what they were doing using Qhd. Next years S6 and Note 5 apparently up the resolution and likely the VR products are part of their reasoning for the higher res.
My N4 did not get hot as you describe, but I could see intense 3D games doing that, but I will not be playing them. Did not get the headache issues either, but depends on the person of course.
I got mine yesterday and played around with it a bit last night. My opinion is it is really cool and shows where VR could eventually go but definitely don't expect everything to be perfect yet. It all comes down to your attitude going into the experience.
1) Yes the pixels are noticeable and it is a bit worse than watching a hockey game sitting behind the netting behind the goal. You absolutely see and notice the "screen door" but you also can choose to overlook it based on the very cool experience. You also can imagine that in 2-4 years that issue will go away.
2) I wouldn't call things blurry as is being discussed in another thread yet rather the whole viewing image is not in focus. If I look straight at text it is reasonably clear but anything above, below, left or right of where my eyes are focusing will be slightly out of focus. If I move my eyes (and head) just slightly to look at a different area that becomes more in focus as compared to what I had been looking at. For the large images you don't really notice the whole effect so much but when there is a lot of different text on the screen in different areas you will certainly notice it.
3) When you first put the headset on you notice that you are looking through lenses and somewhat notice the blackness associated where your eyes are getting covered up. After a short while you stop really thinking about this and get taken into the experience.
You might read all of this as me not thinking highly of the VR or that this is just another gimmick. Let me come full out and say that isn't how I feel and I was pretty much blown away by the whole thing. I can't wait to see where VR goes from here. The first time you are watching the demo and then hear something to the right and turn your head and see something on your right that you had no idea was there you will get sucked in. From there you keep looking to your left, right and behind you and become pretty amazed.
So my take is that there are certainly issues and VR is not "there" yet but from this experience you really start to understand where VR could go and it no longer feels like an impossible technological hurdle to climb. It is no longer a question of if VR is really possible but more a question of when we are going to get there.
They need more pixels in order to increase the FOV and reduce the screen door. The Note 5 should be even better. Just hoping they keep the form factor of the Note 5 the same as the Note 5 to fit the Gear VR. That said, I will get $200 worth of fun out of this in a year, regardless.
None the less, the Gear VR is a worthy purchase for video fans IMO.
rushless said:
It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
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If true, this is freaking amazing.
Bruce lee roy said:
If true, this is freaking amazing.
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The catch is the resolution is less in that mode. Does look cool though.
I have played with my Gear VR for a few days and I totally agree with the review. The experience is amazing. This tech is gonna go really far. It has an insane potential.
Killemalll said:
I have played with my Gear VR for a few days and I totally agree with the review. The experience is amazing. This tech is gonna go really far. It has an insane potential.
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Yeah, im in the same boat, this thing literally blew me away. Showed a lot of folks at work this thing and they were amazed as well. It's definitely the new form of entertainment. The key word is immersive. I think with the sensons onboard the gear vr, it really helps with that. I know the Note 4 has a better screen than the oculus version but I feel we'll need at least 8k or 10k displays to eliminate the screen door effect. But overall, daaaaaammmn.
well i just received mine and all i can say is that i am blown away by it. what am amazing experience. finally, VR for the masses is set to be a reality. i let the wife and kids try it and they were all giggly over it too. one complaint: wearing eyeglasses with it sucks
rushless said:
It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
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I have a 100" projector screen in my bedroom and it's no where close to the experience you get when you watch the cinema selection. The screen is bigger than many movie theaters I go to. And the wide video is just crazy. No home theater can touch that.
HTCMario said:
well i just received mine and all i can say is that i am blown away by it. what am amazing experience. finally, VR for the masses is set to be a reality. i let the wife and kids try it and they were all giggly over it too. one complaint: wearing eyeglasses with it sucks
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Wearing glasses with Gear VR is pretty uncormfortable i assume, can the focus wheel not adjust to your eyesight without glasses properly?
Related
After having my nexus 7 for a while now i decided to make a little review in case someone was wondering about the small things.
Display
It's just so amazing how wonderfully nice the screen on this tablet is, colors are very vibrant, very smooth all around. Viewing angles are ok, not the best in the world but it gets the job done. I have noticed that my display has that ghosting effect, not much but very little ghosting even if on a page for an hour. I also have noticed that the grey's on the display are very lacking, sometimes you can see outlines of certain grays mixing its actually quite weird. So far i have only seen 1 dead pixel which is quite impressive, you know compared to other Nexus 7's in the forum, Other than those little details it is perfect all round.
Touchscreen
I have yet to notice a problem with the touch panel. It is very responsive all around, i dont have any dead spots or anything on the screen, the glass is very smooth compared to the kindle fire, ugh i always hated playing fruit ninja on my kindle fire because it was so sticky and so unsmooth. On the Nexus 7 it is absolutely perfect, no getting stuck or anything. Fingerprints on the tablet is very little compared to the kindle fire, i remember having to wipe the kindle's screen every 10 minutes or else it would get really foggy, not the case on the Nexus 7. I also like that the LCD is stuck to the touchscreen because that reduces the grey on the screen, im not sure if its me or not, but i can not stand a screen that has the LCD all grey and showing up, it just seems like a poor quality device, Again the Nexus 7 has none of this.
Build Quality
Man it is pretty much the highest it can go, i thought the Kindle Fire was just perfect on the build quality side, but the nexus 7 surely does beat it. The plastic around the bezel of the screen is really nice, it almost looks as if it were metal. The glass is very high quality, unlike my Samsung Galaxy Player. The back is really good, the grip it has prevents it from slipping out of my hand like other plasticy tablets i've owned. The weight is just perfect, not to heavy nor to light just right.
Design
Very well designed, just one little detail. The buttons are kinda hard to get to, no matter its fine with me. Seems like a perfect size for media, a 10 Inch tablet is just to big and heavy, unlike the nexus 7. Its easy to hold in the hand without it getting tired, perfect for reading in the night or watching videos. The back is really nice, having all those dimples really helps out with the grip.
Software
Really stable and very fast, a few hiccups here and there but doesnt everything have that. Project butter actually makes the device very smooth and super fast. When playing intensive games such as Modern Combat 3 and you click the home button it does not take long to take you to the homescreen, compared to the Kindle Fire it is a major speed upgrade. Almost feels as smooth as IOS. Very easy to use, if i were to give it to my mom, im pretty sure it wouldnt take long to figure it out. Don't see why everyone is complaining about no camera app, i don't see why you would need it other than video chatting, taking pictures is pretty bad with the Camera Launcher app, it's a 1.2 Mega Pixel camera, don't get your hopes high.
Sound
The back speaker are pretty quiet, but in sound quality they don't lack anything. Very nice and very good with bass, especially with games such as war games, the kindle fire would start crackling if you put the volume over %75. The headphone jack actually isn't as bad as everyone says, i used some cheap little Samsung in ear headphones and they worked quite nicely without any crackling or lose in quality of the audio. I did notice that some songs that are in low quality such as 128, would sound a little weird, but most of my songs where 320 so it didn't matter to me.
Networks
NFC works really good on this tablet easy to use no problems at all while i was using it. Wifi works extremely well, never disconnected once and it was actually faster than my Desktop computer. While downloading games like Dead Space and Modern Combat the download completed succesfully without interuption once, unlike the Kindle fire, it would constantly disconnect from the wi-fi, it made the Pain in the A** Downloading seem not so bad. Browsing and using youtube works very well, no buffering issues at all. Bluetooth seems to be working just fine, connected it to my bluetooth speakers in the living room and they worked just fine without a problem. Have not tried keyboard or anything like that.
Shipping, Customer Support
Customer Support is useless, they just tell you that it will ship soon, no help at all. The shipping was actually fast, i ordered on the 20th and got a shipping email today and it said it had shipped yesterday and i got it today in the morning like 3 hours after my shipping email.
OTG
Waiting for my adapter will update you guys once it arrives.
So how was my review did i miss anything leave a comment below.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the nexus 7. I'm definitely getting one by the end of the week.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Nice write up!
Couple of things I respectfully disagree with however.
I believe the viewing angle is excellent. Most excellent. At every degree. The picture remains just as sharp, smooth and visible.
I also feel the camera is quite amazing given it was put in this device as an afterthought.
In full light the pictures and video are marvelous!
Only thing really I am not completely head over heels about is the battery life.
Sure, while its sleeping it sips juice like an ant. But hammering away with activities while on, I was expecting a little more out of a single charge. Maybe that will improve after a few drain cycles.
Terrific review and glad to see you are enjoying it. I know I sure am!
My only other tablet experience has been a Touchpad.
My otg cable I ordered from amazon shipped 2 days ago but will take 17-8 days! WTF!?! Psshhaawww I hope it doesnt
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Good review. Thanks!
Speaker is very quiet for me. Was just watching Reservoir Dogs on netflix with headphones and had to have the sound set to max. When I watch Top Gear UK on the speaker I have to use speaker boost and up the output by 20%.
Another complaint is that the tablet ui isn't official. Current hacks are great, but I'd like it included.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Hey guys, I've read every single review out there. And frankly. In a few weeks I need to make a choice. And I want to hear it from a community which knows what they are tanking about.
First. Whats the deal with the screen protector?
Is it the main cause of the viewing angle issues I keep reading about? Following that, if I get scratches in it and choose to take it off, is it then completely Without warranty or is that something they tend to overlook?
Secondly. The screen size is not that large considering it's size (which I don't mind) I see there is some tools for removing the nav bar. Will they work fine during games too?.
The build quality looks absolutley stunning and honestly, I don't mind viewing angles keeping nosey viewers out. I also see the Camera gets a lot of heat. But from some of the pictures posted, it's more than good enough for me.
It's ether this, the note 3 or the ultra. Knowing what you guys know now, what would you do?
Any kind comments, thoughts or advice. Please let me know!
Written said:
Hey guys, I've read every single review out there. And frankly. In a few weeks I need to make a choice. And I want to hear it from a community which knows what they are tanking about.
First. Whats the deal with the screen protector?
Is it the main cause of the viewing angle issues I keep reading about? Following that, if I get scratches in it and choose to take it off, is it then completely Without warranty or is that something they tend to overlook?
Secondly. The screen size is not that large considering it's size (which I don't mind) I see there is some tools for removing the nav bar. Will they work fine during games too?.
The build quality looks absolutley stunning and honestly, I don't mind viewing angles keeping nosey viewers out. I also see the Camera gets a lot of heat. But from some of the pictures posted, it's more than good enough for me.
It's ether this, the note 3 or the ultra. Knowing what you guys know now, what would you do?
Any kind comments, thoughts or advice. Please let me know!
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first: its a shatter proof film not a screen protector, get a tempered glass one or a good standard one
second: dont know much about this but mods exist to reduce the size of the nav bar dont fret.
the camera is good, not as good as an DSLR but its a great camera phone.
the battery life is good 5hours SOT in 24 hours not bad.
the XZU has a great screen but crappy camera, the N3 has a great saturated screen and a good camera too, but looks tacky to me (that faux leather back its weird in all levels).
Thanks for clearing some things up there asa. To be fair I am not a big camera man. If I must desperately take a picture, I dig out the SLR which turned out to be a BIG waste of money. Never gets used.
I'm here for that attractive look, glass and aluminium. The only thing I have ever envied from the apple users. Can't beat the feel of some cold metal in your hand. And water resistance of any kind is only a plus texting in the rain is something that can happen regular for me. This note 1 is lucky to be alive.
Mostly I don't do much calling either. Don't care much for the external speaker either, its got headphones plugged in. This will be a texting and gaming commute machine. The reason this isn't an easy decision is I can't seem to find a store in the Netherlands which has that ultra on display. I don't mind big, but I do mind it hanging out of my pocket like a big neon invitation to be stolen
I've practically been measuring pockets to try and figure it out without actually seeing on, although they are available online, it obviously cannot physically been viewed.
Seen the z1, very impressed. Just wish the screen was a tad bigger. 5.7 to 6 is about the sweet spot for me so I don't know
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
I think that 5" is the perfect screen size for me. The ONLY thing I have a problem with on this phone is the screen, it's not great, it's good but it isn't great. The headphone jack isn't covered by a flap so that should be a plus for you.
Hey TheCraig. Thanks for chiming in. Community seems nice and active here which is a sure bonus.
I've never really gamed on a 5", my main games being real racing 3, order and chaos online, FIFA 14 and scummVM. I'd properly try and get into the nice graphical shooters if this phone had the power. The note 1 struggles with all those games other than scumm (naturally).
What might well swing me over to the z1 is after reading some of the experiences of others there, the ultra seems to bend pretty easily if under any pocket pressure. its going to be a xperia for me. Still can't decide on the z1 or the ultra :banghead:
Thanks to the mods by the way for moving this thread, sorry about that!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Written said:
Hey TheCraig. Thanks for chiming in. Community seems nice and active here which is a sure bonus.
I've never really gamed on a 5", my main games being real racing 3, order and chaos online, FIFA 14 and scummVM. I'd properly try and get into the nice graphical shooters if this phone had the power. The note 1 struggles with all those games other than scumm (naturally).
What might well swing me over to the z1 is after reading some of the experiences of others there, the ultra seems to bend pretty easily if under any pocket pressure. its going to be a xperia for me. Still can't decide on the z1 or the ultra :banghead:
Thanks to the mods by the way for moving this thread, sorry about that!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
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A few things to consider.
1. The one is large bigger than my Xperia Z was. The lg G2 and nexus5 both have less bezel and fit better in the hand
2. As for camera it good just takes practice, that said i would say it that much better than G2 or N5
3. Battery life is really good I get 5 hours of screen time which is the best I've had in any phone
4. This phone is fast not sure if it is faster than the N5 but l like Sony's skin it nice and clean
5. Waterproofing is nice to have, but comes at the cost of flaps, invest in a dock for sure
6. The screen is fine but not the best in class for sure.
7. It does get warm playing games
8. If you want updates get the N5, Sony is not the fastest with updates but nor is it the worst.
9. It's the best looking of the bunch IMO
10. The Walkman app is great love it
So after months of waiting, when it was released on Monday I couldn't help but feel hesitant about picking one up, lol I'm not sure if it was justifying the money for a piece of plastic or the idea of it coming out was more exciting than actually buying it, for me the main seller is the cinema, I'm a huge movie buff and watch movies a lot before bed on my Note 10.1 2014 or Note 4 (If too lazy to grab my tablet) so this is right up my ally, i hope. The other sell is the Harmonix music player, I'm hoping its included because I haven't heard anyone talk about it since launch, I'm hoping they just forgot and it doesn't mean that it sucks or isn't included, being able to lay back on the couch and basically meditate and vibe out with immersive visuals to my favorite music sounds pretty awesome. Lets hope. Honestly those reasons and the fact I specifically opted for the Note 4 over the Note Edge in anticipation for the VR kind of pushed the sale, Otherwise getting the Note 4 would have been in vain lol.
Honestly I'm pretty excited to get it now that its ordered, needless to say I sprang for the Next Day shipping from Samsung because of my hesitation to grab one early in the week, and I wanted to get it to play with over the weekend, so It SHOULD be sitting on my doorstep ready to rock when I get home from work tomorrow.
Questions to the people who already have one in their hands:
Any tips or tricks I should know before getting this tomorrow?
Any cool features I need to know about?
Is the included content easy to run through within a day and does any of it have playback value? (I.E. The ocean, concerts, Iceland etc.)
Loading your own Movies from SD, simple?
Overheating?
Battery Life?
Worth the money?
Gaming?
Current Content & Does it seem like future content will be coming pretty regular?
Is there a content store or just what's on the Included SD card?
Etc.
Any and all thoughts appreciated, I've been reading the threads people have posted who have already picked one up and it's helped me find some validation in grabbing one.
Thanks Guys, Pretty jazzed up due to the wait and the reviews I've been reading and watching, but nervous I just dipped into the savings (especially during the already expensive Christmas time) to buy a tchotchke lol I mean I'm no stranger to Early adopting, especially with Samsung but you never know what you are in for!
Again thanks for any help!
To be honest, I don't want to ruin the surprise for you. But i would save the gaming for last...
I just ordered a Gear VR as soon as I installed the Verizon VR update (wanted to wait for that to happen before ordering- this was quick for Verizon).
nick2k said:
To be honest, I don't want to ruin the surprise for you. But i would save the gaming for last...
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Lol I'm intrigued, do tell! What am i in for?
So that the picture isn't blurry you have to put the Gear VR up and down on your face till you find your sweet spot by adjusting it with the headstrap.
And don't forget to remove all plastic covers from the lenses, they are on the front and back of the lenses.
Powerslash said:
So that the picture isn't blurry you have to put the Gear VR up and down on your face till you find your sweet spot by adjusting it with the headstrap.
And don't forget to remove all plastic covers from the lenses, they are on the front and back of the lenses.
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Thanks!
Use the Cinema first, it's probably the most impressive and intuitive mode.
Games haven't impressed me much.
I concur that moving it up and down on your face is probably the most important thing for clarity, which Samsung doesn't elaborate much in its manuals.
This is very important if it's pretty cold where you live. If the Gear VR is cold, it will fog up for the first few minutes of use due to it being heated up by the phone and your face. You will notice this because a small fog will form on the lens. What I do is lift the Gear VR off my face about an inch and just blow up into the glass. It will then defog. I have to do this a couple times initially until things warm up. And I'd recommend you watch the Gear VR Intro Video first. And Cinema is real cool with 3d movies / videos. Good luck!
Powerslash said:
And don't forget to remove all plastic covers from the lenses, they are on the front and back of the lenses.
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That's weird... I did not have any plastic things on the front of my lenses (only had them on the lenses inside of the goggles) S: I had something on the tinted cover thing though? Hope no one played with my VR before delivering X_X
Anyways~
My VR starts getting warm after about an hour of normal use without the cover thing on I leave my cover off because I like walking around with the see through function :silly:
JippleStar said:
That's weird... I did not have any plastic things on the front of my lenses (only had them on the lenses inside of the goggles) S: I had something on the tinted cover thing though? Hope no one played with my VR before delivering X_X
Anyways~
My VR starts getting warm after about an hour of normal use without the cover thing on I leave my cover off because I like walking around with the see through function :silly:
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Ok i got my Gear VR today and i had the exact same thing as you, only had a plastic film on the lenses inside of the googles and was also worried if it was already used. But the rest looks pretty much unused.
Powerslash said:
Ok i got my Gear VR today and i had the exact same thing as you, only had a plastic film on the lenses inside of the googles and was also worried if it was already used. But the rest looks pretty much unused.
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It's probably nothing then XD This thing is so fun with my big ass headphones :silly: I feel like a cyborg when I walk around with it
Apparently if you have Titanium Backup or whatever you can use your phone like normal-ish(?)
And don't forget to wipe your phone's screen so no smudges if any XD
I bought Gear VR for Note 4 based on positive review, but after using it for two nights, I decide to send it back due to low resolution. Here's my illustration of how resolution is archived and my thought on it:
Movie watching experience: Low resolution ruins it. It's bad to watch anything on a 480p screen at a size of 200". Plus No DTS/AC3 support, no smb support in Oculus cinema.
Kodi supports DTS or AC3, but it also reveals that the field of view from Gear VR only covers part of Note 4's screen. See my illustration in attachment. The header, footer as well as 4 corners are not covered, which means that only central part of a movie is viewable.
Ideally, 720p (1280x720) resolution for each eye can be achieved from Note 4's 2560x1440 screen if the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the the field of view like some cardboard does. But the way Samsung's implementation of it's Gear VR makes it unable to fully take advantage of Note 4's screen. The best movie resolution that Gear VR can archive is 972x546. I understand that Samsung's take is good for VR for there is no unilluminated area within it's field of view.
I wish Samsung would come up with a new product that allow the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the field of view instead of the other way around. I think this can be archived by another set of lenes with less multiply factors than current ones. Even at 720p, the screen doesn't need to be 200". 150" would suits the pixel better.
When it comes to VR, Samsung Gear VR also suffers from low resolution. Plus 360 degree video makes me dizzy. I downloaded and watched almost all 360 degree video from youtube but I'm not impressed enough. The people figures are larger than real life. Everyone looks like giants in these videos. Among videos, I prefer those taken from a steady position. First person action view just makes me dizzy. I think it's due to my brain can't process it when the vr scene is moving around but my head is not.
360 degree picture is quite a pleasure to view though.
Sold mine to a colleague due to the exact same reasons
shadowcliffs said:
I bought Gear VR for Note 4 based on positive review, but after using it for two nights, I decide to send it back due to low resolution. Here's my illustration of how resolution is archived and my thought on it:
Movie watching experience: Low resolution ruins it. It's bad to watch anything on a 480p screen at a size of 150". Plus No DTS/AC3 support, no smb support in Oculus cinema.
Kodi supports DTS or AC3, but it also reveals that that the field of view from Gear VR only covers part of Note 4's screen. See my illustration in attachment. The header, footer as well as 4 corners are not covered, which means that only central part of a movie is viewable.
Ideally, 720p (1280x720) resolution for each eye can be archived from Note 4's 2560x1440 screen if the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the the field of view like some cardboard does. But the way Samsung implements it's Gear VR makes it unable to fully take advantage of Note 4's screen. The best movie resolution that Gear VR can archive is 972x546. I understand that Samsung's take is good for VR for there is no unilluminated area within it's field of view.
I wish Samsung would come up with a new product that focuses on watching movies .
When it comes to VR, Samsung Gear VR also suffers from low resolution. Plus 360 degree video makes me dizzy. I downloaded and watched almost all 360 degree video from youtube but not impressed enough. The people figures are lager than real life. Everyone looks like giants in these videos. Among videos, I prefer those taken from a steady position. First person action view just makes me dizzy. I think it's due to my brain can't process it when the vr scene is moving around but my head is not.
360 degree picture is quite a pleasure to view.
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Not questioning the validity pic you put up, but can I ask how you came to the conclusion that it only uses 972x546 pixels of the screen? Is it official information, or did you measure it somehow?
Toss3 said:
Not questioning the validity pic you put up, but can I ask how you came to the conclusion that it only uses 972x546 pixels of the screen? Is it official information, or did you measure it somehow?
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That's based on my calculation given my understanding of how it works (as illustrated) is correct. Samsung claims the resolution for each eye is 1440x1280, which is misleading IMO. Same reason as explained in the illustration.
shadowcliffs said:
That's based on my calculation given my understanding of how it works (as illustrated) is correct.
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Just put my N4 in my Gear VR holding my thumb to the proximity sensor, so that I could see observe the screen when connected and they are not using a completely square image - it looks more like this (except there's a gap in the middle):
It also doesn't the entire width available, but it looks like it's using more than what you have in your picture. The gap between the images is about 4mm and the gap between the image and the sides is about half that (2mm). The top and bottom gaps are about 5mm. So it's definitely using more than 720 pixels for the height, but less than 1280 pixels for the width.
EDIT: I measured it using a tape measure (not any exact numbers, but more accurate than those I came up with).
So based on these measurements the screen would use about 1190 pixels at its widest point, and 1240 pixels at its highest.
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
Nickoz said:
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
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Actually just tried to measure the screen in the cinema mode, and came up with ≈ 45mm. The screen width is 125mm, which means that half that would be 62,5mm, which would give us an approximate horizontal resolution of 45/62,5*1280 = 921pixels. Pretty much explains everything right there. Even with a 4k screen the horizontal resolution in a comfortable mode would only be 1382 px.
The screen height (screen is not a perfect rectangle) at its highest point is ≈25mm. So with a screen height of 70mm that gives us a vertical resolution of 25/70*1440≈514px.
So based on my measurements the resolution you get is pretty much 921x514 (screen is not a perfect rectangle) at the widest and highest parts.
When it comes to watching movies, the screen will be cropped to the aspect ratio of close to 1.78:1, that's how I estimated it at an effective resolution of 972x546 (the biggest 1.78:1 rectangle inscribed in the FOV circle).
You just showed that the actual FOV is not exactly a circle. Now the question is, is the actual FOV inscribed in the theoretical FOV, or the other way around. I guess a way to find out is to look through gear vr at a picture with measurement markers.
And again, in best scenario the effective movie-watching-resolution based on Note 4 screen is 720p (1280x720) considering the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This best scenario is achieved when the rectangle of half screen (1440*1280) inscribed in the FOV. This is the case in my Chinese version of Google cardboard where the movie screen is smaller (equal to 150" from 10 feet away, more or less) and the pixel is less obvious. So the difference of this Chinese version of Google cardboard vs Samsung Gear VR is like 150" 720p screen vs 200" 5xxp screen.
Not sure about the original Google cardboard for I don't have one.
Toss3 said:
Just put my N4 in my Gear VR holding my thumb to the proximity sensor, so that I could see observe the screen when connected and they are not using a completely square image - it looks more like this (except there's a gap in the middle):
It also doesn't the entire width available, but it looks like it's using more than what you have in your picture. The gap between the images is about 4mm and the gap between the image and the sides is about half that (2mm). The top and bottom gaps are about 5mm. So it's definitely using more than 720 pixels for the height, but less than 1280 pixels for the width.
EDIT: I measured it using a tape measure (not any exact numbers, but more accurate than those I came up with).
So based on these measurements the screen would use about 1190 pixels at its widest point, and 1240 pixels at its highest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nickoz said:
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
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Click to collapse
In theory (if my theory is not faulted), to be 1080p movie ready for each eye, the width of the half screen needs to be 1920, which equal to 3840 in whole screen. The height is already more than enough (1440 available, 1080 needed). So the resolution needed from the phone screen is 3840x(1080 to 2160, the former may make the phone too long, but who knows right? The latter will keep the same aspect ratio as Note 4).
Can the lenses on gear vr be replaced so that it will make the screen through it smaller, for watching movie's sake?
I love mine as a great start to mobile VR and i have watch lots of films via oculus cinema. Can't wait for note 5 and new gear vr but perfect start samsung
hashcheck said:
I love mine as a great start to mobile VR and i have watch lots of films via oculus cinema. Can't wait for note 5 and new gear vr but perfect start samsung
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Here I'm mainly talking about movie-watching ecperience. The experience is ymmv. For a guy used to watch movie on a 120" projector screen, or a 60" 3D Samsung TV, gear vr experience is unbearable, while Chinese version Google cardboard is very impressive except for it's build is not goog enough.
shadowcliffs said:
Here I'm mainly talking about movie-watching ecperience. The experience is ymmv. For a guy used to watch movie on a 120" projector screen, or a 60" 3D Samsung TV, gear vr experience is unbearable, while Chinese version Google cardboard is very impressive except for it's build is not goog enough.
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I have a 120" movie screen (only 1080p though), and I personally don't find the experience "unbearable", just not as good. Still think it beats watching the movie on just your phone though or laptop.
Totally agree Toss3
Toss3 said:
I have a 120" movie screen (only 1080p though), and I personally don't find the experience "unbearable", just not as good. Still think it beats watching the movie on just your phone though or laptop.
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Right, I realized that unbearable is too much of a word. I meant to say that I still prefer to watch movies on 120" projector screen or 60" LED TV over current gear vr. It's a pity because gear vr would have done better. I'm impressed with it's build and the quality of lens, but the lens is not of the correct multiply factor for watching movies.
The gearvr resolution actually gets better overtime as you start not noticing the screen door effect the more you use it. Sure it's not perfect but heaps better then the oculus rift dk2. I'm can't wait for note 5 version
Average viewable res is 540p. Void mode shows more content at about 640p since no VR graphics (depending on video format).
I prefer Void due to more of the video res shown, can view laying down and at least 30% more battery life.
Hey folks. I have a question before I purchase the gear vr for s6. How is the screen resolution? I heard it is like youre watching a 360p or 480p video. I heard it is better than the note 4 vr. So kindly shed some light of note 4 vr resolution display and/or s6 vr. Thanks.
With the Note 4 Gear VR, you're gonna see all the subpixels, that's for sure. As ludicrous as 515 PPI sounds for normal phone use (and it is), the Gear VR's lenses ruthlessly reveal the PenTile diamond structure used once you've got the focus dialed in. I doubt the S6 is going to be any different in practice, only that there's less magnification and a lower FOV.
Saying it's like a 360p or 480p video isn't really giving it enough credit, though. It's more like 720p, which makes sense because the eye buffers generally run at about 1000x1000 for performance reasons. (You could possibly squeeze out a bit more like 1280x1280 if the scene isn't too intensive.)
But here's the thing: while the resolution may seem inadequate, you tend to forget about it really quickly. Low-latency head-tracking, smooth framerates and wide FOV are far more critical to the VR experience than resolution, honestly, because it's those things that really establish a sense of presence.
I don't know about the exact resolution, but is not that good. Although for a first product it is amazing. It really makes you feel you are there. The DPI are not really an indication of any sort.
I sent mine back as i was not happy with the screen door effect. To be honest if you are considering splashing out £170.00 then i would hold out until the newer VR models come out next year for PC's as the content is very limited at the moment.