PSA: 60Hz WMR Actually Works Now!

[vonrickenbecker]

A public service announcement for those with PCs like mine which are a bit weak for VR:

 

The 60Hz option for WMR headsets actually seems to work rather well now! I had previously tried the 60Hz option last year, but it felt and looked simply awful, ruined the immersion, and gave me motion sickness. However, the recent updates to WMR have VASTLY improved the feature. Is it as good as 90Hz? Of course not! But if like me you have been living with 45 FPS + reprojection  almost all the time, 60Hz is a big improvement. I had not realized it previously, but I think that reprojection had been "blurring" the graphics a bit, and reducing the level of detail. With 60Hz, I can now see details like fabric texture on biplane wings, end-grain on plywood, and flying wires between wings MUCH more clearly. With my system (see signature), I am getting a solid 60 FPS almost all the time. The only time that WMR reprojection has activated was during a dogfight over a city center with 8+ aircraft in the vicinity. 

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

I also switched to 60 Hz and the slight drawback from 90 Hz as I see it (at least in Reverb) is that the clouds and some bright areas has a shimmering feel about them.

Doesn't bother me and I appreciate the smoother feeling in the graphics.

 

[WheelwrightPL]

Definitely try it if you can stomach the unavoidable 60Hz flicker. Some people hate it, some barely notice it. And BTW 45fps+ reprojection running under 90Hz display is flicker-free because it inserts artificially generated frames between real frames so you're getting full 90Hz, HOWEVER those artificially inserted frames are full of graphical distortions, so the quality of entire experience is lowered. It is all about tradeoffs, at least until $2000 RTX3080Ti appears (which will of course require corresponding uber-expensive CPU, RAM, motherboard etc: to get the most out of it).

[vonrickenbecker]

@WheelwrightPL Surprisingly, I actually see less flickering (at least subjectively) than I did with 45 FPS + Reprojection. But that might just be a quirk of my particular machine, people's mileage with 60Hz seems to vary widely. And like you said, the interpolated frames generated by the reprojection lower the overall visual quality of the experience -- now that I have seen what the sim is like without reprojection of any sort, I think that the reprojection wasn't just creating distortions (wonky gunsight in front of prop, ghosting of high-speed objects, etc.), I think it was also masking the insane level of detail this sim contains. Things just look sharper, clearer, and more "lifelike" now. I also used to have lots of flickering, jagged outlines around objects (almost like no AA was being applied), and that is gone now. 

[SCG_motoadve]

3 hours ago, WheelwrightPL said:

Definitely try it if you can stomach the unavoidable 60Hz flicker. Some people hate it, some barely notice it. And BTW 45fps+ reprojection running under 90Hz display is flicker-free because it inserts artificially generated frames between real frames so you're getting full 90Hz, HOWEVER those artificially inserted frames are full of graphical distortions, so the quality of entire experience is lowered. It is all about tradeoffs, at least until $2000 RTX3080Ti appears (which will of course require corresponding uber-expensive CPU, RAM, motherboard etc: to get the most out of it).

Been using 60Hz  for quite a while now, and no flicker whatsoever, I have an older Windows 10 version , not the latest one, maybe that new fixed Win 10 version adds the flickering.

[vonrickenbecker]

@SCG_motoadve I'm running the latest Windows update, no issues with flickering!

[markjk7]

I've been using my original HP WMR with reprojection forced on (45fps) it runs and looks pretty good to me, although I've seen the comments about spotting planes and I have no chance without the HUD labels on... Only issue I have is a halo around the plane and others when in clouds. Any thoughts on how to reduce this and does 60fps help?

[vonrickenbecker]

Hey @markjk7,

 

I was also using 45fps with reprojection forced on and was pretty happy with it, until I tried 60Hz! As good as the WMR reprojection is, I think it degrades the overall image quality more than I had realized. Since switching to 60Hz, everything just looks sharper and more lifelike, and the feeling of presence in 3D space is much stronger. I would highly recommend giving it a shot, if you don't like it it's easy to switch back!

 

I also have the issue of halos around planes in clouds, and 60Hz has not improved that I'm afraid. I think itay have something to do with the AA algorithm, but that's just a guess.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Guys, it also depends on the panels. Hit or miss.

 

I've tried with the Odyssey and noticed it , but did not notice any flicker on a late Reverb Pro v2. 

 

P.S. Don't run motion smoothing / repro / ASW (whatever each manufacturer calls it, sigh)  with low target frames Hz. The higher the frames Hz are set to, the less artifacts appear (e.g. with motion smoothing/reprojection on Pimax/Index at 144Hz, you'll get almost no artifacts).

[[CPC]Giledhil]

On 6/7/2020 at 5:41 PM, vonrickenbecker said:

With my system (see signature), I am getting a solid 60 FPS almost all the time. 

Hi ! I have a really similar system, could you share your settings ? I'm not getting that good results on my rig with my current settings.

[J5_HellCat_]

Is the picture still super sharp in the Reverb at 60 ?.....When i tried it back when it wasn't working properly I remembered the image was very sharp and clear..Thinking about trying it but not sure if I want to bother with the update if it doesn't look that great.

[O_DesoLunatic]

I still don't understand why anyone would prefer to go to 60Hz from 90Hz to limit the fps instead of downloading RivaTuner and limit FPS to 60 there and keep higher refresh rate.

[WB_jokkr]

Unthrottled, my frame rate is in the 50's with my Reverb. This is multiplayer with a fair number of players.

 

What do you recommend?

[vonrickenbecker]

4 hours ago, [CPC]Giledhil said:

Hi ! I have a really similar system, could you share your settings ? I'm not getting that good results on my rig with my current settings.

Sure, see below:

 

Also, I apologize for an inaccurate earlier statement -- I just discovered I don't have the most recent Windows update (update 2004), I'm on the one previous to that. 

[Dutch2]

I did give the 60pfs a go after I had intalled windows 2004 update, only now the cockpit has been stretched. Back to 90fps and everything was normal.