With the release of Sony's new PlayStation VR, there has been some discussion about this new headset and if it will live up to the standards that everyone is expecting. With big VR competitors such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive being the face of VR, it doesn't always mean that they are the best out there. VR headsets have been out since the mid 30's. They were ahead of their time and didn't deliver the proper "immersive" experience you get with VR headsets today.
With today's technology, VR has come so far from its original debut. In 1939, the View-Master, a stereoscopic image viewer was released. This was a simple design that allowed people to view images in 3D. The models kept a similar design all throughout the years. The newest product from View-Master allows you to use your smartphone to view images, although a lot of companies have been able to achieve this easily. The View-Master DLX is set to release in Fall 2016.
This year has been one of the most successful years for VR, and the most competitive year. There are a lot of headsets to choose from, and all of which are very well-rounded. It entirely depends on what you are looking for in a VR headset. Oculus has been one of the most successful companies to create a brand of VR headset that can live up to the standards it set. HTC Vive decided to take one step further and best Oculus at its own game. The result was a high-end VR headset with better technology and more features built in that Oculus never thought to do.The HTC Vive's starting price is $799.99, while the Oculus Rift 2 starts at $599.99. With these two companies back and forth for the top spot, Sony had been developing a VR Headset that would be friendly to the consumers wallet, but still maintain the proper expectations of a VR headset. In 2014, Project Morpheus was announced and had been in development for 3 years. This isn't the first VR headset made by Sony. In 1997, Sony released the Glasstron, which was used for the game MechWarrior 2. It was an interesting concept and did what it was supposed to. Their newest headset, Playstation VR, had been announced and it made quite a statement. It showed that it could play with 1080p resolution and stay at 60 fps. The specs for the headset and the price, at only $399.99, made people very excited.
Besides all that history, lets look at the real question. Which VR headset will you choose? The list will not consist of Google Cardboard, Gear VR, or any other VR phone viewer. Only the top headsets will be displayed.
Oculus Rift:
Oculus Rift uses an OLED display with a resolution of 2160x1200. It has a 90Hz refresh rate and an FOV (Field of Vision) of 110 degrees. It has a built-in audio and microphone. Connections are standard (HDMI, USB 2.0/3.0). Running on a NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics card, and an Intel i5-4590 CPU and 8GB of RAM. Price is $599.99.
HTC Vive:
HTC Vive uses an OLED display with a resolution of 2160x1200. It has a 90Hz refresh rate and an FOV (Field of Vision) of 110 degrees. It has a built-in audio and microphone. Connections are standard (HDMI, USB 2.0/3.0). Running on a NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics card, and an Intel i5-4590 CPU. Price is $799.99.
PlayStation VR:
PlayStation VR uses an OLED display with a resolution of 1920x1080. It has a 120Hz/90Hz refresh rate and an FOV (Field of Vision) of 100 degrees. It has an AUX connection for audio and a microphone. Connections are standard (HDMI, USB 2.0/3.0). Has a 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer. Processor and CPU info is currently unknown. Price is $399.99.
FOVE:
FOVE uses an OLED display with a resolution of 2560x1440. It has a 90Hz refresh rate and an FOV (Field of Vision) of 90 to 100 degrees. It has an AUX connection for audio and a microphone. Connections are standard (HDMI, USB 2.0/3.0). Running on a NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics card, and an Intel i5-4590 CPU. FOVE's eye-tracking feature has 2 infrared sensors with accuracy by 1% and runs at 120fps. Price is $349.99.
Other headsets did not make it on this list due to their lack of knowing, availability, features and price.
VR headset are made pretty quick. If you don't look at the specs once in a while, you could miss out. - Based on quote from Ferris Bueller.