Chinese '8K' VR headset is 'most immersive' headset ever

A dual-4K VR headset out of China is blowing minds right now.

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We've been eyeing off this purported '8K' VR headset for a few weeks now, but thanks to Endgadget we know much more about it. Pimax is building a new 8K virtual reality headset that features 2 x 3840x2160 panels, meaning we have a total resolution of 7680x2160.

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2160 pixels wide means its not truly 8K, as native 8K is rendered at 7680x4320, double the vertical pixels of 4K, or here the dual 4K displays in Pimax's 8K headset. Still, it's an industry first, but calling it an 8K headset is misleading. Engadget proposed 'Pimax 4K Duo' or even just something like Pimax 4KX for extended, or something. I don't know, just not 8K, it's not correct.

Still, Pimax pushes forward with a new CLPL display, or customized low persistence liquid panels, versus LCD and OLED displays from Samsung, HTC, and Oculus. Pimax is claiming something quite incredible, with their CLPL display "completely eliminated ghosting and improved brightness". Pimax is rivaling the latest display tech like OLED with their new CLPL display, which is exciting, in a world dominated by South Korean giants Samsung and LG.

Pimax was using just a MSI gaming laptop powered by a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, with performance that was more than capable of driving Fruit Ninja and providing "literally the most immersive VR gameplay" that Richard Lai from Engadget experienced. Lai said that Fruit Ninja was running at just 2560x1440 output, through HDMI as the display then upscales the signal to "8K", or 7680x2160, internally.

The headset rocks a huge 200-degree FOV, that mixed with the super high-res display would be quite a leap over what's offered by the most premium VR headsets in Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. There is reportedly no ghosting as well, which is somewhat of a surprise considering the game was rendering at 1440p and being blasted up to 7680x2160. Moreso when you consider it was powered by a GTX 1080, inside of a laptop.

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Pimax is aiming their 8K VR headset at the hardcore PC and VR enthusiasts, as it'll require something like a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or TITAN Xp, possibly even in SLI. Depending on its release, it could be something that truly needs NVIDIA's next-gen Volta graphics cards in order to enjoy 7680x2160 at 90FPS or more. This is the bleeding edge of tech, people.

Pimax is releasing their new 8K headset for $499 with a release in January 2018, while the Pimax 5K is also on offer at $349, shipping in January 2018.

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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