Microsoft improved Windows MR image quality for HP Reverb G2

Microsoft revealed that as part of its partnership with HP to develop the HP Reverb G2 Windows Mixed Reality headset, the company spent time improving the Windows Mixed Reality platform's overall visual quality.

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Microsoft added two specific image correction features to the latest Windows Mixed Reality; Chromatic Aberration Correction and Light Leak Correction.

Microsoft's engineers improved Windows MR's method for reducing chromatic aberration (the refraction effect caused by white light hitting a Fresnel lens). Microsoft's Chromatic Aberration Correction pre-warps the image such that a single white pixel would appear as a single white pixel in the lens, not a white pixel with red, green, and blue refractions.

The new Light Leak Correction feature helps balance the color in both LCD panels in the Reverb G2. Light leakage is the color fringing effect that occurs when the red, blue, and green light isn't perfectly filtered. It can often cause color ghosting around edges. This effect also creates a tinting effect on the screen. Microsoft said its algorithms reduce color fringing and tinting.

Microsoft said that Valve's work developing lenses for the HP Reverb G2 that produce almost no god rays allows its engineers to improve the entire calibration process, including the Chromatic Aberration Correction and Light Leak Correction algorithms.

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The Windows Mixed Reality updates aren't just for the Reverb G2, though. Microsoft said it rolled out improvements for the original Reverb and the Samsung Odyssey+ headsets as well.

The Odyssey+ benefits from Chromatic Aberration Correction, while the Reverb gets Chromatic Aberration Correction, reduced radial distortion, and light leak correction. Microsoft also squeezed in an 8% performance uplift for the Reverb.

The updates should come automatically through Windows Update with the latest Windows Mixed Reality release.