HP today announced Reverb (formerly codenamed Copper), its new VR headset which aims to deliver enhanced resolution and comfort. With a more thoughtful design and pixel-packed displays, Reverb sets a new bar for Windows VR headsets. Having jumped into the VR space back in 2017 with a handful of others under Microsoft's watch, HP's first VR headset was pretty much identical to the headsets which launched from Acer, Dell, and Lenovo. With Reverb—which will succeed the company's first VR headset—HP is driving the design much more directly, though it is still building atop the Windows Mixed Reality platform (and inside-out tracking technology). To that end, the company officially announced Reverb today, which will be sold as a Consumer Edition ($600) and a Professional Edition ($650), and launch in late April. For more details on the headset's announcement and the difference between the two versions, see our article on the Reverb reveal. [caption id="attachment_86584" align="aligncenter" width="640"] HP's first VR headset (left), Reverb (right) | Photo by Road to VR[/caption] I recently visited HP at their Palo Alto campus to check out the latest Reverb prototype for myself; this is an updated version compared to what I saw back in February. Let's skip right to the fun stuff: the displays. Reverb has a 2,160 × 2,160 resolution display per-eye, which is a big step up in resolution even from current class-leading headsets like the Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey which tout 1,440 × 1,600 displays. We're talking about twice as many pixels as those headsets. And while twice the pixels in roughly the same field of view would typically mean about half the visible screen door effect (SDE), Reverb actually gets an extra boost in SDE reduction (compared to the aforementioned headsets) because it uses RGB-stripe sub-pixels which tend to have a much better fill factor (less space between pixels) than the OLED displays used in many other headsets. So not only are you getting a boost in fidelity and pixel density, but fill factor is also going up because of the change to RGB-stripe. [irp posts="74991" name="Understanding the Difference Between 'Screen Door Effect', 'Mura', & 'Aliasing'"] That's a long way to say that Reverb offers class-leading visual fidelity and text legibility. The screen door effect isn't invisible, but it's getting surprisingly close—at this point I can't make out individual sub-pixels at all, and even truly spotting just one whole pixel (in a sea of identically colored pixels) is a difficult task. Crucially, HP is achieving this clarity and limited SDE without using a diffuser (as Samsung has done on the Odyssey+, which attempts to hide SDE at the cost of sharpness). [caption id="attachment_86595" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] Resolution aside, the latest Reverb prototype that I got my head into did show a few subtle artifacts, though HP claims these will be cleared up by launch. First, compared to the prior prototype I tried back in February, the little grey dots have been significantly reduced, but still manifest in what looks (to my eyes) like mura (inconsistencies in color/brightness between pixels). Second, the latest prototype display shows some red ghosting, which is interesting because I don't recall seeing this in any other headset (usually it's just white or black ghosting). HP said this is because the current display has slower red decay than it should have, meaning that red pixels can't change as quickly as other colored pixels. Third, at the extreme top and bottom of the field of view it's possible to see some reflections at the edges, caused by the display reflecting off the plastic inside the headset. As mentioned, HP says these will all be cleared up by the time the headset ships, and the progress I saw with the headset from just a few weeks ago bodes well for them being able to deliver on that claim. Continue Reading on Page 2 » Back on the topic of the display type, there's of course pros and cons to OLED and LCD, with the former typically known for having richer colors and higher contrast. And while I'm used to seeing LCD displays in VR headsets which look notably 'washed out' compared to OLED headsets, the display in Reverb actually looked surprisingly saturated compared to what I was expecting. I'll need to get the right content into the headset and put it side-by-side with an OLED headset to really feel this out, but so far it seems like the display in Reverb is quite capable and reasonably well suited for VR. [caption id="attachment_86585" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] On the lens front, HP says the Reverb lenses are new and improved. The company claims they've increased the volume of the eye-box (sweet spot) by 33%. Without more time in the headset I can't give a good assessment of how the sweet spot compares perceptually to other headsets, but it didn't stand out to me as being significantly better or worse than similar headsets. Reverb has no lens-to-eye distance adjustment or hardware IPD adjustment. IPD is set to 63mm nominally, and this can be adjusted ±8mm in software. The other big part of Reverb is its overhauled design. This is a drastic departure from HP's prior VR headset. Reverb looks very much inspired by the Rift, right down to the slender headphones, though HP assures me that the circle on the back of the headset was used because they found it to offer the best fit (and not because they needed a different shape to ensure distinctiveness from Rift's triangle rear strap). [caption id="attachment_86589" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] When I asked how the company approached ergonomics for the headset, HP told me that they started with testing the fit against a library of mannequin heads of different shapes and sizes, and then moved to testing on real people around the company. The adjustments are what you'd expect: two velcro straps on the sides and one on the top, while the front visor is hinged at the connecting arms to accommodate the angle of the face. [caption id="attachment_86592" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] Surprise, surprise: Reverb feels a lot like a Rift when you wear it (which is a good thing, unless you hate how the Rift feels). It feels quite light on the head, though it actually weighs a bit more (500 grams) than Rift (470 grams). I'll need to spend more consecutive time in the headset to really feel out the long-term comfort, but the initial impressions are good, though unfortunately the visor doesn't flip-up as with the original HP headset. [irp posts="85997" name="HP Wants to Enhance Traditional CAD Workflows with VR Snacking""] If you've read this far you might wonder why I haven't talked about tracking yet, and there's a good reason. HP says that the tracking system—the same inside-out tech that's on all Windows VR headsets—is pretty much unchanged, including the use of the same old controllers. That means tracking performance should be right on par with every other Windows VR headset. [caption id="attachment_86590" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] Generally speaking, the inside-out head-tracking shared by the Windows VR headsets works very well with low latency and robust positioning. Controller tracking leaves a bit to be desired as the controllers get lost momentarily from time to time when you turn your head away from them (because the controllers can leave the camera's field of view), and this could range from a minor annoyance to a game-ruining moment depending upon which app you're using. As HP has primarily designed Reverb for enterprise customers, it's likely to be more of the former than the latter, while consumers playing complex VR games might see some of the reverse. - - — - - With a big improvement in resolution and an all new design, Reverb looks to have positioned itself as the new king of the Windows VR headsets, and may well steal a few glances from original Vive owners looking for their first upgrade, or businesses looking to save some cash over the Vive Pro's pricier offering.