Let’s start with the Quest Pro. The comfort level is not the best because of the lack of a top strap, which causes the weight to rest on the forehead.

One last observation on controller tracking. They are equipped with cameras and benefit from autonomous tracking, meaning they continue to be tracked even behind the back. In the Quest Pro home, there is a virtual mirror; I tested some extreme tracking situations. Behind the back, tracking works well most of the time, but sometimes it is lost, especially when the controller is stationary. As long as it is in motion, it is detected even behind the back, but if it is still for a moment, it may be lost. Of course, this is a positive factor, a real improvement over the limited tracking of the Quest 2 or other headsets like Pico 4 that rely only on the HMD cameras and IMUs and cannot track behind the back in any way. However, I lost controller tracking a couple of times when I brought them very close to the headset, for example, near the chin; again just when they were still. Autonomous tracking of controllers needs further refinement, but it is undoubtedly a step forward.

Pancake lens vs fresnelreddit

I wholeheartedly recommend Insight Vision Center Optometry to everyone seeking top-notch optometric services. It's more than an eye clinic; it's a place where your vision is valued, and your experience is exceptional. This team has undoubtedly set the standard for excellence in eyecare.

Let’s now talk about the Pico 4. The first thing that stands out when switching from the Quest Pro to the Pico 4 is the higher image definition, thanks to the higher display resolution. It’s a feast for the eyes! Unfortunately, that’s the only advantage of the Pico 4. The image is noticeably darker and less bright, less contrasted, less vivid, more faded. Probably, to increase battery life, a display that’s not bright enough for pancake lenses was chosen. Perhaps this is why the image doubling is less visible, even though the Pico also uses pancake lenses. The worst flaw is the wobbling and warping of images when you move your head quickly, a bit like seeing underwater images distorted by a wave. This is probably because the mobile chipset struggles to manage the high resolution of the displays (2160 x 2160 per eye). Or it could be a flaw that still needs to be corrected with some firmware patches. The passthrough is less noisy and more defined than that of the Quest Pro, but it’s less bright and lacks depth entirely; all proportions are wrong in relation to the distance from the eyes, and everything looks very flat, as if there were no stereoscopic vision. I found the headset more clumsy, bulky, and less comfortable to wear than the Quest Pro, which already doesn’t shine in this regard. I couldn’t adequately test the controller tracking. Considering the huge price difference, 1200 euros vs 400 euros, the Pico 4, despite its flaws, remains competitive. High definition should not be underestimated, and if they solve the warping problem, it becomes even more interesting.

Pancake lens vs fresnelcost

In conclusion, after a short test of two pancake lens-mounted headsets, I can say that pancake lenses are not the miracle that many influencers want you to believe. The feeling is that, on the contrary, they are currently a disadvantage for VR perception. Actually I prefer the trade-offs of aspherical or hybrid/custom aspherical-Fresnel lenses. Of course, it’s good to continue researching and experimenting with pancake lenses. If they solve the issues I experienced and the price drops, they are the key for more compact HMD. These are just early impressions, I need to test pancake lenses further.

Asphericvs pancakelenses

Strabismic patients have at least one eye that is either turned inward, outward, upward or downward. This misaligned eye will send an image of an object that is in a slightly different location than where it actually is to the brain while the normal eye will send an image of the object’s correct location. This can lead to double vision and can cause issues for the patient. Optometrists can alleviate these problems by prescribing prism in his or her glasses. Since prisms displace images of objects, the prescribed lenses can effectively shift objects perceived by the turned eye, so that the image sent to the brain is more in alignment with the images sent from the other eye. For example, if the patient’s right eye is exotropic (the eye is turned outwards), a base out prism will be prescribed for the right lens. As stated earlier, objects viewed through a prism are shifted towards the apex, so if the base of the prism is facing outwards, the apex will be facing inwards. The images that have been turned outward by the exotropic eye will be shifted more inwards and become centered. This reestablishes the patient’s binocular vision and reduces the impression of two images. Prisms can be prescribed as base out, base in, base up or base down, depending on which way the strabismic eye is turned.

But that’s not the only compromise of pancake lenses. These lenses have a light transmission ratio around 25%, meaning that 3/4 of the light emitted from the display does not reach our eyes. I had the impression that the brightness of the Quest Pro was similar to that of the Quest 2 (100 nits), which means that the Quest Pro display must necessarily be much brighter and therefore consume much more energy, which is not ideal for the battery life of standalone devices that Meta insists on promoting. All lenses absorb or scatter some light, but Fresnel lenses have maximum losses of 10%, not 75% like pancake lenses! As consequence you have less vivid or more dull colors and smaller contrast ratio with pancake lenses.

In general, pancake lenses provide a sharper view that remains so over a sweet spot that is certainly larger than what we are used to with Fresnel lenses. More precisely, they allow for a big eye-box. However, be careful, the sweet spot does not coincide with the lens size; moving towards the periphery, you experience a sudden degradation of the image. The transition from the central to the peripheral part is more abrupt, the image darkens, the colors change significantly tending to greenish, and the distortion increases quickly. I repeat, the sweet spot is considerably wider than Fresnel lenses. As long as you stay within the very large central sweet spot, the image is sharper, but towards the edges, the degradation is greater than with Fresnel lenses, at least in terms of distortion, chromatic aberration and opacity. On the other hand, the purpose of Fresnel lenses is precisely to control the distortion and aberration profile in the peripheral area through micro-ring grooves, a profile that will then be corrected during rendering. In this way, it is possible to widen the field of view, but obviously not without compromises, since the sweet spot of Fresnel lenses is smaller, the scattering is higher, and the sharpness blurs gradually towards the periphery.

Pancake lens vs fresnelvr headset

Insight Vision Center Optometry has truly transformed my eyecare experience over the past year. Under the expert care of Dr. Chen, Dr. Schramm, Dr. Lam, and Dr. Mai, I've received unparalleled attention and personalized service. Their commitment to excellence extends beyond the doctors to the outstanding admin and tech team who ensure a seamless and efficient visit every time.

Today I had the opportunity to test the Quest Pro and Pico 4 at the virtual reality laboratories of the LINKS foundation. I want to share my impressions with you after an hour of use and careful analysis and comparison.

Fresnel lens

Even pancake lenses have to undergo painful compromises, perhaps even worse ones. In fact, I was truly astonished by the extremely visible and annoying phenomenon of image splitting. Currently, pancake lenses are a real gamble if this problem is not resolved. Let me explain. One of the applications developed by the LINKS Foundation and tested on the Quest Pro is the virtual visit to the Vasari Machine, an altar created by Vasari. The sculptures of the angels have halos on their heads. Well, in the Quest Pro I could clearly see two halos on the head of each angel! The second one was darker, semitransparent, a sort of aura or shadow, but with a distinctly recognizable shape, one centimeter above the original one! What mystery is this? I won’t bore you with the physics of pancake lenses; this splitting is caused by multiple reflections inside the lenses replacing the phenomenon of refraction to bend and focus rays of light. The same splitting is noticeable when looking at the texts and icons in the menu, as well as the details of objects in general. Once you look for it, it’s impossible not to see it; it’s not something you have to strain to notice. In brighter scenes like the one of the Vasari Machine, it easily catches the eye.

Having prisms prescribed in one’s glasses is a great temporary solution for a turned eye. They can alleviate some of the symptoms of strabismus, like double vision, headaches, difficulty with reading, etc., but once the glasses are taken off, there is nothing to trick the brain into thinking that it is seeing normally. These issues will continue to occur or, in some cases, worsen. A great and more permanent solution for strabismus is vision therapy. A misaligned eye is due to uncontrolled movements of the eye muscles. Vision therapy can help patients to regain control of their eye and to be able to use both eyes together to produce a single, clear image by having them perform a variety of visual activities created specifically for them. Here at Insight Vision Center, we create a vision therapy program specific to each patient. We know that each person’s personality, lifestyle, likes and dislikes are all completely different and want to provide the best results as possible for each patient. Living with strabismus is very difficult and we want to do everything we can to make sure everybody loves the way they see!

Valve Indexpancakelenses

You may have heard of the term ‘prism’ in your science classes or maybe just floating around in conversation. You may have seen pictures of a prism triangle with a stream of light entering one side and streams of different colors appearing on the other. Prisms are commonly known to be shapes of glass or plastic that disperse light into its spectral colors, but they also alter the direction of light coming through from the other side of the prism. This ability to change the light’s pathway is important in optometry and is one of the solutions that help patients to see clearer.

Dr. Mai and the entire personnel are amazing! Extremely polite, kind and professional. In addition, I can now see 20/20!!! Thank you, thank you all

Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes and affects up to 12 million people in the United States. Normal, healthy eyes work together to send similar images of objects in focus to the brain, where the images are then combined into one clear picture. This is known as binocular vision. If one of the eyes is misaligned, then the images sent to the brain from both eyes are too different for the brain to successfully combine into one. Double vision will result and can greatly hinder one’s life. This is where prisms can help.

The level of expertise, professionalism, and genuine care exhibited by the entire staff sets Insight Vision Center Optometry apart. From thorough examinations to comprehensive explanations of my eye health, they have created an atmosphere of trust and confidence. It's not just about eye care; it's about an extraordinary commitment to the well-being of their patients.

The passthrough mode is truly disappointing. The image is full of noise and blurred, like watching a low-resolution image captured by an old VHS camcorder, with faded colors, low contrast, full of white noise, and noticeable latency. The image of objects closest to you even doubles and distorts excessively and unsustainably for our eyes. If this is the basis for the much-touted and promised MR by Meta, prepare for an epic failure.

My first eye exam in fifteen years. I am so thankful that I found Insight Vision Center. Dr. Lam and staff made me feel like a welcome guest. My eye exam revealed very minor blurriness and Dr. Lam did not pressure me into purchasing eyewear for a condition not necessitating glasses… yet. Maybe next year? I am getting older. They took my VSP insurance. Yay!

Quest 3pancakelenses

Pancake lensVR

Let’s move on to the VR mode. First of all, the Quest Pro is not suitable for VR, as light enters abundantly from the bottom of the headset; you can see around you simply by tilting your head slightly up and lowering your eyes. Despite the wheel for eye relief adjustment, the lenses remained far from my eyes, so i could not access the maximum FOV. To be clear, usually my lashes almost touch the lenses of my Reverb G2, such to have maximum FOV; I could not replicate the same situation with QuestPro. Maybe, it is designed for MR, where large FOV are not requested; in fact, in AR/MR glasses, the overlay of CGI elements on the real world usually occurs in the central and foveal part of the FOV, avoiding the extrafoveal peripheral parts. Sorry for repeating myself, but MR is shaping up to be a truly deep disappointment; as I have always said and continue to repeat, it is an extremely premature and immature technology compared to VR, which is light-years ahead and much more satisfying despite its current limitations and defects. If Meta really wants to persist with MR, it will risk total failure and be forced to completely abandon the XR market. Which perhaps is a good thing given the inadequate choices made so far that weigh negatively on the present and future of VR. I would prefer different company to lead the VR market.

The definition of the image (in terms of pixels per degree) looks similar, if not inferior, to that of the Quest 2. In theory, it should be slightly higher by 10%, but the pixels are more noticeable, especially when looking closely at text and menu icons or details of objects. This is the price to pay for the greater sharpness of pancake lenses (the technical term is folded lenses). The Fresnel lenses of the Quest 2, due to the scattering caused by the characteristic micro-ring grooves, provide a more “milky” and less sharp view, especially when moving away from the center, which tends to blur the granularity of the pixels. Pancake lenses have greater sharpness and clarity over a wider area and therefore highlight more the granularity of the pixels and the defects of a display resolution that remains the same as Quest 2.

Dr. Lam and staff are amazing. Every phone call or interaction is friendly. You can feel the smiles and joy over whatever mode of communication you are interacting with them. Dr. Lam is very knowledgeable and helps you to better understand everything that is going on with your eyes. She made me aware of potential problems I may have with my eyes and walked me through every step of the process. She helped me understand the various factors that could be causing my vision to be a little impaired and followed up with me as I had to see an ophthalmologist. Great team, great office.

Prisms are usually a triangular shape with a gradual increase in thickness between the apex and the base. They’re different from prescription lenses because they don’t have any focusing power, so it won’t correct any refractive errors, like nearsightedness or farsightedness. Instead, this difference in thickness, with the apex being the thinner portion and the base being the thicker, allows light rays to enter the prism and bend towards the base. This then displaces the image of objects viewed through the prism towards the apex. In other words, objects viewed through a prism are perceived to be in a different location than their actual location when viewed with the naked eye. This main characteristic of prisms is beyond beneficial for patients with strabismus.

One thing I appreciated about the Quest Pro, which is lacking in the Quest 2, is the fine IPD adjustment. Initially, the IPD was adjusted to the owner’s (70mm), but with a quick adjustment, I brought the lenses closer and fixed the IPD at 63 mm, significantly improving my vision. IPD really makes a difference. Don’t buy headsets without fine IPD adjustment or with a range that doesn’t cover your IPD.

I can’t definitively say the last word on pancake lenses after trying them out for only an hour. However, they are not all sunshine and rainbows as social media influencers and specialized magazines tend to hype. Personally, the image splitting and the heavy cut of brightness, contrast and colors are unacceptable compromises in VR experiences. I prefer custom/hybrid aspherical-Fresnel lenses that maximize the sweet spot and make the central image clearer despite their drawbacks; or smooth aspherical lenses that may suffer from peripheral distortion and aberration, but not to the extent of pancake lenses, while still providing a very wide and clear sweet spot comparable to pancake’s. The real advantage of pancake lenses is their extremely short focal length, allowing for a more compact HMD configuration compared to thicker and heavier Fresnel or aspheric lenses with larger focal lengths. I don’t deny some advantages of pancake lenses, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make them the standard in the VR market. Don’t forget that it’s a new technology and as consequence high quality pancake lenses are very expensive.