Here’s a fact you might have not known about Oculus Rift, it has been through 2 production stages, thus 2 prototypes. How come? DK1 was reportedly bugged by a multitude of issues, including nausea felt by the users and the screen’s low resolution making it hard to read the wording in games. DK2, according to many, fixed some issues that shipped with DK1, including the nausea felt in the past.
That’s not to say all of the issues have been fixed, as the resolution of DK2 is, as surprising as it may be, still too low to clearly identify small letters in games and still presents several graphic issues. And I know some of you are pondering, “but wait…a smaller screen?”
The actual screen size gives limited changes to the Oculus Rift, besides adding a little more weight, tangible size, and physical width. The new screen on the DK2 actually has a larger field of view compared to DK1, despite being limited to 100 degrees by its own screen size…so I guess that’s the negative outcome of a smaller screen.
Here’s a side by side comparison presenting the basics of both prototypes:
| Development Kit 1 (DK1) | Development Kit 2 (DK2) |
|---|---|
| 1280 x 720 Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Screen Resolution |
| RGB Pixel Layout | Pentile Pixel Layout |
| 7 Inch Screen Size | 5.7 Inch Screen Size |
| LCD Screen | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Screen |
“So…is it ready yet?” Not quite. The Oculus Rift, I would say, is still far away from being this futuristic dream-machine the general public considers it to be, or at least desires it to be. Its field of view is limited to 100 degrees, the resolution still falls short when compared to what we need it to be, and trivial things, such as your facial structure, can affect your experience, for better or for worse.
Oculus VR, the company behind Oculus Rift, wants to make the Oculus affordable for everyone, so they don’t want the price of Oculus to exceed $400. Fingers crossed they will be able to fix all these matters without breaking threshold, then again, I would expect a lot from a $400 machine.
