Aisaka Taiga
- Pimax Dream Air reaches roughly 13.5 million pixels per eye, nearly three times the density of the Quest 3.
- Minecraft and the Case for Micro OLED
- Types of Resolutions
- Trade-offs in Weight and Comfort
- The compromises don't come in the form of visual quality.
Pimax Dream Air reaches roughly 13.5 million pixels per eye, nearly three times the density of the Quest 3.
VR headsets have always been known for their low resolution, somewhat dull color palette, and limited field of view, all of which make the world look much like it does when wearing ski goggles. The newer generation of VR headsets is even more immersive, with higher pixel densities.
That's where the Pimax Dream Air falls into the same category. When pitted against the Quest 3 through a series of experiences, it's easy to see how it's superior and where the compromises become apparent.
Minecraft and the Case for Micro OLED
Pimax Dream Air's testing began with Minecraft, the game running the Immersive VR Essentials mod, which is demanding but offers substantial rewards. Dream Air's gameplay is viewed not on an LCD screen but on a micro OLED screen, making the difference more apparent.
Micro OLED is the best display for image sharpness, true blacks, and color depth, and because it does not require backlighting, each pixel can be made very small. A turned-off pixel will produce true black, not a greyish color.
Unlike the Dream Air VR Headset, the Steam Deck has LCD panels. The difference is most apparent in night-time scenes in Minecraft, which, when set in a dark cave, appear as true darkness rather than washed out, and the same is true for horror games and film content, too.
Types of Resolutions
Resolution is just as important as color – they're not the only pieces of the puzzle to consider as you evaluate how much detail you'll be able to discern at a distance. Both the Steam Frame and the Quest 3 deliver about 2K resolution per eye, which is no problem on a TV spec sheet, but it doesn't match the resolution you'll see when a TV is placed up close and personal to your eyes.
This equates to approximately 4.5 million pixels per eye on Steam Frame and Quest 3. Pimax Dream Air is the first headset to reach more than 13.5 million pixels per eye, nearly three times as many as the Quest 3 and Steam Frame. At this density, games like FlatOut become more realistic than other VR headsets.
It's quite a lot of pixels for a computer, and even games that don't have trouble elsewhere may have problems at this resolution. Eye-tracking cameras can help relieve the load – but only to a certain extent – by using foveated rendering.
Trade-offs in Weight and Comfort
The comparison is completed with display size and weight. Micro OLED panels are also smaller and denser than LCD panels, making the headset more compact than ever. Weight isn't something to be taken lightly in VR, as it can significantly affect comfort throughout the experience.
Pimax Dream Air is a PC VR headset, however, and doesn't have its own processor, which adds up to a total weight of approximately 170g (contrast this with the Quest 3's 515g). Combined, these features allow you to play longer without getting tired and to feel like you are in a scene; the headset looks near-perfect on paper.
VR hardware, however, is subject to compromises, and there are none without them. Quest 3 and Steam Frame are both compromises geared towards the mass market, with nothing wrong in them, but nothing that's right either. The Dream Air sits somewhere else in terms of display quality, but the price and PC performance required to run it bring it down to earth.
The compromises don't come in the form of visual quality.
The face gasket doesn't conform to your face very well, the controllers look just like the original Quest controllers, and the cable is positioned awkwardly at the back of your head. Together, these read as minor complaints, but at this price, the whole headset should at least feel more premium, and these are some areas where it didn't.
It depends on priorities whether the Dream Air is valuable. Display this sharply, with pixels that actually vanish into the background; it's the heart of what VR offers in terms of immersion. Where it doesn't live up to expectations, the Dream Air does for display quality.
