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Why didn't Oculus use Micro displays ?

whitedragon101
Explorer
The new eMagin headset is a 2k x 2k per eye micro display. The info on the web says they have:

- high brightness
- high contrast
- high fill factor
- no screen door at all (there are no lines between the pixels. pixel fill is 100%
- small size
http://www.holoeyesystems.com/lcos-microdisplays/

+ Carmack said they don't suffer from 2 frame rise problems.


That all sounds so good why didn't Oculus use them? Carmack knew about them so there must be some downside that made Oculus choose OLED instead.

Any idea what that is?
6 REPLIES 6

Walky
Explorer
FOV and price come to mind. Not sure if low persistence is feasible with these displays, I guess it most likely is.

whitedragon101
Explorer
"Walky" wrote:
FOV and price come to mind. Not sure if low persistence is feasible with these displays, I guess it most likely is.


emagin say their new microdisplay HMD is 100deg diagonal FOV

I guess price could be a factor. I have no idea what micro displays cost.

Walky
Explorer
Yes, I read about the FOV too, but I'm not sure if it's ideal with current optics solutions or if it is "real 100º" with full image coverage. I'm not denying the possibility that it might be a good solution, but microdisplays sure bring to mind the Sony HMZs, among others (makes me wonder if the reason for Sony not using microdisplays in Morpheus is purely because of cost, or if there are technical aspects involved). I hope R&D reaches a point where microdisplays (or perhaps microprojectors or some fancy microlens-based light field display) become a de-facto solution for low weight HMDs.

"whitedragon101" wrote:
I guess price could be a factor. I have no idea what micro displays cost.


For reference, IIRC the retail price for the Sony HMZ-T3 was around $990 (1280 x 720 resolution), and that is not even a VR device, even less a full fledged one. At first sight this new headset screams "high end, high price military and research VR device", but then I see the cheesy (truth be said) gaming oriented ad and become completely lost regarding where this is aiming at.

Seri
Honored Guest
Oculus already said they will be using the best display technology available for CV1.

I trust them, so if they don't use micro displays, that means there are downsides using these.

They are obviously aware of these displays, but if they don't use that technology, there must be a good reason.

MrMonkeybat
Explorer
Micro displays are made on silicon wafers so they presumably cost a bit more. Until recently they tended to be a bit small. They tend to use white OLEDs with color filters which is less efficient and darker.

Ashles
Protege
"Seri" wrote:
Oculus already said they will be using the best display technology available for CV1.


I think implicit in that is 'best technology available... within a sensible budget'.

Obviously there will always be better quality options but at prohibitively expensive cost.
Oculus must know where they want their final pricing point to be so they will be factoring that into production decisions.
"Into every life a little fantasy must fall..."