Right after Valve teased their highly-anticipated virtual reality game of all time, Half-Life: Alyx, the company revealed its plan to bring its virtual reality headphones called Valve Index to other countries. Aside from the United States and Europe, the headphone is available in Japan and Canada.
One of the features of Valve Index headphones is that they have an optimized pixel layout. Their dual LCDs offer up to 50% more subpixels than the organic light-emitting diode or organic EL. This optimization leads to enhanced sharpness without changing the rendering charge. Additionally, their fill factor, which is a crucial parameter in determining the efficiency of organic solar cells’ power conversion, is remarkably 3x better than that of the organic EL, resulting in a substantially minimized effect of the “screen door.”
The headsets also have a higher value of frame rates. They can operate at up to 120 Hz and are completely back-compatible with 90 Hz. They can also run at an experimental frame rate of up to 144 Hz. The high frame rates enhance the realism of the game and visual comfort of the gamers, which allows them to play more comfortably at a more extended period.
Furthermore, the Index headphones come with immensely low persistence. Their reduced persistence is five times better than that of the first-generation PC VR head-mounted display. Their screen displays have a decreased illumination duration that ranges between 0.330 milliseconds to 0.530 milliseconds. The range is highly dependent on the frame rate. The low radiance allows imagery to maintain a steady sharpness, regardless of whether the player’s head is moving or they are standing still.
Gamers that can get their hands on one of the Index VR headphones before the end of the year will get the change to obtain a copy of the latest Half-life: Alyx game for free. The game is created explicitly for the VR headsets and is set to launch around March of next year.
Interested gamers can also order the complete kit, which includes the VR headphone, 2.0 sensors, as well as Index gaming controllers. Players that already have a set of previously released headphones also have the option to pick from a variety of other combinations. Moreover, the Index headphone works pretty well with the current HTC Vive wands and trackers. Gamers do not have to upgrade their headset to 2.0 sensors or controllers.