Fine-tuning and tweaking every possible setting to obtain as many frames per second as possible is every VR user’s part-time job, at least for a while after getting a new headset or after some update “improves” everything and totally optimises how everything runs. The VR experience often feels as if you are trying to fix a punctured garden hose; once you patch one leak, another one appears elsewhere down the line. And yes, you can replace “the VR experience” with “being over 30” in that sentence.
The same holds true for the Pimax Crystal VR headset series, which comes with some advanced features and settings to tweak. In this entry, we will look into some possible solutions to get your Pimax VR experience running as smoothly as possible and get your hands away from the troubleshooting duct tape and back onto the wheel where they belong.
Image Source: SimStaff
Solution 1: Runtime Switch
The first solution that won’t require any third-party apps or tools is one found within your Pimax Play software.
Many users launch their VR titles through Steam and most often have their default XR runtime set to SteamVR. Running everything through SteamVR adds another runtime layer, which can increase system overhead and put extra strain on your PC, potentially contributing to FPS drops. Luckily, Pimax offers a way to use the Pimax OpenXR runtime.
Aiming for a more direct runtime path and thereby removing an extra runtime layer through Pimax OpenXR can help improve stability, especially in games that support OpenXR. The guide for doing this can be found here from Pimax themselves, where the location of the setting is shown.
Solution 2: Foveated Rendering
The next solution becomes a bit more technical, but don’t let that intimidating GitHub layout scare you away from boosting your performance in VR.
The OpenXR Toolkit enables you to adjust upscaling and sharpening settings that might otherwise be unavailable for tweaking. Additionally, it supports Fixed Foveated Rendering, a feature that lets you prioritise which parts of your field of view should be rendered at full resolution. In practice, this allows you to keep the centre of the image sharp while rendering the edges of your field of view at a reduced resolution. Since your attention is primarily focused on the centre, rendering the peripheral areas in full resolution may be unnecessary and can add unnecessary GPU load, so using this feature can help improve overall performance.
Before installing OpenXR Toolkit, it is worth checking whether a similar foveated rendering option is already available inside your current version of Pimax Play, as newer Pimax Play versions include native foveated rendering options. Depending on your headset, runtime, Pimax Play version, and the title you are aiming to play, the native option may or may not be available, so investigate this before doing anything else.
Some variants of Pimax VR headsets specifically support Dynamic Foveated Rendering, which uses the same principle as mentioned above. The difference is that it adjusts the rendering sharpness to the user’s gaze in real time through eye-tracking. For the purposes of this entry, we will only be looking into the fixed variant.
After installing the toolkit from the link above, you can open the OpenXR Toolkit Companion app and launch your preferred sim title with the OpenXR runtime active.
With the VR headset on, once you have loaded into the game, you will be presented with a menu only visible through the headset that says “Welcome to the OpenXR Toolkit.”
Follow the instruction button prompts used to open the menu. These shortcuts can be configured in the Companion app, which is included in the tool, should you wish to do so later.
Once you have done this, you will be in the “Performance” tab in the menu. At the bottom of the menu, you can see which key combinations can be used to navigate the menu.
Navigate to the “Fixed foveated rendering” setting and set it to “Preset”.
Afterwards, change the “Cull outer mask” from “No” to “Yes”, and change “Mode” to “Performance”.
To narrow the sharp part of your field of view down and thus achieve the optimal performance, change the “Pattern” setting to “Narrow”. A “Wide” option is also available, so see which one works best for you.
As these settings are applied in real time, it can be worthwhile to activate the Toolkit’s FPS counter to see their effects on performance. It can be found at the top of the “Performance” tab, named “Overlay”. Change this to “FPS.”
When to Contact SimRigSupport
That once-thought “5-minute fix” you have had in the back of your mind all day can quickly turn into an elaborate process that stretches long into the night when it comes to tweaking and fine-tuning VR headset settings. We have all been there.
If you need help navigating the world of virtual reality or virtual insanity, if you have tried everything and haven’t got anywhere, or if you need technical assistance with setting up a racing simulator in general, SimRigSupport is here to help.
Reach out to us here so we can get you back on track!
