Most of you know about the MS8K by now. For those who do not: it is a new Lighthouse PCVR headset from a Panasonic spin-off called “shiftall”. The headset sports two 4k microOLED panels, pancake lenses, motorised IPD adjustment, Diopter adjustment and a very sleek overall design that weighs in at only 185g.
I had a whole afternoon with the device at the shiftall headquarters in Tokyo and could check out whatever I wanted on their 4070super PC they had set up for this test session. And yeah, I really wanted to try out Microsoft Flight Simulator, since it has become one of my favourite things to do in VR.
And I am happy to tell you that the experience blew me away. This was the best experience I have ever had in MSFS. Period. What made it so good? The immersion in this headset is just so fantastic, the headset ticks so many boxes:
Visuals - more pixels than the Apple Vision Pro, also microOLED. And the beautiful thing is: really good lenses. Much better pancake lenses than in the Bigscreen Beyond. You get a really good edge to edge clarity here and much less glare. The lenses are very comparable with the Quest 3 lenses. Now since this also has a near perfect binocular overlap and a standard FOV (around 100h), you simply get the best visuals that I have so far seen in VR. Yes, even sharper than AVP and that with DisplayPort. Exactly what we VR enthusasiast crave.
Comfort - the headset is just so incredibly comfortable. It’s a soft strap that is designed in the halo way. So the headset is not pressed against your eyes but hovers in front of them. And the gasket itself is comparable to that of the PSVR2, so it is just there to keep the light out. Nice. Also, there is eye relief, so you can get the lenses as close to your eyes as you want, or leave more room if that is better for you. Real IPD adjustment is built in as well and its realised with motors. You set up your IPD in their software and the lenses move to the correct position. Nice! Also there is even diopter adjustment. All that in a package that only weighs 185g. It was so comfortable I forgot I was wearing it.
Downsides - Yes, there are downsides, too. We do not yet have the perfect headset. In my opinion, it is not a very bright headset. It is very comparable to the brightness of the Bigscreen Beyond. So if that is alright for you, this one will be too. But yeah, there are without a doubt brighter headsets out there. The team tells me that the pre-production unit I was using still did not show me the highest brightness yet. It was configured to be as colour-accurate as possible and that meant it was not optimised for brightness. They say they can give us 10 to 15% more brightness in the production unit. Other than that, there is no audio. So you have to take care of your own audio. I personally prefer audio that is built-into the system, or at least an audio strap like the great one of the Bigscreen Beyond.
Overall, I walked away impressed. I truly believe this is the next go-to headset for PCVR enthusiasts who simply want the best visuals that are possible right now. I personally can’t wait to get it for MSFS 2024 and actually all of my other PCVR games!