Samsung introduces high-end, high-resolution VR glasses for Windows PCs
Samsung has announced its HMD Odyssey, a high-end VR headset for the Windows Mixed Reality platform. The glasses use OLED screens and have a higher resolution than the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, while the angle of view is the same.
The HMD Odyssey contains two 3.5″ OLED screens with a resolution of 1440×1600 pixels. With the Vive and Rift, the resolution per eye is a lot lower with 1080×1200 pixels. The screens work at 90 or 60Hz and provide an angle of view of 110 degrees. The weight of the VR glasses is 645 grams.
On the front of the headset are cameras for tracking the motion controllers and inside the goggles are an accelerometer and gyroscope that take measurements over six axes. The HMD Odyssey is connected to the PC with a four meter long HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.0 cable. The HMD Odyssey has integrated headphones with the AKG brand. Samsung took over Harman a year ago, of which AKG is part.
In the American web store of Microsoft, the VR glasses from Samsung are for sale for $ 499, which includes controllers. The glasses would be available from November 7. It is not known when the HMD Odyssey will be for sale in the Benelux and at what price. Converted with VAT, the price would be approximately 513 euros.
Samsung’s HMD Odyssey is the most advanced VR headset for the Windows Mixed Reality platform to date. Other manufacturers, such as Acer, Dell and HP, have also announced or have already released glasses, but they are often cheaper and have a smaller angle of view of one hundred degrees. These glasses also use LCD panels instead of OLED screens. Only Asus announced a variant with OLED screens, but it has a lower resolution of 1080×1200 pixels per eye.
The Windows Mixed Reality platform is part of the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. When that update is out, users can get started with the VR glasses. There should also be compatibility with Steam, so that it will be possible to play VR games on the Valve game platform with glasses such as the HMD Odyssey.