Pimax's 8K VR Headset Crushes $3 Million Kickstarter Milestone
Last month, a small VR company from China called Pimax launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to begin manufacturing a super high-resolution VR HMD called the Pimax 8K. The upcoming headset features an ultrawide 200-degree field of view that’s filled by two side-by-side 4K display panels, and it interfaces with Valve’s SteamVR platform and SteamVR Tracking system. We recently had a chance to test out one of the Pimax 8K prototype headsets, and we were impressed by the image quality and peripheral vision the device provides.
The Pimax 8K Kickstarter campaign started with a bang, and the funding is still rolling in at a steady pace. Pimax’s original funding goal was $200,000, which it managed to rake in within the first hour. Over the weekend, the campaign cracked the $3 million milestone, which unlocked the last of six stretch goals.
At time of writing, 4,947 backers have committed $3.2 million in exchange for early access to the highest resolution VR HMD that you can order today, which gives Pimax the crown for most-funded VR device on Kickstarter. To put that into perspective, the previous highest record for a VR device on Kickstarter was held by Oculus with $2.4 million collected for the Rift DK1 campaign. Pimax already eclipsed that number, and it still has four days to collect even more.
Before Pimax revealed its Kickstarter plans, we caught wind of a lineup of accessories the company developed for the headset. Pimax has since moved to include a handful of those accessories with each Kickstarter-sold headset. At $500,000, Pimax added a second face cushion to the package to sweeten the deal. From then on, the company announced a new stretch goal for every half-million-dollar increment, including an upgraded head strap with built-in headphones at $1 million, a cooling fan and prescription lens kit at $1.5 million, and a coupon for $100 off a wireless transmission kit upgrade at $2 million.
When the Pimax 8K Kickstarter campaign reached $2.5 million, the company tossed in “three pieces of selective content,” which we thought indicated the end of the hardware upgrades, but boy were we wrong. On Sunday, the campaign surpassed the $3 million mark and unlocked the final stretch goal, which happens to be free eye tracking modules.
When Pimax launched the Pimax 8K Kickstarter campaign, it was offering three versions of the headset, including the Pimax 5K, which features two 1440p displays; the Pimax 8K, which includes two 4K panels but accepts a 5K feed; and the Pimax 8K X, which accepts a full resolution video feed. The Pimax 8K X is sold out, but you can still get your hands on the 5K or 8K models.
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
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samer.forums 8K resolution = 7680×4320Reply
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done. -
caustin582 Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.Reply
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is. -
samer.forums Reply20327089 said:2x4 is 8
minus 1 that's 7
quick maths
8K and 4K is not a number it is a word , a definition . so your math fails. -
nikolajj Reply20324602 said:8K resolution = 7680×4320
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done.
Not true.20325351 said:Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is.
4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 (16:9). But 4K in general can be 3840 ×1080, or even 4000 × 10.
UHD is a standardization of 4K, but not 4K itself. 4K just refers to the number of horizontal pixels.
But I do agree that calling it 8K is misleading.
The K-naming itself is dum to begin with. -
samer.forums Reply20327164 said:20324602 said:8K resolution = 7680×4320
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done.
Not true.20325351 said:Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is.
4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 (16:9). But 4K in general can be 3840 ×1080, or even 4000 × 10.
UHD is a standardization of 4K, but not 4K itself. 4K just refers to the number of horizontal pixels.
But I do agree that calling it 8K is misleading.
The K-naming itself is dum to begin with.
when People say Just 4K it means the UHD and not others. this is the common in the market. if different than UHD then people name it completely.
The same goes with 8K ...
and they did not say 8K half height. they just said 8K ...
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nikolajj Reply
A lot of people doing something does not make it correct, not even if it is a lot of companies. And don't generalize, because if people in general say 4K, they properly mean UDH, but you can't be certain!20327180 said:20327164 said:20324602 said:8K resolution = 7680×4320
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done.
Not true.20325351 said:Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is.
4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 (16:9). But 4K in general can be 3840 ×1080, or even 4000 × 10.
UHD is a standardization of 4K, but not 4K itself. 4K just refers to the number of horizontal pixels.
But I do agree that calling it 8K is misleading.
The K-naming itself is dum to begin with.
when People say Just 4K it means the UHD and not others. this is the common in the market. if different than UHD then people name it completely.
The same goes with 8K ...
and they did not say 8K half height. they just said 8K ...
But what you might mean is that when people say 4K they refer to UHD, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is just less specific.
If people normaly refer to a red car when just saying 'car', a blue car is still also a car.
If people normaly refer to UDH when just saying 4K, DCI 4K is still also a 4K resolution.
A lot of people think that 4K equals UHD, but it is wrong. Companies get it wrong too, reinforcing the public misconception.
I have my facts checked and straight. Accept that you might be wrong, and get back to me after you have reexamined what you thought.
Heve a read:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/174221-no-tv-makers-4k-and-uhd-are-not-the-same-thing -
nikolajj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution#cite_note-1Reply
Just read the first sentence, and its source if you really want. -
samer.forums Reply20327264 said:
A lot of people doing something does not make it correct, not even if it is a lot of companies. And don't generalize, because if people in general say 4K, they properly mean UDH, but you can't be certain!20327180 said:20327164 said:20324602 said:8K resolution = 7680×4320
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done.
Not true.20325351 said:Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is.
4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 (16:9). But 4K in general can be 3840 ×1080, or even 4000 × 10.
UHD is a standardization of 4K, but not 4K itself. 4K just refers to the number of horizontal pixels.
But I do agree that calling it 8K is misleading.
The K-naming itself is dum to begin with.
when People say Just 4K it means the UHD and not others. this is the common in the market. if different than UHD then people name it completely.
The same goes with 8K ...
and they did not say 8K half height. they just said 8K ...
But what you might mean is that when people say 4K they refer to UHD, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is just less specific.
If people normaly refer to a red car when just saying 'car', a blue car is still also a car.
If people normaly refer to UDH when just saying 4K, DCI 4K is still also a 4K resolution.
A lot of people think that 4K equals UHD, but it is wrong. Companies get it wrong too, reinforcing the public misconception.
I have my facts checked and straight. Accept that you might be wrong, and get back to me after you have reexamined what you thought.
Heve a read:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/174221-no-tv-makers-4k-and-uhd-are-not-the-same-thing
I know that 4K can have many horizontal options. but in common short naming become popular. and 4K became short naming about UHD ...
I dont need a read , I know.
here 8k in wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8K_resolution
8K resolution, or 8K UHD
as I said . people use short terms for popular resolution. -
nikolajj Reply
Shame, if you had taken a read, you would see that my link is based on technical specification from 2001 by an industry expert, yours was wiped together by a repporter (that did not state a source himself). He is just retelling and reinforcing that global misconception instead of proper fact checking. Reporters are wrong all the time. What you linked is a prime example of why the Wikipedia sources are so important.20327272 said:20327264 said:
A lot of people doing something does not make it correct, not even if it is a lot of companies. And don't generalize, because if people in general say 4K, they properly mean UDH, but you can't be certain!20327180 said:20327164 said:20324602 said:8K resolution = 7680×4320
Two 4K side by side Resolution = 7680 × 2160
this is not 8K . 8K = four 4K panels
saying this is 8K will stop many people from buying it , because there is no GPU that can play games on 8K resolution , but in 2x4K it can be done.
Not true.20325351 said:Yeah... 8K has a specific definition of 7680×4320 pixels. It's also referred to as 4320p. You can't just call anything with 7680 horizontal pixels "8K". This is half-height 8K.
It's unfortunate that they decided to go ahead with such dishonest marketing, because 2x 4K is still a very impressive resolution. They're probably going to run into a lot of criticism for this that could have been easily avoided if they just called it what it is.
4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 (16:9). But 4K in general can be 3840 ×1080, or even 4000 × 10.
UHD is a standardization of 4K, but not 4K itself. 4K just refers to the number of horizontal pixels.
But I do agree that calling it 8K is misleading.
The K-naming itself is dum to begin with.
when People say Just 4K it means the UHD and not others. this is the common in the market. if different than UHD then people name it completely.
The same goes with 8K ...
and they did not say 8K half height. they just said 8K ...
But what you might mean is that when people say 4K they refer to UHD, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is just less specific.
If people normaly refer to a red car when just saying 'car', a blue car is still also a car.
If people normaly refer to UDH when just saying 4K, DCI 4K is still also a 4K resolution.
A lot of people think that 4K equals UHD, but it is wrong. Companies get it wrong too, reinforcing the public misconception.
I have my facts checked and straight. Accept that you might be wrong, and get back to me after you have reexamined what you thought.
Heve a read:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/174221-no-tv-makers-4k-and-uhd-are-not-the-same-thing
I know that 4K can have many horizontal options. but in common short naming become popular. and 4K became short naming about UHD ...
I dont need a read , I know.
here 8k in wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8K_resolution
8K resolution, or 8K UHD
as I said . people use short terms for popular resolution.
I have layed out all you need to see what is what. I will not respond to more half-thought-out arguments.
Facts or goodbye.