PICO 4 ULTIMATE PCVR USB-C 3.0 Graphics review & set up guide!

[@I_am_nGT83]

A good thing to know, is that Pico 4s own client for connecting to PC with Cable or WIFI is locked at 40mbps which makes it very laggy or pixeled with compression atm, and therefor not a very good program to use in my opinion, though using the application virtual desktop, there is no limit on the bandwidth and therefor is less compressed and is more clear than even the Valve Index - Wirelessly - WIFI 5Ghz or WIFI6.

[@vressentials]

How do u know it’s locked at that setting

[@I_am_nGT83]

@@vressentials Other youtuber, but it seems they have increased it to 100 recently - but still with a max res of 2160x2160 instead of 3160x3160 and 150mbps that VD can use.

[@spiracle613]

@@I_am_nGT83 most pcs cant even handle 3160x3160

[@I_am_nGT83]

@@spiracle613 Yea, its all about the compression though, if Steam is set to 3160x3160 and the link/streaming app is compressing it to 50%, you'll get a feeling of playing in 1580x1580 instead. I must say though that i think pico did some improvements on the streaming assistent, because i've had steam at 100% res, 90hz, looking very good and have 1,7ms with wifi5 (and pc on gigabit eth) in games like beat sabre and pistol whip, so it works very well now, specially since i get about 8ms with the valve index - connected with a cable directly to the PC.

[@NiclasLinden]

@@I_am_nGT83 I personally do not know anything about this subject, but I have heard from youtubers that "Virtual Desktop" is better that Picos "Streaming assistent" for the Pico 4

[@MydNitQ]

I’d love to see a comparison between the pico 4 and reverb g2 playing assetto corsa. I’d also like to hear your thoughts on the importance and significance of having a wireless headset

[@vressentials]

Okay incoming

[@po-pi-po]

I think it's non-comparable. Pico does have a compression, reverb g2 does not

[@Tigerhearty]

This is absolutely not a set up guide, it's just a poorly put together pr tirade from beginning to the end, nothing informative in your bullshlt.

[@Goooodbye]

Hi, do you think the USB PCVR is better than VD with 5 Ghz ? or the same ?

[@boku-no-pico]

I find it’s about comparable with the Neo 3 . I use wireless since I can charge it

[@vressentials]

VD in future videos

[@FatNorthernBigot]

I have the Pico 4, and Virtual Desktop makes wireless PCVR incredible. My latency is about 30ms, but there aren't any compression artefacts and playing wireless HL Alyx in my garden, is perfect. (try doing that on a G2).

[@stuartsgp]

Seems like the reviewer wasnt aware of VD!

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@stuartsgp it's definitely my preference.

[@pigofskies]

I would definitely disagree. VD with 150 mbps is a good bitrate that produce good image quality, but not good enough to completely mitigate artifacting. With Oculus link cable at around 300 mbps you get basically no artifacting. When you know where to look/have seen the green grass on the other side of the fence, you will be able to pick up on it very easily.

[@stuartsgp]

So you’re saying no compressed artefacts with wireless VD. Great. That female YT reviewer forgotten her name says that P4 with PCVR even with wireless VD still introduces artifacts hmm

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@stuartsgp You're right. Slight compression artefacts are still present, if you're looking for them. Not present... wires. No system is completely without compromise, but I know where we shouldn't be compromising.

[@cayide10]

looked every but couldnt find 13:00 but you had it thanks for the info

[@iWineLove]

what about the PCVR setup? Steam? or Virtual Desktop?

[@vressentials]

VD videos coming at later date

[@komododragosh]

I keep getting jagged edges whenni play pcvr any idea on how to improve the msaa on it please? Thanks

[@georgegyedu-nuakoh5921]

Do I necessarily need to use Thunderbolt 4 cable, or would any USB C cable work?

[@R3llumFMC]

Hi!!! Is there a way to test The cable Speed? Like The Quest 2?

[@vressentials]

will see how

[@smoothbluecode]

I know this my sound like blasphemy to most but can the Pico 4 controllers be used on the Quest 2 and visa vera?

[@vressentials]

It’s always possible but not that I know of

[@Peter_Parker69]

Does using link cable with the pico 4 downscale resolution? Heard people saying this. (I can't connect a router to my pc since I get my wifi from landlord's section of the building)

[@vressentials]

Video incoming

[@lraiden7]

Are you noticing any mura or "black dots". A few are mentioning of this problem.

[@vressentials]

Nope

[@pigofskies]

yeah there are, it is like this grid in the medium depth area of the visual image, it is apparent in all locations (home, pcvr, standalone games). It is probably how the pancake lenses makes the screen defects very obvious. However it is not very apparent, only if you think about it and focus your eyes close, depth wise. But it is like a screen door kinda effect. However, as already mentioned, not very annoying if you look past it. All in all the lenses are great (except from pretty heavy glare), and the edge to edge clarity is amazing. No longer have to move your head like an insane person to look at things in front of your, you can just look around with your eyes. A definitive upgrade from the quest 2 in every aspect.

[@lraiden7]

@@pigofskies Thanks! Good to know. Now just waiting for XR to ship so I can see for myself.

[@bibiservietsky]

Hey I have a question, is it better to use usb-c to usb-c or usb-c to sub-a ? I guess there is less compression/artefact with usb-c to usb-c right ? Thanks !

[@vressentials]

Not sure which is better

[@Nick-gr1rc]

@VR Essentials thanks for the video. I’ve been trying to change the resolution per eye in steam vr when connected to link but it appears to have no impact. Am I doing something wrong?

[@vressentials]

Usually downsizing/increasing the super sampling in SteamVR video settings “per app” so u can do it in a specific app it’ll either create more artifacting or more latency depending if go south of 100% or north (increasing)…u might not have selected “per app” and made ur Change in the general tab…not sure

[@pigofskies]

In my experience it is dependant upon the specific game, some games allow u to change resolution while playing, while others require you to restart the game within steamvr.

[@James-fv1cm]

So this might be a ridiculously stupid comment but I am extremely new to VR (pico 4 being my first ever VR headset) initially I was blown away by the pico 4 as I have nothing to compare it to. But after a few months of playing around with it (and loving it) I am starting to want to delve deeper into what’s possible with VR. I’m thinking about buying my first ever gaming PC so that I can use all the features of PCVR. So here are my two basic questions: 1: will using a PCVR set up and using the virtual desktop app IMPROVE visual performance? 2: I stream a lot of VR videos and 2d videos and download them to my PICO. Can I use the virtual desktop app to download these movies and improve visual quality?? Any further info on this would be greatly appreciated

[@vressentials]

1. Yes, I don’t use the virtual Pico assistant software as it bugs my machine - 2. Download them to the pc.

[@James-fv1cm]

@@vressentials thanks for your reply. Will downloading VR videos to my PC improve the visual quality when viewing it on my PICO? When I download VR videos as standalone to my headset they look good! But they are a bit pixelated and I’m trying to get the best possible viewing experience so any info on this would be great appreciated

[@combineforce9596]

Can i use wired pico4 vr without wireless but using ethernet connection instead?

[@palmTreeeeee]

I think the pancake lenses are plastic, they just dont have the crystal clear view of the psvr lenses i put on the quest. Also notice some wavy warping when slowly turning head, which is from lens imperfections i think

[@vressentials]

I’ll confirm

[@stuartsgp]

Hello, thanks for the video. Surely all of the compression is mitigated by using wireless virtual desktop no? You didn’t seem to mention that. Other reviewers have also said that using the cable is suboptimal

[@pigofskies]

No, there are still artifacts even with VD. Compared to the Q2 Link cable which can produce somewhere around 280-500 mbps (not really sure how much can be decoded/encoded) I see major differences in artifacting. Some games make it more obvious, for example iracing. I really hope Pico increases their wired connection software to match the one of meta's link cable.

[@stuartsgp]

Interesting but even WiFi 5 can transmit at over 800Mbps. I’d heard VD was uncapped in that regard

[@pigofskies]

@@stuartsgp There is a 150 mbps cap in VD, not sure why as encoding/decoding works with q2 link up to at least 300 mbps (I believe it goes as high as 500 mbps) It is the encoding/decoding that sets the limit, not the transfer speeds (the usb-c 3.1 cable speed is 5Gbps). But yeah, with my Wifi6 I get 1200mbps speeds so I dont see why the VD cap couldn't be raised a bit. But at the same time, what do I know, I'm dumb af.:)

[@sopesens1]

SteamVR does not recognize the Pico 4, what am I doing wrong, thanks

[@vressentials]

Uninstall Pico streaming assistant then ensure u download in the same drive as ur Steam and steamvr

[@PiotruIa]

@@vressentials not working

[@nannideambrogio2672]

Sorry I was wondering if to have more data transfer speeds it would make sense to connect the usbc output of pico 4 directly to the display port or to the hdmi input on the graphics card? Thank you

[@vressentials]

U can try I guess not sure of the outcome though - good question

[@georgegyedu-nuakoh5921]

and what are your graphics specs. I use an RTX 3070 but I get very bad graphics

[@vressentials]

Rtx2070

[@labratindisguise5338]

Same issue here with StreamingAssistantSetup-9.1.0.1. SteamVR does not recognize the wired hmd. It's on the same drive where steamvr is installed, unoptimized software I guess. Still on P4 v5.1. as there is no update here in the netherlands for version 5.2 if that has anything to do with it. bummer :(

[@vressentials]

Contact support if problem persists

[@david29bzh]

I would like to see the différence in msfs2020 with hp reverb g2. Thanks

[@vressentials]

Ah okay - I don’t it anymore but will put on list

[@nannideambrogio2672]

Thank you very much for your videos. They are very very useful. Can you make a comparison with Pico 4 and Reverb G2 with Assetto Corsa Competizione? Thank you

[@vressentials]

Okay I’ll try although I might need a better graphics card for it 😅 maybe I’ll test asseto corsa

[@nannideambrogio2672]

@@vressentials Yes, indeed ACC is very heavy for the graphics card and badly optimized for VR. I struggle with a RTX 3080. Thank you

[@sonic-th966]

the best performance has Automobilista 2. it's the only game I can run easily 90hz @ 150% resolution scale without FSR on a 6900xt. it was even playable on my old Vega 64 !

[@pedrovay2003]

Would I need to create any kind of account if all I want to do with this headset is use it on my PC? Can the setup be done completely offline? Thanks for the video!

[@vressentials]

No

[@vressentials]

Yes need account

[@siekoch]

Open XR Toolkit and Open Composite is the best best solution for PCVR. I bought Pico 4 and i'm very disapointed. I'm using Quest 2 from one month for PCVR with USB3 cable. I spent a lot of time to find out the best configuration (FPS and Quality). And now a lot of YT and internet hype for Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop (aka game changer and so on..) It's a bullshit for me. I've bought Pico 4 few days ago for better FOV, resolution and overall "image quality". Tested everything (WiFi6, USB-C etehernet card, USB3 cable, Streaming Assistant and Virtual Desktop (Godlike on my RTX 4090). Sorry, there is no way to have even close what i have on Quest 2 with OpenXR Toolkit and Open Composite with USB3 cable (I mean FPS and overall image quality not FOV of course). Now I will return my Pico 4, stay with Quest 2 and in the time where I wait for Quest 3 I will try HP Reverb G2 V2 because have also better spec then Q2 but can work same straight way like Q2 (OXRT, OC) without this sh**ty heavy SteamVR which Pico 4 use. Try your configuratiion with Virtual Desktop instead Streaming Assistant and You will see much better quality and performance, yes it's true. But again, for me even VD it's not to close what i've got from OXRT and OC. I wanted to have the same quality and performance on Pico 4, and even better due to the spec, but it's not possible until Pico 4 will not fully natively supports/uses Open XR.

[@vressentials]

thanks for sharing

[@Slyngelstaten]

You can get a bidirectional displayport to usb-c cable.. Would that work with pico 4? Converting a DP signal to usb-c

[@vressentials]

U can try I don’t know

[@bigmakbm1]

How was the compression?

[@vressentials]

Was okay - first time pcvr owners will love it

[@bigmakbm1]

@@vressentials Nice, it always stands out for me knowing the limitations of USB C. Most probably wouldn't notice, but coming from a dedicated headset like a G2, you can't help but see the visual downgrade - even if minimal.

[@palmTreeeeee]

pico wifi has been really slow for me, not even able to stream a youtube video, but quest on same network is fast. Anyone notice this problem or can test their speed?

[@vressentials]

Interesting I can’t compare to quest as I do not have one but the signal is weak in my studio true …but everything buffers just fine though

[@ganonboom1789]

Can you help me do VR assistance so I can buy games on the PECO store and playing in the United States I just got mines but everything is in Japan so how do I do the VR system make it in English step by step please help me

[@vressentials]

I’ll try to do a how to guide for US

[@WMARUoriginal]

Can you use USB C with a thumb drive to store games or videos?

[@vressentials]

I’ll do a video soon

[@74amazing]

Just a short question: Did you feel fine agreeing to the terms of usage? Esp. the part where you agreed that pico is allowed to share your data with all of its partners? I guess you loved it, didn’t you?

[@vressentials]

No I didn’t agree to that so left it disabled - no idea if that makes a difference

[@Killswitch1411]

Time for a mic upgrade.. This nearly killed my soul.

[@vressentials]

Lol …am trying but everything so expensive 😃

[@thegamingnrds9340]

My streaming assistant can't detect SteamVR even though it is installed. Anyone else have this problem?

[@vressentials]

Remove streaming assistant + any files in App Data then reinstall same drive as SteamVR - if doesn’t work delete both n reinstall SteamVR first.

[@lafamille2839]

Merci pour la vidéos alors avec le câbles la qualité est optimisée bien alors? Pouvez vous faire une vidéos pour optimiser bien sans câble avec un routeur wifi 6 pour jouer au jeux Steam vr sa serait super je l abonne cher vous.

[@vressentials]

So g les sous pour achete les cables 😂😂

[@Appleloucious]

Why bother with a cable if it is still compressed?

[@pigofskies]

yeah right now it is a downgrade to VD wireless. However, if they get it up on par with Oculus link speeds, there are major upgrades in image clarity and artifacting to be had with a wired USB-C connection.

[@vressentials]

It’s suppose to run smoother

[@andrazskusek4604]

You mentioned that even if PICO 4 is used with a USB type C connection to a pc youn need to be connected by a ethernet cable. Sadly for me that is not a possibilty and also my WiFi is unbearably slow, so im just wondering if the PICO 4 is still a good option for PCVR for me or should i get the Quest 2 since they are the same price where im from. (when using PCVR i would mostly play simracing titles like ACC and Dirrt Rally 2.0 and then some other steam VR games like boneworks). Any thoughts?

[@vressentials]

Pico 4 still

[@rjc2368]

The quest 2 link officiel câble works ?

[@vressentials]

I do t have quest 2 - good question

[@neros1277]

Well perosnally once i get pico 4 I'll set all pcvr game to lowest graphics settings, i do have 30 series card and im a gamer that donnt give a damn about graphics, i just want 90 fps nonstop

[@vressentials]

Sound good

[@Talewavo]

why u filming with a nokia 3310?

[@vressentials]

Was my iPhone 7 connected to OBS

[@stuartsgp]

I think she was just teasing you 😅

[@davidleyssens7089]

Can you plug the pico 4 directly into the gpu usb c connector?

[@vressentials]

I only have usb cpu no usb gpu

[@sebastianbayer3008]

Yes, get a 5m usb c to usb c cable. Fast and it charges

[@Jasperjvr2010]

Quest 2 out performs this thing by a mile. While also using USB3 the difference between quest 2 and pico 4 is massive.

[@simeonmomberg622]

This man mice is relly bad

[@vressentials]

New mic incoming in Jan 😃