First Day Impressions…is this normal?

[thatsmyfish]

Hi all, looking to see if the behavior I’m experiencing from my Vision Pro is normal.

I had a difficult time getting a light seal to start. The team at the store was wonderful and really wanted to get it right for me. Most of the light seals allowed way too large of a gap by my nose, enough to easily check the time on my watch through, but the 23W worked well, especially since I’m going to add Zeiss inserts to counter a mild astigmatism (always wear glasses.)

When I purchased and went back for the fitting, there was a noticeable glare inside the demo unit. We quickly identified it as a result of the gap (we hadn’t found 23W at this point) and if I held my finger under my nose like I was faking a mustache, it went away. We added the inserts and it went away, so something about the inserts countered the glare. Problem solved.

I got the unit home last night and frankly, it’s terrible. There’s a new glare on the lens that wasn’t present in the demo model in the store (may be the different unit, may be time of day and lighting) and it isn’t impacted by covering the gap. It‘s like there’s a smudge on your glasses. As you move your face, you see it everywhere. When I watch a movie in a dark environment, I get lens flare and as I move my head from side to side it’s smudgy.

I’m sure there’s a better way to describe it, but cleaning the lens does nothing. The passthrough itself is underwhelming. I was going to test for 14 days but I never encountered anything like this on my Quest 2 and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s far more enjoyable a product so far. I’m just curious if this is common (people complain about glare, but not so much a smudgy sensation) or if maybe I got a dud.

 

[mattopotamus]

There is a thread titled "glare". That is what you are seeing. It is more noticeable when watching content with dark backgrounds. It is the nature of the pancake lenses. I imagine most people would not notice it during a demo because they are in awe. Once you get home and use the device, if you notice it, nothing you can do but live with it or return.

Glare

I’ve been using my Vision Pro for about an hour now, and the glare is horrible. It’s not from outside it’s a glare from the inside from the lights of the screens. Does anyone know how to fix this?

forums.macrumors.com

 

[thatsmyfish]

I read through it but more of the smudge effect. It reminds me of when my daughter hands me my glasses and got handprints and “sticky” on them. I’ll see glare, but it’s almost a cloudy sensation across the screen. That could be the glare as the light hits the side of the lenses that every is describing, or a separate issue. I think I’m looking for what everyone means when they say glare.

 

[mattopotamus]

I read through it but more of the smudge effect. It reminds me of when my daughter hands me my glasses and got handprints and “sticky” on them. I’ll see glare, but it’s almost a cloudy sensation across the screen. That could be the glare as the light hits the side of the lenses that every is describing, or a separate issue. I think I’m looking for what everyone means when they say glare.

Smudge or smear is a good way to describe it. That is the glare. Open up a movie on Apple+ and go into "cinema" environment. That seems to be the worst culprit.

 

[thatsmyfish]

100% So not so much a JJ Abram’s lens flare but almost like a cloud over the screen as light from apps or graphics hits it?

 

[jtptus]

Been there, done that. Your description of the smudge effect is exactly my experience. Unfortunately I just could not get used to it and the effect became an irritating distraction. Reluctantly I decided to return the device. I know it is a not uncommon optical issue in VR technologies and hope a fix is possible down line . I plan to stand by and follow what develops.

 

[antiprotest]

Immersion ruined.

 

[mattopotamus]

100% So not so much a JJ Abram’s lens flare but almost like a cloud over the screen as light from apps or graphics hits it?

Correct. That is exactly it.

 

[Eugr]

Yes, same thing here. Happens when you have a bright object on a relatively dim background. Darker the background and brighter the object, worse the effect. It's exactly like looking at bright iPhone screen in a completely dark room while wearing glasses with smudges on them.

My Quest 3 also has glare, but it's nowhere as bad as this. But then it doesn't get that bright (or dark).

 

[roland.g]

Here is the reality of AVP.

For $300-600, most consumers will accept and understand limitations.
For $4000, consumers expect more, expect essentially perfection. When you get something less than that on quite a few fronts, people are not going to be satisfied to let those slide at that price point.

Apple: You want to sell a $4000 VR headset, it needs to truly be next level. It is in some ways, but the shortcomings leave us either expecting more, or saying to accept it, it should be less.

 

[3goldens]

If the glare bothers you so much return it. It's a known issue you're not seeing anything abnormal. If you don't like it, send it back.

 

[Eugr]

If the glare bothers you so much return it. It's a known issue you're not seeing anything abnormal. If you don't like it, send it back.

But then some people don’t see any glare, so it makes one wonder whether some units are worse than others. I’m going to pay my local Apple Store a visit and compare with their demo unit.

Now, I learned to live with it, and it doesn’t bother me that much for most of the time, but if it can be improved I’d like to do it before my return period runs out.

 

[jtptus]

But then some people don’t see any glare, so it makes one wonder whether some units are worse than others. I’m going to pay my local Apple Store a visit and compare with their demo unit.

Now, I learned to live with it, and it doesn’t bother me that much for most of the time, but if it can be improved I’d like to do it before my return period runs out.

The individual variation in the users‘ eyes is key. I will presume that a bad AVP build is an outlier. In my case, I just have a sensitivity to that ghosting effect noted in VR optics for a subset of users. If I can adapt to it, good, and if not, the technology does not work for me at this point in time. In some reviews in other (non Macrumors sites), I read some high order, gives me a headache, expert discussions on the challenges of bending all that light and focusing it on a small device. There are fundamental limitations. That the AVP seems to work for many people shows all the development effort put into it. Truly though, one size, technologically speaking, will never fit all.

 

[thatsmyfish]

The individual variation in the users‘ eyes is key. I will presume that a bad AVP build is an outlier. In my case, I just have a sensitivity to that ghosting effect noted in VR optics for a subset of users. If I can adapt to it, good, and if not, the technology does not work for me at this point in time. In some reviews in other (non Macrumors sites), I read some high order, gives me a headache, expert discussions on the challenges of bending all that light and focusing it on a small device. There are fundamental limitations. That the AVP seems to work for many people shows all the development effort put into it. Truly though one size, technologically speaking, will never fit all.

The first time I got glasses, I went back for so many adjustments, and had so much trouble adapting to them that I’m now friends with my optometrist on Facebook. Today, I have a kid and if my glasses are on the right way around and they’re not covered in something sticky, it’s a win. I find the glare distracting in dark situations, but I understand it’s a first generation product, and if I’m able to adapt to my satisfaction, then it’s a win. I know what I’m buying. I’m paying to be a tester. But you’re 100% correct. I’m not experiencing headaches or vertigo or anything like that, but if I had gotten this headset 15 years ago, I probably would be on the ground.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I do notice some glare in some situations but I just dont care. It’s not that bad anyway.

 

[techno-Zen]

I returned a Quest 3, bought Vision Pro used it for a day.. and actually missed the Quest 3 so I returned the VP and bought another Quest 3.

I never in a million years thought I'd do that.. and that's with my wife giving me a $4000 hall pass to buy the thing.