Yesterday Sony announced new information at the new version of Sony’s virtual reality headset Project Morpheus with a release date in the first half of 2016, the company has announced.
Further details on the headset were revealed at GDC last night, where Sony revealed that it had upgraded the unit’s built-in screen to a 5.7″ 1080p OLED display. The unit was previously expected to ship with a 5″ LCD display.
Sony has upgraded the screen and this will reportedly allow Sony to reduce motion blur and expand the field of view while doubling the refresh rate from 60hz to 120hz.
Other improvements have been made to the device since last year’s reveal, too, including more accurate tracking, reduced latency and modifications to the design, making the unit lighter and shifting its weight to the top of the user’s head.
“We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button,” said Sony. “The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.”
Sony warns that the unit is still being prototyped, however, and that its design and specification are still subject to change.
A price for Project Morpheus has yet to be announced, but don’t expect it to come cheap. OLED screens are typically more expensive to produce than standard LCD/LED displays.
Key changes:
- OLED display – In exchange for the 5 inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7 inch 1920 X RGB X 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur.
- 120hz refresh rate – The previous refresh rate spec has been doubled for this new prototype, which means games for Morpheus can be rendered at 120fps. When combined with the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of PS4, Morpheus is able to output amazingly smooth visuals.
- Super low latency – We know how critical low latency is to delivering a great VR experience, and we’ve reduced latency to less than 18ms, about half of what the first Morpheus prototype had. Low latency is critical to deliver a sense of presence, at the same time making the VR experience comfortable to players.
- More accurate tracking– To make positional tracking more precise, we’ve added three LEDs to the headset – one on the front and two on the side – for a total of nine LEDs to support robust 360 degree tracking.
- User-friendly design – We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button. The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.
The 2016 date also means that Morpheus will debut after Valve’s VR headset, the HTC Vive. Built in conjunction with HTC, the Vive is scheduled for a commercial launch at the end of the year.
Source: blog.eu.playstation.com
