Pimax

Pimax Technology Co Ltd
Industry Virtual reality
Founded 2016 (2016) in Shanghai, China
Headquarters Shanghai, China
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Pimax 4K
Pimax 8K
Piplay
Website pimaxvr.com

Pimax is a Chinese technology company specializing in virtual reality hardware and software products.

In 2016 its first product, the Pimax 4K virtual reality headset, was released,[1] becoming the first commercially available 4K headset.[2] In 2017, they ran a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the Pimax 8K headset, raising approximately $4.2 million.[3] On the 19th of December 2017, Pimax announced they had closed a $15 million series A funding round.[4] In May 2018, Pimax launched knuckle style controller compatible with SteamVR 2.0.[5]

Products

Pimax 4K

The company's first product, launched in 2016. It features a resolution of 1920×2160 per eye, for a total of 3840×2160 (thus the 4K denomination).[1]

Pimax 8K

The Pimax 8K is a virtual reality head-mounted display. It features two 4K displays, one for each eye, with an advertised field of view of 200 degrees. However, the Pimax 8K is not "true" 8K, given that 8K is supposed to contain four times as many pixels as 4K; twice as much as the two 4K screens contained in the Pimax 8K. In addition, due to bandwidth limitations in the connection cable, the headset's input is limited to 2560×1440 for each of the displays. This is then upscaled in the device to the displays' actual resolution.[6]

The company has announced that they are partnering with third parties to develop expansion modules for the headset. The expansion modules announced include features like inside-out tracking, eye tracking, wireless transmission, and scent.[6]

The headset uses the SteamVR positional tracking system (previously "Lighthouse") initially developed for the HTC Vive by Valve. This means that existing Vive base stations and controllers will be compatible with the Pimax headset, removing the need for existing Vive users to set up an additional tracking system or buy new controllers.

The headset is going to be compatible with SteamVR, making it compatible with a wide range of already existing VR content at launch.

The headset was initially planned to start shipping in January 2018, but as of January 2018, the planned shipping date is Q2 2018.[7][8]

Pimax 5K

The Pimax 5K is based on similar hardware to the Pimax 8K, but features a lower resolution, at 2560×1440 displays per eye instead of 4K. Since this resolution is accepted as input, the headset eliminates the need for upscaling.

Pimax 8K X

The Pimax 8K X is a variant of the Pimax 8K that solves the cable bandwidth limitation by using two DisplayPort cables, thus allowing native 4K resolution per eye.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 何旖旎. "Pimax launches 4K VR device in Beijing - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Hands On Review: PIMAX 4K VR Headset - VR World". vrworld.com. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Pimax: The World's First 8K VR Headset". Kickstarter. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Hayden, Scott (21 December 2017). "Pimax Completes $15M Series A Funding Round". roadtovr.com. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Pimax unveils Knuckles Controller, compatible with SteamVR 2.0 - MySmartPrice News". MySmartPrice. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  6. 1 2 3 "Chinese startup's '8K' VR headset is surprisingly advanced". engadget.com. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Pimax's 8K VR headset is delayed - VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Pimax's 8K VR Headset Delayed, CES Plans Revealed - UploadVR". uploadvr.com. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
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