A surprise VR headset annoucement was made today, from an unexpected source - Bigscreen VR.

The Bigscreen Beyond is touted as the smallest and most comfortable VR headset to date. This tethered VR headset has native Steam VR compatibility, and is designed for use with lighthouse trackers and lighthouse tracked 3rd party controllers such as the Valve Index controllers.

The optics on the headset are made up of pancake lenses, and uses micro OLED displays. In addition it has a resolution of 2560px per eye, or 5k resolution, and with 28ppd (pixels per degree).

The headset also has some sacrifices in order to employ these new screen technologies and lighter weight. For example, the FOV is a modest 90° × 93°, similar to the quest 2, and the refresh rate is a modest 90hz like in the Quest Pro and HTC XR Elite. Other compromises include that the base package does not include built-in audio, although an audio strap is available for $99USD.

Another very interesting tact that Bigscreen is employing for this headset is that all headsets must be ordered with custom facial interfaces and IPD settings from the factory, automatically gleaned from using an Iphone app to take accurate measurements. This fact, along with the light weight of only 127g, provides a lot of credence to their claims of comfort.

If you don't already own a lighthouse tracked VR headset, you will also need to factor in the additional costs of lighthouse trackers and lighthouse tracked controllers.

With the 5k displays also comes the requirement of a robust gaming PC. This headset is firmly in the high-end/ enthusiast class.

Speaking of price, the headset will run you $999 at launch. The company is taking pre-orders now for a Q3 2023 launch window.

Source: https://www.bigscreenvr.com/