Starbreeze to partner with Acer on its high-end StarVR headset

[Shawn Knight]

Starbreeze, the gaming studio currently working on a high-end virtual reality headset called StarVR, is actively seeking to partner with Acer on the project.

What sets StarVR apart from the competition is its displays. By packing in two 5.5-inch Quad HD displays, the headset offers an effective resolution of 5,120 x 1,140 and an impressive 210-degree field of view. By comparison, both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive top out at a resolution of 2,160 x 1,200 and a 110-degree field of view.

A joint venture would be mutually beneficial to both parties involved. As Bloomberg points out, Acer hasn’t experienced annual sales growth since 2010 – a direct result of the continued downturn in the PC industry. Jumping into an emerging market like HTC has done with its Vive headset could be just what Acer needs to rejuvenate its business.

Starbreeze, best known for putting out games like Payday 2, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, is a video game studio and publisher at heart. In other words, the company isn’t well-versed in manufacturing consumer hardware. The deal with Acer would alleviate its shortcomings – both in terms of hardware design and financial resources – and allow it to compete with the best of them.

Before you get too excited about the prospects of strapping on a StarVR at home, do note that the initial intent is to provide headsets to the entertainment market (think arcades and theme parks). What’s more, the two sides are still working to hammer out the details which will be subject to approval from both parties’ boards.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/64840-starbreeze-partner-acer-high-end-starvr-headset.html

 

[m4a4]

Well, more screen usually means more powerful hardware needed for more graphical fidelity. Not sure how welcomed it will be to deviate like that so early on...

 

[Goldfinger]

The specs sound amazing. If Acer is sporting the project, I think it has a chance to be the best VR headset out there. I will wait to see what happens with this one before dropping a few thousand dollars on the other VR headsets.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Sounds like very similar DPI displays though. Having tried out the Oculus Rift, seeing pixels and the spaces between them takes away from the immersion. I imagine it would be about the same with StarVR, just with a much wider field of view. I agree the wide FOV would be wonderful but the display resolution still needs to go up.

We already have hardware to handle this, granted a top of the line gaming system; but it is there. It won't be long until we have graphics cards that can handle it so why not get ahead of the game and develop a VR headset where people can no longer discern the pixels.

 

[deemon]

Fact/typo correction. Quad HD or QHD or 2k = 2560 x 1440 => 2 of them would be 5120 x 1440 not "5,120 x 1,140".
Anyway amazing news. Until you hear the price finally ... promised 1k and ends up being 3k? (just kidding... I have no clue)

 

[Panda218]

Does anyone else giggle when they read high end and Acer in the same sentence?

 

[Adhmuz]

Does anyone else giggle when they read high end and Acer in the same sentence?

One of my oldest monitors is an Acer, a true 24" 1920x1080 display that I have brought to every Lan I've been to and that's by carrying it by it's impressive metal base that is attached like a beast to the screen. Never have I found a screen that has impressed me as much, it's only downside is how long it takes to switch inputs or resolutions. It was a $300 monitor I got for $200 on boxing day like 8 years ago too. If your talking about PCs and Laptops, yeah they are generally pretty crumby, but displays are one division they excelled in.

This VR headset actually sounds like one I would consider buying, great field of view with a good resolution, but GPUs might not be there yet, maybe with a couple GTX 1080s but that's one hell of an investment when you also factor in the headset cost.

 

[Panda218]

One of my oldest monitors is an Acer, a true 24" 1920x1080 display that I have brought to every Lan I've been to and that's by carrying it by it's impressive metal base that is attached like a beast to the screen. Never have I found a screen that has impressed me as much, it's only downside is how long it takes to switch inputs or resolutions. It was a $300 monitor I got for $200 on boxing day like 8 years ago too. If your talking about PCs and Laptops, yeah they are generally pretty crumby, but displays are one division they excelled in.

This VR headset actually sounds like one I would consider buying, great field of view with a good resolution, but GPUs might not be there yet, maybe with a couple GTX 1080s but that's one hell of an investment when you also factor in the headset cost.

Glad someone has had a good experience with them! I went through hell with Acer trying to get an RMA for dead pixels on the predator monitor I had a couple years ago.

Yeah I'm terrified to see what hardware requirements it has. I got my Vive just under a week ago and am in love, but fear I need to update my dying i7 2600k as it seems to take forever to load certain games.

 

[Adhmuz]

Glad someone has had a good experience with them! I went through hell with Acer trying to get an RMA for dead pixels on the predator monitor I had a couple years ago.

Yeah I'm terrified to see what hardware requirements it has. I got my Vive just under a week ago and am in love, but fear I need to update my dying i7 2600k as it seems to take forever to load certain games.

It's very possible they went through a restructuring and their build quality took a hit because of it, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience, especially on such an expensive display, I had the opportunity to use one at a store I worked at and it was top notch. To my understanding dead pixel issues are all handled differently depending on the manufacturer and some times you get shafted if they deem it not an issue, been there with other brands unfortunately, but I was able to get it replaced as a direct exchange with the store I bought it at, the same one I was working at which played in my favor.

Truly I'd be surprised if your 2600k is bottle-necking your performance, load time issues in particular would lead me to believe your having a drive issue. Is the game your playing installed on an SSD, is it the main drive? There might be another factor involved, I still have a first gen i7 in one of my gaming rigs, and a Xeon of the same era on my main, and they both still makes easy work of any game I throw at them.

 

[Panda218]

It's very possible they went through a restructuring and their build quality took a hit because of it, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience, especially on such an expensive display, I had the opportunity to use one at a store I worked at and it was top notch. To my understanding dead pixel issues are all handled differently depending on the manufacturer and some times you get shafted if they deem it not an issue, been there with other brands unfortunately, but I was able to get it replaced as a direct exchange with the store I bought it at, the same one I was working at which played in my favor.

Truly I'd be surprised if your 2600k is bottle-necking your performance, load time issues in particular would lead me to believe your having a drive issue. Is the game your playing installed on an SSD, is it the main drive? There might be another factor involved, I still have a first gen i7 in one of my gaming rigs, and a Xeon of the same era on my main, and they both still makes easy work of any game I throw at them.

Yeah dead pixels are a pain in the *** and I understand each manufacturer has their standards for RMA in regards to pixel issues, but for the cost I expect to have a 100% functional device. I'm just glad I'm not one of the people who got a Vive with a dead pixel cause it sounds like HTC will only replace it if you have 5 pixels out within an inch of each other...

I'm running all my games off my 1tb SSD (Samsung Evo 850) that's just for my games installed on the PC. I will have to make a post on the r/vive subreddit to see if anyone else has experienced the load times I have been dealing with on some of the games.