Cool though it may have been, it's safe to say that the original PlayStation VR headset didn't redefine the way people watch movies at home. It may not have even changed the way people play video games, considering issues with motion sickness, the weight of the headset, and so on and so forth. But there is simply no denying that strapping on that original headset and getting lost in a movie not in virtual reality but as if sitting in a movie theater with a massive screen up front, proved to be a novel and exciting experience but one that this writer didn't return to with any regularity at all in the years to follow. Part of the issue was the aforementioned headset weight and the sheer bulk of it enveloping the head, limiting freedom and offering some eyestrain in the process. Another factor was the sheer mess of cables required to get the thing going. There were so many that they were numbered from the factory and had to be configured this way and that just to get the device to work. That's two strikes on convenience. The final strike against the setup was a lack of seriously good resolution and the meshy "screen door" effect in evidence when playing a movie back. So, despite a great feature and a fun use for the headset, it never did seem to break down barriers from the traditional way people watch movies. Enter the PlayStation VR 2, which is only compatible with Sony's new flagship console, the PlayStation 5. Has Sony's latest and greatest resolved any of the three major issues with the original VR-for-movies experience? It has, at least with two of them. But there's another problems that is, as of today, a system killer for movie playback.
Connections and Setup
Here's the good news. It feels like it took a degree in electrical engineering, as well as a lot of patience, to connect the previous PSVR headset, what with its jumble of cables and dedicated external box. That kept cleanup and storage somewhat tedious, and it meant a less-than-ideal tangle of cords that might get in the way of a play session. With this new VR2 headset, Sony has managed to eliminate the external box altogether and reduce the cable clutter down to a single USB cable which can conveniently be plugged into the front of the PS5 console, so there's not even any need to move the console for connection. The single cord is also plenty long to allow for freedom of movement or seating position away from the console. It measures over 14 feet in length, so for movie watching, one could sit almost anywhere in the room for ultimate relaxation.
When the VR headset is first connected to the PS5, Sony provides a simple walk-through tutorial to get things up and running, including pairing the controllers, calibrating eye tracking, and measuring the room, which offers a pretty nifty virtual space analysis of your real room. When in this screen, the controllers appear to have a glowing white circle around them. It's really cool.
I also connected the included two-channel earbuds to the headset, which are intelligently set up to lay flat around the back of the curved part of the headset. The earbuds dangle to the sides when not in use and fit comfortably into the ear when in use. Sony has also provided a pouch with a couple of other size inserts for maximum individual comfort. More on the earbuds later.
Comfort and Weight
The headset fits and adjusts much like the previous generation, with a mechanism to pull it backwards to fit over the head, a button to fine-tune the adjustment for the screens in front of the eyes, and a tightening mechanism in the rear to secure the headset more fully. I found I had to have mine very tight to get good fit and maintain image clarity and stability; the display will go blurry if it moves around the head. The headset requires a positive, nearly snug fit to operate properly. Just after sampling the first movie for about 30 minutes, I found I had some temporary indents on my face, especially around the nose area. The headset does seem to sit with much of its weight on the nose, at least in the way it fits my face best, so that will certainly be a consideration for long-term play sessions or watching a 90-120+ minute film. The headset weighs about 1.2 pound, which isn't heavy, of course, but far heavier than a hat one might wear all day, and it does take some adjustment after a while just having that extra bulk on the head. Still, it is designed incredibly well with all of the right adjustment options to get a precision fit and guarantee the best experience possible. For the current state of the technology, I couldn't be happier with how Sony designed this headset (and the previous one as well).
Tech Specs
This review will do away with talk on the various tracking abilities that are more explicitly designed for use in gaming, such as the four inside-out camera trackers built into the front of the headset, replacing the necessary external camera from the previous generation VR headset; and the style, configuration, utility, features, and functions of the dual controllers that are made for gaming. What matters here, for Blu-ray and UHD viewing (DVD too!), is that the set includes OLED displays that run at a resolution of 2000 x 2040 per eye, with a refresh rate of 90hz to 120hz, and a 110-degree field of view. It's not going to challenge the best dedicated 2-D displays for sheer brilliance and performance excellence, but it's a massive and truly generation leap forward from the previous model for color, clarity, and of course the ability to process HDR colors, which the previous headset lacked at launch and was made available with later models but was, of course, never available in cinema mode due to the PS4 Pro's lack of a built-in UHD player. In essence, Sony has course corrected much of what needed fixing in both the VR headset and the console and beefed up the tech specs where they matter the most to provide a first-class VR experience and a pretty solid movie watching experience, too, with one major drawback, which I will address below.
The Movies
I began by sampling the Enterprise fly around sequence from Star Trek: The Motion Picture because, well, because I'm a lifelong Trekkie and couldn't resist the prospect of enjoying this sequence the way it was meant to be seen – on a big screen – for the first time. So, with great and gleeful expectation I popped in the disc, navigated through various pre-movie matter (just using the DualSense controller rather than the VR-specific mechanisms) and finally reached the main menu screen which was nowhere near so big as I remembered on the original headset. However, a quick press of the DualSense's "PS" button (also, of course, on both of the VR2 controllers) brought up a VR2 "quick settings" box with an option to increase or decrease the screen size. This menu is accessible even when not wearing the headset, but adjustments can only be made while it is in use on the head. There are 16 different screen size settings. The smallest reminded me of looking at my 65" display while sitting on my couch. The biggest…well, the biggest is where the fun is at! At maximum size it really does feel like sitting in, or near, the front row of a movie theater. The screen is so massive it's impossible to focus on the full frame, but one has opportunity to look around with the screen remaining stationary. Speaking of, at anytime one can press the "options" button on the DualSense controller to recenter the image, so it is possible to sit facing forward or lay back and have the film essentially projected above. If one looks far enough off to the side, an image of the controller appears with the "options" controller button highlighted, prompting a return to center screen, but if it is adjusted to begin with, there's no need to fix it; just return your head to a front-focus position.
As for Star Trek…wow! Watching it huge brought instant gratification and a real sense of wonder and joy that just can't be matched by watching the same sequence on the "small" screen, and 65" feels awfully small after taking the headset off (the PS5 will instantly switch off playback to the TV when it detects the VR headset has been removed). There's a legitimate sense of majesty when watching this movie, or any movie, this way: experiencing that real larger-than-life grandeur at work, especially evident in a sequence that was made to push the cinema format's scope for all it's worth. The drawback, of course, is that the resolution isn't quite there compared to a solid 2160p display, and there's still a very mild sense of that meshy "screen door" effect in evidence, but this is a substantial boost over the old system just in terms of visual clarity, resolution, and even color. The movie looks very good and perfectly watchable here and even at the biggest size, which is where I think most audiences are going to wind up, or at least in one of those top three notches all the way to the right that offer the largest viewing experience.
The audio through the headphones was adequate – clear but at a subdued volume – but I decided I wanted a fuller experience with sound as big as the picture. I unplugged the headphones and…silence. I took off the headset and audio played through my home theater speakers as the film instantly played on the TV. I put the headset back on and..silence again. I scoured all the settings I could find and have concluded, unless I am missing something either very obvious or highly obscure, that there is no way to watch a movie without the earbuds. That's a mistake, Sony. The earbuds work fine, and the option is appreciated, and it may even work well for games, but for anyone wanting to watch a movie and still make use of their home theater audio setup, that should be a no-brainer option to channel audio through the traditional external setup rather than forced into the internal earbuds. Hopefully this is something that Sony can patch in for a (near) future update because, for me, it's a system killer for Cinematic mode. While I continued to spend the next few days sampling movies, I am almost certain not to return here, as much as I love the visual experience. As much as I would love to watch more Star Trek and Star Wars or any of my favorites on the big screen, I likely won't due to being forced to use two tiny earbuds rather than my 11.1 channel home theater audio and get that big sound to match the big picture. The lack of home theater audio output is, for me, a system killer right off the bat. The earbuds work well enough, and they are capable of some good, discrete content, even up above. I dabbled in the demo for the Star Wars VR game while taking a break from writing this article and those little earbuds managed to put some legitimate overhead sounds into my ears in the opening moments as I walked into the bar, but for a real "movie theater" experience they just don't cut it. That's a shame, because everything else is pretty awesome.
Top Gun: Maverick followed Star Trek. I watched the final act of the film – the attack on the compound and everything that comes thereafter (this is a spoiler-free write-up) – and was blown away by the larger-than-life visuals. The sense of scope and scale, especially as the format opened up to 1.78:1, was not just impressively large, it was impressively real. The close-ups looking right into the cockpit are incredible, and the aerial combat with all of the missiles and flares all over the screen creates a sense of sheer enormity and awe that regular home theater cannot match. I again found myself lost in the film and not even considering the headset, though I did feel the freedom when taking it off to write this paragraph. It's an incredible feeling to see the film (again) on the "big screen" and, again, while the level of raw detail, clarity, and color are not quite a match for my normal display, the size more than makes up for any modest visual shortcomings, which are not bad. Despite that slight meshy screen door overlay (emphasis on slight), the resolution, definition, and color are well satisfactory considering the trade-off for size. Again, the lack of more substantial audio was the killer here. The earbuds proved inadequate to offer the sort of sonic depth and command that these aerial action sequences deserve, and which are present when played back through a legitimate home theater set-up. With the right audio, Maverick could be one of the go-to films to demonstrate what cinema mode is all about. Without, it's just half of the movie theater experience.
After spending significant time with each of the two films above, I moved onto a smorgasbord of samplers for some quick analyses of favorite scenes amongst films with varied styles and of various ages. First was Star Wars: Episode IV because I couldn't resist the opening sequence and the final battle on the "big screen." There is good and there is bad. The good, of course, is the size. Seeing "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" spread across almost the entirety of my field of view was incredible, and with the yellow text scrolling along the star field, the impact was substantial. The bad is that the starfield is very blurry; there's no sense of sharpness of precision to any of the stars. The scope of the Star Destroyer rumbling through is truly a sight to behold, and the image clarity holds up through the white ship interiors. I chapter skipped to the final battle sequence and noticed that the pop-up menu was blurry, but moving my head to look directly at the text, rather than glancing, brought the words into focus. And focus was a minor problem in that last battle. Seeing those X-Wings, larger than life, approaching the Death Star brought a big smile to my face, but just that little bit of facial movement with the headset in place was enough to upset the equilibrium and blur the entire picture. It was a joyous experience when still, but any sort of smile that moves facial muscles pushed the headset just enough away from the miniscule "sweet spot" to upset the viewing experience. The audio was awful, too: small and tinny and not very loud (the earbud volume can be adjusted within the "Sound" settings menu branch). Still, these Star Wars segments on the big screen were enough to make me seriously consider setting aside some time to watch all of the films, and maybe even The Mandalorian, inside the PSVR2, even with the audio limitations. It was that great of an experience.
Next was Incredibles 2 for a burst of modern day animation (this is a film that my five-year-old daughter is currently loving, so it was also near the top of the family film stack). The film lacked the color vibrance of my normal screen, and the screen door effect seemed exaggerated with this particular content (even adjusting the screen sizes down) but it was still very watchable, even in some of the darker scenes, which are fairly frequent in the film. That was followed by Sleeping Beauty and its slightly wider aspect ratio of 2.55:1. The width posed no problem, no more so than any other widescreen film at ~2.39:1. I was very impressed with how the PSVR2 handled classic animation. Despite remnants of the screen door effect, the visual impact for clarity and color reproduction made for a very satisfying viewing experience. While certainly not the target sort of film for watching in this manner (Star Wars is where that's at), there's no mistaking the visual excellence achieved in the format.
I then switched to native 4x3 material with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The material is very manageable at this aspect ratio, with most everything in full center focus at the biggest size. Seeing the characters in close up, looking like their faces alone are 10 feet tall, and marveling at the Enterprise-D in all its glory out in space, is really something else. When I took the headset off, the material began to play on the 65" TV in front of me, and it's incredible when readjusting to see just how small 4x3 at 65" looks.
I then threw in Mill Creek's version of The Freshman, just for giggles when I saw it on my shelf, remembering how awful it looks and…it continued to disappoint on the PSVR2. Although, the compression is so bad that the screen door effect is much more negligible on this one, and somehow all the issues were in more evidence on the small screen. PSVR2 was actually something of an improvement on it. With The Freshman came a desire to give The Godfather a go. The film looked fine. It's not a film of grand visual impact, being more narrative driven, though certainly it is lit and shot with tremendous skill and care. It was a fun experience, and I found myself lost in it for a good 45 minutes because of the story rather than the size, but the film lacks that sense of visual wonder to really make it a worthwhile endeavor on the PSVR2 headset (not to mention concerns of film length).
The final two films I viewed were both part of the first volume of Columbia Classics Collection: Dr. Strangelove and Lawrence of Arabia. The former was quite enjoyable. The black and white film-based photography was a delight. The image was just about the crispest and most filmic of any sampled, and the screen door effect was negligible. The cinematography and sets lend themselves well to the large format, and the UHD clarity allows for the bomber interiors, for example, to thrive at massive size. Watching the round table scenes are a delight, to feel right there with the characters in the War Room and experience the set's sheer size practically firsthand makes these scenes, and this entire film, a delight. This was, much to my surprise and satisfaction, a great title to explore on the PSVR2, and like The Godfather I found myself instantly lost in it. Lawrence, being one of the best films of all time, one of the most luxuriously photographed, and one of the best UHDs on the market, was a logical choice for a final exploration under the PSVR2 headset. The experience – and I emphasize experience -- did not disappoint. The opportunity to view one of the great classics of cinema at size was a delight, and the image holds up incredibly well in the headset. As with Strangelove, the impact of the meshy screen door effect was more negligible than most, and the sense of clarity and color accuracy were, along with, again, Strangelove, the best of my experiences in the headset. The widescreen format was a natural fit inside, and seeing classic scenes and set pieces in the format proved an overwhelmingly positive and memorable experience. Even at the film's length, it is well worth watching in the PSVR2 headset. There's even a natural break between discs.
Conclusion
Like its predecessor, the PlayStation VR2 is probably not posed to take over the movie watching landscape. For one, it's a solo endeavor. Until there's a real-life holodeck, the chances of "going to the movies" without "going to the movies" with friends is likely off the table. Two, there's still the headset to deal with. Three, there's the elephant in the room, which is the lack of option to watch with external audio outside of the earbuds. For me, that's the death of the PSVR2, at least at launch, as a movie playback device. It's ironic that a medium made for visual consumption first and foremost is brought to its knees by its audio capabilities, or in this case its lack thereof, but that is the reality of the PSVR2 at launch. Everything else is as good as, or better, than I hoped. I cannot help but to be impressed with the experience all over again, as I was with the original PSVR, for the sheer sense of wonder of watching a movie big while sitting on my couch. With the boosted resolution, a dramatic reduction in the "screen door" effect, and the ability to playback UHD's with HDR color grading on the PS5 and into the headset make the prospect one that is very enticing. If Sony can work a way to allow the home theater, and not the earbuds, to do the audio work, this will be a way I watch some of my favorite movies in the future. Until then, it's a cool gimmick and nothing more.
@Modren The PS5 doesn't play 3D discs at all atm, so they need to patch that as a starting point and hopefully it would then work with the headset. I'm not confident that's coming.
Great, honest review. I have some bad news and good news regarding audio output with the PSVR2 headset.
The bad news is that Sony confirmed in a FAQ just before launch that audio and video output from the PS5 to your AV setup is disabled when enjoying non-VR content on the headset like UHD Bluray movies. Yes, it's as terrible as you point out, and I doubt they change their minds.
However, the good news is that the audio feed to your receiver for awesome 11.1 surround sound actually works fine for VR content like then Star Wars demo you tried. Of course the caveat for that is the fact that PSVR2 games will be programmed to take advantage of the 3D audio features of the setup, and you lose that with a normal HT audio arrangement (but you do get the awesome bass effects in exchange).
Like you, I will only watch flicks on my 85" HDTV because of the audio issues and not my PSVR2, which is probably the way Sony's HDTV division wants it. =/
Due to the Mura effect in the PSVR2 the dark scenes in movies(Blu-ray, Netflix, Youtube) or games(Kayak VR:Mirage) look very bad. I am very surprised that you haven't experienced the Mura effect while watching the movies.
You can indeed watch without earbuds..in fact you can just use whatever you normaly use..the trick i find is turn off the ps5 completely ,remove headphones from the headset then turn the system back on...thus also works with games given you the usual 7.1 audio on titles like resident evil
Besides not being able to play any 3D blu-ray content, it can't even play any VR videos from YouTube! Far less expensive headsets have been able to do this for years - very disappointing.
I was excited to read this review and then my hopes were dashed by two stoppers--- 1, forced use of the earbuds which won't stay in my small ears (yes, it's silly but true), and, 2-- the lack of 3-D capabilities. As I am not a gamer, the lack of those essential features for me makes it a no-go.
Sad.
I understand that 3d enthusiasts are not a large enough demographic to make such an expensive technology (VR) viable, but it seems like Sony went out of its way to make sure *everyone* has major complaints about this product. Sony needs to understand what "dealbreakers" are, and realize that the more deal-breaker they allow, the more likely the system will fail.
It's quite clear to me that if I ever do try VR it won't be a Sony version, which is a shame because I've been a Sony fanboy since PS2.
and while it is a niche product (with a passionate following), home 3d is NOT dead. there are still some great home 3d projectors coming out (and 3d blu rays, although sometimes these need to be imported). I have probably 500 3d blu ray films. I still have three functional 3d televisions (two practically brand new) and I am about to purchase the awol vision 3500 Triple laser short throw projector (along with a vividstorm 120 in rising screen) for my brand new home theater room. I will be enjoying home 3d movies for a very long time.
It's my first VR set and I love it, but the only reason I would ever use it for movies is if it could play 3D blu-rays. I own a small selection of 3D blu-rays that I have NEVER been able to watch in 3D, and as 3D TVs are becoming obsolete, I would think that's all the MORE reason the feature would be worthwhile, to give people who don't own a 3D TV or may have owned one in the past but upgraded to newer 4K TV a way to still view their 3D discs.
I really hope they patch that feature in later, since that's apparently what happened on the original PSVR.
After reading all the reviews for this, I'm glad I went with the Quest 2. It may not have the few extra enhancements of the PSVR2 but it's a far better value.
I really appreciate this update, more of a progress report on a tech coming our way. As for this particular item, I was pretty much done at “screen door.”
has anyone else noticed the excess blur toward the edge of the lenses when using cinematic mode? I haven't popped in a blu-ray disc yet, but when in the menus on the ps5 home screen or in Gran Turismo 7, text can only be read clearly toward the center of the lense.
Woodsy, I think the fresnel lens optics will tend to make the center clearer than the edges of the screen but it doesn't seem that bad for me, I can read the size of font the UI uses. On the optics side, make sure the lenses are aligned as much as possible and at the right IPD, and bring the lenses as close to you as possible without scratching them against your glasses or hitting your eyelashes. Also make sure to have eye tracking enabled or some things might decrease resolution at the edges of the screen even when you are looking there.
Instead of plugging in the headset are you able to run a line out from the headset to your receiver? It might at least allow for two channel audio through your A/V set-up?
Lack of 3D Blu-ray support is indeed a total deal-killer. I won't even consider it unless they make that available.
They are shooting themselves in the foot until they add that vital feature. They are shooting their consumer base in the foot. It's a slap in the face to those of us who supported them in the past. They are gimping an otherwise desirable product.
I also wish you could change the position and size of the screen more. Even if it takes the same field of view, movies are more exciting on the big screen. The virtual IMAX-like theater in Big Screen VR on PC looks a lot more impressive than the large size theater mode on PSVR2. They both fill your view, but one looks huge and further away (even from the front row), while the PSVR theater mode looks more like a projector in your house pointed at a fairly large wall across the room from you.
What the Fuck???? Did get it right that 3D is NOT supported! You know what Sony, keep this Piece of S***! I will Continue to watch my 3D BDs with PSVR 1 and PS4 pro. Thanks for nothing!
I'll definitely be ordering this the day that they announce the addition of 3D blu-ray functionality. Until then, I'll pass as I simply don't have room to have both the original and PSVR 2 set up at the same time.
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Hopefully coming soon.
