bigscreen beyond

Thin & Light PC VR Headset Bigscreen Beyond Now Shipping in US

September 8, 2023 From roadtovr

Bigscreen announced it’s now shipping Beyond, the company’s thin and light PC VR headset unveiled earlier this year.

Created by the same team behind the Bigscreen Beta VR app, Bigscreen Beyond is a tethered PC VR headset that uses Valve’s SteamVR tracking standard. Priced at $1,000, the headset makes for an interesting value proposition for users already hooked into the SteamVR hardware ecosystem, offering up a slim design thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses and micro-OLEDs. Check out the specs at the end of the article.

Now Bigscreen says it’s started shipping Beyond, with packages going out daily to customers in the United States; international shipments are said to begin in “mid to late Q4.”

“Since launching in February, demand was stronger than expected and we’ve got an overwhelming amount of headsets to build! We’ve spent the past few months ramping up production in order to ship tens of thousands of units in the coming months ahead,” the company says.

To meet demand, Bigscreen says it’s hiring more engineering and production staff for its LA-based factory, and meeting with overseas manufacturing partners in China to ensure production proceeds “without a hitch.”

There’s also a bigger international expansion on the horizon. In addition to taking preorders from customers in the US, UK, most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, the company is also set to expand preorders to Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The company says it also plans to sell in South Korea, Israel, “and more soon.”

Check out our hands-on with Beyond back in March, where we tested out every aspect of the headset, including its display clarity, brightness, custom ergonomics, and got to grips with its next-gen form-factor.

Bigscreen Beyond Specs
Resolution	2,560 × 2,560 (6.5MP) per-eye microOLED (2x, RGB stripe)
Pixels Per-degree (claimed)	28
Refresh Rate	75Hz, 90Hz
Lenses	Tri-element pancake
Field-of-view (claimed)	93°H × 90°V
Optical Adjustments	IPD (fixed, customized per customer) eye-relief (fixed, customized per facepad)
IPD Adjustment Range	58–72mm (fixed, single IPD value per device)
Connectors	DisplayPort 1.4, USB 3.0 (2x)
Accessory Ports	USB-C (1x)
Cable Length	5m
Tracking	SteamVR Tracking 1.0 or 2.0 (external beacons)
On-board Cameras	None
Input	SteamVR Tracking controllers
On-board Audio	None
Optional Audio	Audio Strap accessory, USB-C audio output
Microphone	Yes (2x)
Pass-through view	No
Weight	170–185g
MSRP	$1,000
MSRP (with tracking & controllers)	$1,580

Bigscreen: Optical Improvements to Increase FOV & Clarity of Upcoming ‘Beyond’ Headset

June 1, 2023 From roadtovr

Bigscreen Beyond, the slim and light PC VR headset from the creators behind popular VR app Bigscreen, is getting new optics in the production pipeline which the company says will feature improved field of view (FOV) and optical performance, as well as increased IPD range.

“Over the past few years, we have been continuously investing in research & development in VR optics for current and next-generation VR devices,” Bigscreen says. “Thanks to improvements to our optical elements, coatings, canting, and manufacturing processes, we are excited to announce several key optics breakthroughs that have improved field of view (FOV) and optical performance.”

Bigscreen says that while its new optics tech is now making its way to production, Beyond is still on track for a Q3 ship date for the first wave of customers in the United States.

Here’s the new features coming to all pre-order customers:

Improved field of view, up to 102 degrees: FOV has been increased from ~93 degrees to 102 degrees. It’s said to beat the FOV of many headsets on the market today, including Meta Quest 2, HP Reverb G2, and Varjo Aero.
Improved sweet spot, glare, and optical performance with 32 PPD: Various optical characteristics such as clarity and sweet spot have improved. Lens artifacts such as glare have been reduced as well. Pixels per degree is now officially 32 PPD.
Increased IPD range, to 55mm to 72mm: Now available in 18 different IPD sizes from 55mm to 72mm. The optical design features a large eye box that allows users to comfortably use the headset even if the headset is not their exact IPD. Bigscreen says Beyond accommodates people with a physical IPD of 53mm to 74mm to comfortably use the headset.

The company says its optical improvements critically don’t come at the expense of angular resolution (PPD) or stereo overlap, the latter of which is similar to that of Valve Index. Notably, Bigscreen says all Beyond customers will note an improved FOV except those with a 70mm-72mm IPD due to physical size limitations.

Bigscreen Beyond is set to launch sometime in late 2023, with its baseline version priced at $1,000. The company is now taking pre-orders.

To learn more about Bigscreen Beyond, check out our hands-on back in March that talks about the headset’s specs, displays, custom facial interfaces, form-factor, as well as some of the criticisms the company hopes to address with its latest optical tech.

Bigscreen Beyond Teardown Overviews Design Decisions Behind Compact Headset

May 17, 2023 From roadtovr

CEO Darshan Shankar sits down with the upcoming Bigscreen Beyond VR headset for a teardown and explanation of the company’s design decisions.

Bigscreen Beyond is a made-for-enthusiasts VR headsets coming from the makers of the social VR theater application Bigscreen. In our recent hands-on with the headset we found an impressively well-built device that’s taking a different approach than other PC VR headsets on the market.

Bigscreen Beyond is due to start shipping in Q3, and ahead of its release Bigscreen CEO Darshan Shankar has sat down to tear the tiny headset open and talk about the decisions the company made and why.

Bigscreen Beyond is impressive in many ways, but it’s priced for serious VR enthusiasts. The headset starts at $1,000, which doesn’t include controllers or tracking beacons (which would add another $580).

VR Veteran Studio Behind ‘Bigscreen’ Unveils Thin & Light PC VR Headset ‘Beyond’

February 13, 2023 From roadtovr

The team behind social VR viewing app Bigscreen today unveiled a thin and light PC VR headset that not only promises a few intriguing enthusiast-grade specs, but also a custom-made fit based on a 3D scan of your face. In short, it’s a big first for the VR veterans, who are responsible for one of the most beloved VR content viewing platforms.

Called Bigscreen Beyond, the $999 headset presents an interesting set of features which are squarely aimed at PC VR enthusiasts: dual OLED microdisplays offering 2,560 × 2,560 per-eye resolution, pancake optics, and 6DOF SteamVR tracking support.

The company is billing the tethered PC VR headset as the smallest and lightest of its kind, weighing in at just 127 grams and measuring less than 1-inch at its thinnest point.

Bigscreen Beyond starts pre-orders today, priced at $999. Ostenibly, Beyond is targeting PC VR users who likely already in the SteamVR ecosystem but want something thinner and lighter than the last generation of headsets, such as Valve Index. Notably, the headset doesn’t include the requiste SteamVR tracking base stations or SteamVR-compatible controllers like the Valve Index controller or HTC Vive wand—you’ll have to purchase those separately.

The reasoning: Bigscreen founder and CEO Darshan Shankar says the VR software studio wanted to build “the VR headset we wanted for ourselves.”

“Today’s leading VR headsets have doubled in weight compared to headsets from 2016. We built Beyond because we felt VR was too heavy, bulky, and uncomfortable,” Shankar says. “We invented new technologies to increase comfort, and developed ultra-high-end components like OLED microdisplays and pancake optics to increase immersion. To deliver the best software experience for watching movies in Bigscreen, we also had to build the best hardware with Bigscreen Beyond.”

Like many forthcoming VR headsets, Beyond is able to slim down thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses, which Bigscreen says are a three-element optical design composed of glass, plastic polymers, films, and coatings.

Paired with two OLED microdisplays, each with a resolution of 2,560 × 2,560 pixels, Beyond boasts a high fill-factor with its 7.2-μm wide pixels and RGB stripe subpixels, resulting in what the company says eliminates the screen door effect—when the non-illuminated spaces between pixels make it seem like you’re viewing VR content through a screen door.

Resolution alone doesn’t tell the whole story, although for reference Valve Index is 1,440 × 1,600 per-eye, Meta Quest Pro is 1,920 × 1,800 pixels per-eye, and Pico 4 is 2,160 × 2,160 pixels per-eye.

Another one of Beyond’s big enthusiast-grade features is owed to Bigscreen’s ability to customize the fit of the headset to each user, which will be done by doing a one-time scan of the user’s face using an iPhone XR or more recent Apple mobile device. The dedicated Bigscreen scanning app is said to measure the shape of the user’s face and the position of their eyes, which allows the company to form a facial interface a unique to the individual and determine interpupillar distance.

The hand-washable facial interface is said to provide “even weight distribution, zero light leakage, and aligns the eyes and optics correctly.” Additionally, glasses wearers will have to spring for custom prescription lenses that magnetically fit into Beyond, as glasses do not fit inside the small form factor.

Although it ships with a soft strap, users can also spring for the optional audiostrap. We haven’t confirmed pricing for that yet, however we’ll update once we do.

Granted, some things we’d consider ‘nex-gen’ are notably missing from Beyond, such as eye-tracking, face-tracking, optical 6DOF tracking, and the ability to use it wirelessly. As the first VR headset from a long-time VR veteran though, Beyond does check a lot of boxes for users such as simulator fans, and anyone looking for a better long-term VR media viewer.

Bigscren Beyond is slate to ship in waves based on region. Preorders, which are fully cancellable and refundable up until shipping, are set to ship in the United States sometime in Q3 2023.

Second wave shipments will begin in Q4 2023 in Canada and Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium. A third wave of will come sometime in late 2023, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand. The company says Beyond will be available in more countries and regions in 2024.

Check out the spec sheet below:

Bigscreen Beyond Specs

Display Resolution	5120 x 2560 pixels (2560 x 2560 per eye) cloed at max 90Hz
Field Of View (FOV)	93° HFOV x 90° VFOV
Pixels Per Degree (PPD)	28°
Interpupillary Distance (IPD)	56mm-74mm accommodated (fixed IPD per device, 58mm-72mm)
Optics Type	Custom Pancake Optics
6DOF Tracking	SteamVR Tracking (aka Lighthouse)
Version	V1.0 or V2.0 Base Stations. Not included.
Controllers	SteamVR controllers (ex. Valve Index, HTC Vive). Not included.
Full-Body Tracking	SteamVR trackers (ex. HTC Vive Tracker, Tundra Tracker). Not included.
Audio	Not built-in (USB C port for Audio), or optional Audio Strap
Ports	USB-C accessory port (USB 2.0)
Microphone Input	Stereo microphones
PC Connection	DisplayPort 1.4 (video) and dual USB 3.0 ports (power, data)
Accessory ports	USB-C (USB 2.0 speed)
Cable	5-meter custom fiber optic cable and Link Box
PC Requirements
CPU	Quad Core Intel or AMD
GPU	Nvidia RTX 2070 or AMD RX 5700 XT or newer (DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC required)
Ports	1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x USB 3.0 ports

bigscreen beyond

Bigscreen Beyond Specs

Bigscreen Beyond Specs

PC Requirements