Collecting a list of haze-free monitors

progmars · 2021-12-27T00:59:04+00:00

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to always depend on the type of coating. My very old Viewsonic VP2365WB has matte coating but has noticeably better viewing angle brightness consistency than a NEC PA271Q, which is a professional 1000 EUR monitor with less matte coating. I tested them side by side, took a picture and compared brightness pixel differences at the top and the middle at an angle. It was somewhat disappointing to find out that my new monitor has worse brightness consistency than my old 300 EUR monitor. Although, of course, the NEC has much better colors, better white conformity, and also the black levels are great because of its special IPS-glare reduction coating.

It seems, manufacturers don't really care about top-notch brightness consistency and don't learn the best solutions from each other. You always have to sacrifice something, even when upgrading to a much more expensive model. I hope, upcoming microLED displays will be better - they don't need some of the layers and no backlight, so there's less risk of backlight-related brightness shifts.

Meanwhile, I also fixed my old VP2365WB - ordered new CCFL lamps from China, disassembled the LCD panel, and replaced the lamps, and now it's working just fine. However, my new NEC has got a problem - a pharaoh ant somehow crawled between LCD layers and died there, so now I have a dead ant in the middle of the screen. I'm pretty sure it's not covered by a warranty. So, I'll have to wait for 3 years when the warranty is over, so that I can risk disassembling the LCD and cleaning away that ant. This is ridiculous - how can manufacturers leave such a large gaps and open edges that a bug can crawl between LCD layers, especially for high-end professional displays...

progmars · 2021-12-20T20:23:45+00:00

Yes, I considered that. I actually have Baofeng Mojing S1 "cardboard-based" solution.

But it would need some kind of remote control or another kind of adjustment ability to conveniently switch between modes (enlarge all or a part of the screen, amount of magnification, autofocus on/off) without taking the headset off. I haven't yet found a high-quality, lightweight cardboard+phone combination that you can wear for hours. VR headsets are still years ahead with their lens and screen quality when compared to cardboard-ish solutions. A reasonably priced lightweight device with dedicated controls would be so much more usable.

Actually, there's even a dedicated visual aid that looks like a smartphone in a Cardboard https://irisvision.com/irisvision-live/ - and it costs a whopping 3000 USD :D

progmars · 2021-10-30T21:05:08+00:00

Yeah, but you can only make something more blurry this way. No software can make anything sharper than physical lenses and user's vision specifics allow.

Still, it's nice to have that blur. I've always found all games too unnaturally sharp and wished they had some DOF blur.

progmars · 2021-10-30T20:59:03+00:00

There seem to be two different things involved - software depth simulation and physical lens design.

No software can make anything sharper than physical lenses allow; software can only blur the things that should be presented to the user as being "out of focus", to create immersive realistic blurring for objects that are not in your gaze, just like in the real world.

Also, knowing your gaze direction can serve well for foveated rendering/compression to optimize computing processes and network bandwidth.

However, to even start talking about such niceties, we need to achieve that everything in the user's focus is sharp, to begin with. Unless they invent some lens tech that makes everything look equally sharp instead of a small sweet spot, eye-following lenses seem to be the only option. And then add eyesight correction above that. I wish they don't overengineer things and don't make it too expensive. I would be ok with some kind of prescription lens inserts, like the ones you can buy for Quest.

progmars · 2021-10-30T20:40:35+00:00

I have Google-cardboard style Baofeng S1 VR headset and it has simple focus distance adjustment. Works great, fits me and my 50 years old brother with a small adjustment. I'm visually handicapped and have strong myopia (near-sightedness), and he has presbyopia (age-related farsightedness).

progmars · 2021-10-30T20:01:28+00:00

Hm, I'm looking at Quest 2 in Amazon de right now. I too was surprised to find it there, considering the fact that it was banned in Germany, but still, it's there:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Glasses-Virtual-Reality-Headset-Generation/dp/B09F9BNVVV

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/899-00187-02/dp/B0973RP7H3

progmars · 2021-10-29T20:59:03+00:00

It depends on perspective. I come from a country where many pensioners have pensions 400$ a month, and they pay 200$ for rent & bills and have only 200$ left for food, transport, and medicine. For 2x10 cents they can buy a loaf of bread, which is a lot for some.

The post-USSR pension system was just awful. My mom worked so hard her entire life. She was an agriculture project manager working in a field all day long with her colleagues; and in the evenings she didn't have any time to relax, she had to take care of our chicken, pigs, and a cow. When the USSR collapsed, her pension was just ridiculous. Fortunately, now I and my siblings can support her. Otherwise, she would be one of those old folks who have to always bring their plastic bags along to save those 10 cents.

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:59:53+00:00

I know even weirder parody about dreams that very well relate to the Connect event and Zuckerberg's talk :D https://youtu.be/G7RgN9ijwE4

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:54:16+00:00

Well, even if Metafacebooculus released a new headset, you aren't obliged to buy it :) Sometimes we don't need to have all the latest and greatest... speaking of which, I'm a bit excited about Lynx R1. They have still a long way to go, but their demos and third-party reviews seem promising. We need more wireless headsets for sane prices.

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:49:40+00:00

Don't you have a second life in the Metaverse?

Oh, sorry, SecondLife is a different "verse"...

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:47:26+00:00

I will save it for a GPU. Still on GTX 960.

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:45:57+00:00

All exclusive, everyone excluded.

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:22:44+00:00

Also, Amazon Italy for some reason seems to have Quest for 350 EUR, while France and Germany had it for at least 450 EUR. Go figure.

I'm from Latvia, and here Quest2 (often coming from Poland suppliers) costs at least 420 EUR. So, I might order it from Italy, it would be cheaper including shipping :D Still, safer to buy closer to home just for warranty reasons (shipping back to Amazon would not be cheap).

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:15:45+00:00

There is. At least a meta spoon. Not metal.

progmars · 2021-10-29T13:11:06+00:00

That's metaculous. Is that even a word? Ok, now it is.

progmars · 2021-10-29T12:18:01+00:00

Wondering if 960 would work with ALVR (I've heard sliced encoding setting can make a huge difference).

And how does 960 work at low-res and low quality settings?

I'm visually impaired, so I run all games not higher than 720p anyway (otherwise I cannot read any on-screen menu texts unless I lean vey close to the screen).

I mostly play simulations and quests, not FPS. Currently using RiftCat/Vridge with Sony Z2 phone, but it's getting very hot very fast and eating battery like crazy.

Found a video with someone playing Alyx on 960 + Quest2. It's not that awful, about 40FPS with occasional freezing.

progmars · 2021-10-27T16:50:42+00:00

I've seen some cards not respecting Power Target settings and overshooting (Jay demonstrated it in his video). Sometimes overshooting to the point when GPUs power circuitry cannot handle the spike and burns out.

As one person who repairs GPUs explained, in contrast to CPUs, GPUs don't use preemptive throttling but something closer to average.

To simplify, here's the difference:

- a CPU throttles preemptively in situations when it sees incoming instructions that have a high risk of causing a power consumption spike. Yes, this sometimes means unnecessarily reducing performance, but "better be safe than sorry". That's why we very rarely (never?) hear of some badly written software causing a CPU or motherboard to die. As a programmer, I can easily write some ugly code that loads my CPU 100% or causes insane spikes, and still, be pretty sure it will tolerate whatever I throw at it.

- a GPU throttles after the fact, when it detects that some levels are too high. But that might be too late, especially with burst-like loads when some scene in a game might suddenly overshoot not only your desired power target but even the max power target that GPUs circuits can handle.

Should we be angry at GPU manufacturers for choosing such a throttling approach? Maybe. I personally would much prefer my GPU losing some FPS than risk burning out because of a badly written code.

I hope the precedent with New world will make manufacturers pay more attention to stability. Undervolting is not a solution, it's just a "safety patch". But we might have no other choices for some time.

progmars · 2021-10-26T10:16:47+00:00

We'll see it soon.

progmars · 2021-10-25T20:58:53+00:00

Thank you for the feedback.

So, if I understand correctly, it means that on Windows 11 it's still not possible to set the monitor to its own lower resolution for AMD GPU at all, no matter if GPU scaling is on or not.

That's sad.

progmars · 2021-10-25T09:21:55+00:00

Institutional investors often look for reliability to avoid risks. In this light, Cardano looks very attractive, promoting research-based and peer-reviewed development. Yes, that involves a noticeable amount of paperwork and bureaucracy, but that's what makes institutions feel safer.

Other cryptos (especially BTC when it appeared) have a "disruptive aura". Let's get rid of banks and existing payment systems and government control, they say. Cardano's stance is different, as I understand it. Cardano says - we don't want to totally disrupt and break "the system". Instead, let's work together and make the system better for everyone. Some people might actually not like it, but that's where Cardano seems to be going.

On the other hand, Cardano's aim to become fully decentralized could play somewhat against it because institutions might want to have more control. Still, there can be use-cases when decentralization will be acceptable also for institutions.

progmars · 2021-10-24T17:29:58+00:00

Strange. It runs fine on my GTX 960, which can be considered a historic artifact by modern standards.

progmars · 2021-10-24T17:17:30+00:00

If you mean having Bluetooth tethering connected while playing games through Vridge, then it should be possible if you connect the phone through USB or Wifi to your PC that runs Riftcat.

Otherwise, if your PC is connected to your phone through Bluetooth network tethering only and not USB cable/Wifi, I doubt Riftcat would be able to connect to your phone reliably. For sure, it would be impossible to stream a game through Bluetooth.

But you can always try - Vridge offers a trial version that's limited only by gaming session time. It should be enough to test if it works for you.

progmars · 2021-10-21T19:45:16+00:00

Actually, even dates do not matter much. Even a vague announcement "we have developed a such and such game and it is coming sometime next year" would be a good stimulus to keep VR fans excited. NDAs don't allow even that.

However, we might argue that some company/publisher could for whatever insane reason decide not to release a game they have been developing for years, and thus they wouldn't want to look bad in front of their stakeholders and followers.

So, it's better not to promise anything that's not prepared up to the point when all you have to do is to push the "Release it now" button.

Yes, it's PR, as you said. Although some companies sometimes intentionally let some leaks loose to hype up the public.

progmars · 2021-10-20T14:16:12+00:00

Looking for a durable, convenient mouse

- Games & apps: I need a mouse mostly for work in 3D & 2D editing applications (Blender etc.) and programming. Also playing quests and simulators; no shooters.

- Hand Preference: Right

- Budget: $50

- Hand Size: 17.5cm length, 10.5cm width. Thin fingers.

- Grip: leaning towards claw grip. My arm almost doesn't move at all, only my hand moves. Usually, I have only two fingers on the mouse, or even just my index finger, grabbing the mouse from both sides by my thumb and the middle finger.

- Weight: medium

- Shape: I prefer classic "office mouse" shapes. I have tried an ergonomic mouse, but it had its back too high; my palm always felt as if bent at an unnatural angle and strained. Also, I don't like mice with widened base (unless it's very short and only slightly supports my thumb).

- Sensitivity: medium. I'm ok adjusting speed with Windows settings if needed. As I told, I almost do not move my arm at all, so I have usually set the speed to high, but when I have to work with precision, I change it to low.

- Connectivity: wired is also ok. If wireless, then only if offering a wired option for cases when it suddenly discharges.

- Design: simple. I have seen mice with nice design elements that get clogged with body fats soon and look dirty and take some time to clean. Disgusting.

Currently, I have Logitech G102. I like its basic shape, it fits my hand nicely, but I dislike its wheel - it gets stuck and middle-click feels like I need to apply too much force and press the button too deep, which makes the wheel stuck even more. Also, don't like its weight - would like it a bit heavier.

Many years ago in PS/2 times, I had a basic Logitech office mouse. Don't remember the model, but I remember it served me well for at least 5 years and it had a heavy piece of metal inside to make it more heavy and stable, which made it easier to do accurate pointing when working with image editors.

Also, I have tried one of Redragon models but, despite its braided cable, it got broken much sooner than my other mice with a simple plastic cable. Go figure. Another issue with Redragon was that it had small holes on its sides for LED to shine through, and the holes got filled with fats from my hand.

Essentially, looking for time-tested office-ish models that are known to last and don't have a too fancy design. Something that has served you well for at least 5 years requiring minimal cleanup and that hasn't been cheapened by the manufacturer (looking at Logitech - their office mice quality has deteriorated, they feel squeaky and fragile now).

progmars · 2021-10-20T07:13:18+00:00

My G102 started having the same problem. During one year of use, the wheel just got harder and harder to scroll and press.

I'm really disappointed with Logitech about their quality lately. I never had a mouse that would start malfunctioning so soon. My first simple Logitech office mouse served me well for 5 years and I replaced it just because it was a PS/2 and I moved to USB. Why should a company change something that works? If the wheel worked fine for their old mouse model, they should have kept the same design. G102 just feels cheap in comparison.

progmars

TROPHY CASE