u/gildahl

When moving Frodo one needs to either expend stealth or roll a search. If the roll is bad and shows a loss of hope, can I decide not to move, and thus not incur the loss?

Just curious. Does anyone know whether this sort of thing either exists now or is being developed? I'm talking about a tracking solution (presumably inside out with a standalone or backpack headset) that permits a user to, say, take a headset outside into a huge field or otherwise reasonably flat and obstacle -free terrain, and have effectively full freedom to walk with 1:1 tracking in any direction with no boundaries. I guess it would be extra cool if any hazards in the environment, like potholes, mounds, or other obstacles could be automatically manifested into the game environment (either as on-the-fly virtual recreations or as chaperone-like indications) for safety and/or realism...but that would be extra credit.

This is a quick review of the micro OLED module that I recently received for my Super. It won't be a full review since there are plenty of those around, but more like just my current verdict in comparison with the Ultrawide module.

First off, will I be keeping the OLED? The answer is yes, without any question. Based on other reviews I wasn't sure whether that would be the case and I was prepared to send it right back if any of its stated flaws were serious enough. But I'm happy to say that I was impressed enough, almost immediately to know that it was a keeper. On the other hand, if I had to keep only one module, it would still be the Ultrawide and that would be an easy choice. For me the OLED is a specialty engine, and here's why.

Having zero mura, the OLED immediately excels in the cleanness of its display. So that's its biggest positive. The saturated colors and deep blacks are also immediately apparent. Even though the QLED is no slouch in these areas either, the OLED is simply better. However, just as immediately obvious is the more constricted FOV, glare, and the brown color shifting at the edges on the OLED. Had I not already been fully prepared for these I might have been disappointed, but I knew full well to expect these. But also as expected (and much like the mura of the UW), these flaws are also very situational. You tend not to notice them in actual gameplay unless a particular scenario happens to exasperate one of those weaknesses. This is why I am so happy that the Super gives me the ability to choose which engine to use depending on what I'm playing. Without that choice I think I would indeed be genuinely disappointed!

In comparison to the ultrawide QLED, I have to be completely blunt. The OLED doesn't hold a candle to the UW when it comes to FOV, brightness, and just overall immersion in "big" scenes. And to some degree it is also less comfortable (the Super is actually very comfortable to me, but the OLED engine, though lighter, steals some of that comfort back by the way it sits on the face and puts pressure above the eyes). In fact, every time I put the OLED on, the reduced FOV always feels like a downgrade along with the reduction in brightness (which, no, I don't adapt to after using the OLED for a while). Even when using the UW's narrow mode for performance reasons, it feels respectably wider than the OLED. There's just no way to whitewash this disadvantage.

Additionally, one of the things that the UW "teaches" you, is to finally let your eyes wander. However, the OLED largely takes that back since if you do that, you'll see the brown color shift and must re-train yourself to move your head similar to headsets with small traditional sweetspots. Nowhere is this more apparent than in MSFS where at midday, you'd swear it was nearing sunset anytime you let your eyes drift (and which, IMO, is more distracting than the QLED's mura). So between this and the greatly reduced FOV I will almost certainly be sticking to the UW for many if not most titles including MSFS. However, for titles in which it is natural to be more focused, the OLED is superior. For example, I am a big fan of Visual Pinball and Arcade Time Capsule, and in both of these one tends to be laser-focused on the central area of the screen; and in pinball especially, seeing the playfield with exceptional clarity is particularly useful for reading labels; and the cartoony colors in arcade games benefit from the additional saturation. And so for these I really like the OLED. Also, anything dark, where the edges of the view bleed off into darkness (like Haunted Graveyard), the OLED provides a meaningful upgrade. And there can also be performance benefits due to lower render resolution. In other words, in titles where the OLED technology shines, it can be the preferred engine, and I love having that choice.

So in summary and being succinct as I can be, the OLED feels like a generational leap *backwards* in FOV and immersion; but a leap *ahead* in central image quality. And that's really just about the whole story. It is also lighter, but a bit less comfortable. Oh, and the lenses seem a bit harder to clean. All-in-all, it's a fun engine to have since at its best, those central visuals really are a treat and it provides an alternative for games having scenarios where mura is particularly noticeable in the UW. So, overall I cannot declare that either engine is better than the other unless you are pointing to a particular game or scenario and talk about that specifically. Rather these two engines complement each other, and rather starkly I would say. Where the UW is best, it really is best; and where the OLED is best, it holds that edge pretty darn well. But if I had to choose one engine, it would be still be the UW, hand's down, since it is pretty much always either great or good enough in everything, whereas the OLED is just too narrow and dim to accept that as the new normal for every game in my library. This is why I regard it as a specialty engine and mainly only for use when the UW comes up short.