Bigscreen Past 2 begins delivery subsequent month with considerably upgraded & adjustable lenses, and Past 2e is coming in Could with eye monitoring.
Like the unique Past, Bigscreen Past 2 and 2e are tethered PC VR headsets that use SteamVR Monitoring, so you will want a PC with a strong graphics card and not less than one (ideally not less than two) monitoring base stations from Valve or HTC. You additionally want to offer your personal enter, reminiscent of Valve Index controllers or a steering wheel or HOTAS setup.
Additionally like Past 1, you will want to offer a face scan utilizing your iPhone for the custom-fit face pad. However when the upcoming Bigscreen Past 2 Halo Mount accent launches later this 12 months (see beneath) that may now not be required.
Bigscreen Past 2 and Past 2e totally change Past 1, and Past 1 was secretly withdrawn from the market a number of weeks in the past. Individuals who ordered Past 1 in latest weeks will likely be supplied a Past 2 as a substitute.
Bigscreen Past 2 Arms-On: Refining A Imaginative and prescient For VR Fans
When Bigscreen’s founder informed us he was bringing the sequel to the Past PC VR headset to GDC 2025, we booked a flight instantly to attempt it.
UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton went hands-on with Bigscreen Past 2 at GDC 2025 this week, and you may learn his impressions right here.
Per-Eye IPD Adjustment
The unique Bigscreen Past from 2023 broke information because the smallest and lightest VR headset you should purchase. A part of the given clarification for this was that it was made in 18 completely different mounted lens separation sizes, with the one despatched to you matching the gap between your eyes, your interpupillary distance (IPD).
However with Past 2, Bigscreen has managed to ship adjustable IPD in the identical type issue, whereas additionally decreasing the headset’s weight to 107 grams (with out straps or face pad), down from 127 grams.
For comparability, Quest 3 by the identical metric (although with strap arms that embody audio system) weighs 397g, and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional 478g. In fact, these are standalone computing units with monitoring and blended actuality, whereas Past 2 is a VR-only PC peripheral that depends on base stations.
Past 2 allows you to regulate the horizontal place of every lens independently, through the use of an insertable device on either side. This can be a extra concerned course of than the scroll-wheel of headsets like Quest 3 and PlayStation VR2, however provides much less weight and higher helps individuals who have an uneven IPD.
One quirk with Past 2 is that you’ll want to manually enter the IPD within the PC software program device, because the headset does not have a sensor to report the lens separations to SteamVR.
Wider FoV & Clearer Optics
Arguably the one largest improve of Past 2 is the brand new lenses, which have “dramatic enhancements” over Past 1. The truth is, Bigscreen claims they’re “the world’s greatest pancake optics”.
Bigscreen says Past 2’s lenses have wider discipline of view, “whole” edge-to-edge readability, a really giant candy spot, and “massively” lowered glare.
UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton discovered these claims to be largely true in his hands-on impressions, describing the lenses as clear to the perimeters with “fewer distracting inside reflections”.
Although Ian did not have time to measure the sphere of view, Bigscreen says it is now 108° horizontal and 96° vertical, measured “at minimal eye aid and default entry”. By the identical measurement, it discovered Meta Quest 3 to be 108°×99°, and Valve Index to be 110°×110°.
| Horizontal Area Of View |
Vertical Area Of View |
Lens Sort |
|
| Bigscreen Past 2 |
108° | 96° | Pancake |
| Meta Quest 3 |
108° | 99° | Pancake |
| Valve Index |
110° | 110° | Fresnel |
That might imply Past 2 has primarily the identical discipline of view as Quest 3 regardless of being a fraction of the dimensions – a outstanding achievement if true.
Halo Mount Accent Coming
Whereas an iPhone scan will likely be required for Past 2 at launch, as with Past 1, to be able to be despatched a custom-fit face pad, Bigscreen plans to take away this requirement by launching a Past 2 Halo Mount accent later this 12 months.
The Halo Mount will assist both the included mushy strap or the $130 Audio Strap, and may be worn in three alternative ways: with the custom-fit face pad, with a brand new Halo Mount unique common face pad, or with no face pad in any respect for an open view of your periphery.
Eye Monitoring In Past 2e
Past 2e additionally provides eye monitoring, through what the corporate says is “the world’s smallest eyetracking suite” with sensors the dimensions of a grain of sand, including only one.05 grams of weight.
Additional, Bigscreen says its eye monitoring runs effectively in your GPU, in distinction to different PC VR eye monitoring options which tax your CPU.
Initially, the first use for eye monitoring will likely be for driving your avatar’s eyes in VRChat. Eye tracked foveated rendering will not be supported at launch, but it surely’s on Bigscreen’s roadmap for “later this 12 months with continued software program growth”, and the corporate says it is working with Valve and Nvidia on this.
Bigscreen can also be exploring measuring your IPD utilizing eye monitoring, which in future might make it simpler to know what place to set the lenses to.
Upscaling Nonetheless Used For 90Hz
Past 1 confronted some controversy for its use of upscaling in 90Hz mode. Sadly for individuals who have been bothered by this, this hasn’t modified in Past 2.
| Enter Decision |
Show Sort |
|
| Bigscreen Past 1 & 2 |
2560×2560 (75Hz) 1920×1920 |
Micro-OLED (RGB) |
| PlayStation VR2 |
2000×2040 (120Hz) |
OLED (PenTile) |
| Pimax Crystal Gentle |
2880×2880 (120Hz) |
LCD (RGB) |
| Shiftall MeganeX superlight |
3552×3840 (90Hz) |
Micro-OLED (RGB) |
Like Past 1, Past 2 can run at both 75Hz or 90Hz refresh charge. At 75Hz your PC sends a full 2560×2560 picture to every show within the headset. However at 90Hz, this drops to 1920×1920, and the headset upscales this picture again to 2560×2560.
Bigscreen acknowledges that this leads to a “slight discount in sharpness”, significantly noticeable in small textual content and different nice particulars.
Bigscreen Past at 90Hz vs 75Hz.
“75Hz mode is greatest for watching motion pictures or studying textual content, and the 90Hz greater refresh charge is greatest for gaming”, Bigscreen explains.
Colours & Pricing
Bigscreen Past 2 is priced at $1019 and begins delivery subsequent month, whereas Bigscreen Past 2e is $1219 and ships in Could.
Whereas Past 1 solely got here in black, Past 2 and 2e are additionally out there in Crystal Clear and Nuclear Orange.
Past 1 homeowners can get a $200 low cost on Past 2 or Past 2e “for a restricted time”, they usually can reuse all their current equipment reminiscent of their face pad and the Audio Strap, that are forwards-compatible.
