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Valve Index reveal: The best of VR’s first generation—but is it worth $999?

Tuesday April 30, 2019. 06:57 PM , from Ars Technica
Enlarge / Say hello to the Valve Index, developed and manufactured by game studio Valve. (credit: Sam Machkovech)
BELLEVUE, Washington—The Valve Index, a new virtual reality system from the creators of beloved video game series like Half-Life and Portal and the mega-popular Steam game store, is an aspirational product. Its sales pitch, as explained by various Valve staffers, revolves around the VR experience of tomorrow.

Headset specs

Valve Index
HTC Vive Pro

Display
2880×1600 (1440×1600 per eye) 'fast-switching' LCD panels
2880×1600 (1440×1600 per eye) AMOLED panel

Refresh rate
90Hz, 120Hz, or 144Hz
90Hz

Field of view
130 degrees with integrated FOV 'eye relief' knob
110 degrees

Audio
Near-field off-ear speakers with 3D directional audio support; built-in microphone
Integrated adjustable earcups with 3D directional audio support; built-in microphone

PC connection
Custom single-piece cable
Custom single-piece cable with PC junction box

Optional Bundled Accessories
Two wireless motion-tracked controllers with rechargeable batteries, two SteamVR 2.0 room-scale tracking stations
Two wireless motion-tracked controllers with rechargeable 960mAh batteries, two SteamVR 1.0 room-scale tracking stations

Modularity
Front trunk ('frunk') expansion port with USB 3.0 connector; front-facing stereo cameras
Front-facing stereo cameras

Price
$499 ($999 with two tracking stations, two controllers)
$799 ($1,099 with two tracking stations, two controllers)

That's a nice way of saying that Valve is going for features and dreams rather than affordability with its $999 Valve Index kit, which ships 'by the end of June' after 'limited' pre-orders go live on May 1 for users in the contiguous US and most of Western Europe (the UK is left out for now).
But through the course of Valve's reveal event, its aspirations for VR's future became abundantly clear—and abundantly conservative. If you saw last month's news about Valve's VR headset and began dreaming big, today is the day to scale those dreams back.
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https://arstechnica.com/?p=1495891
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