HP Reveals 4K Reverb VR Headset

Now, almost three years have passed since the introduction of VR into the PC gaming market, and during that time high-resolution screens have grown tremendously in popularity. Demand for high-resolution VR headsets has also increased, especially amongst those who have ultra-powerful graphics hardware. 

HP is answering the call for high-resolution VR with their $599 Reverb headset, which offers a screen resolution of 2160×2160 per eye at 90Hz, delivering an almost 4x increase in resolution over the original Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Better still, this headset offers a higher resolution than HTC’s costly Vive Pro headset, despite the Reverb’s lower pricing.

As a Windows Mixed Reality (MR) headset, the HP Reverb uses an inside-out tracking system which offers six degrees of freedom in its positional tracking and supports motion controllers. Unlike the HTC Vive S, the Reverb only offers two front-facing cameras for positional tracking, which could limit the accuracy of controller tracking, especially when they are held over the user’s head or anywhere else that is outside of each camera’s line of sight. 

In many ways the Reverb shares several design traits with the original Oculus Rift, sporting a similar head strap design and a similar audio solution. The headset requires a DisplayPort 1.3 connection to operate at its full resolution/refresh rate. The headset will release with a $599 consumer model and a $649 pro model in late April. Both models will feature a 1-year warranty.