TPCAST’s wireless Vive add-on will be available worldwide in Q2 2017

HTC has confirmed that TPCAST’s wireless Vive add-on will be available worldwide in Q2 2017 at the price of $249. Sadly no regional pricing for the UK or EU have been announced, though this is the first time that the worldwide availability of this device has been announced.    

TPCAST’s HTC Vive add-on is advertised as having a latency of 2ms, and as presenting no major visual issues, artefacts or desynchronization during use compared to a normal “wired” HTC Vive, making this accessory highly desirable for those who want tetherless VR. 

This accessory works by using a special TPCAST video transmitter as well as the HTC Vive’s two lighthouses, with their transmitter featuring a 160-degree field of view to always have a direct view of the TPCAST wireless unit. This wireless transmitter uses what the company calls “Wireless HD” to transmit video to the HTC Vive, using a special compression algorithm and what is thought to be a 60GHz WiFi band to transmit the data quickly and with minimal loss in quality. 

TPCAST uses their “Wireless HD” powered 60GHz wireless solution to feed this VR headset’s dual 1200×1080 90Hz displays, using batteries which are capable of delivering 90-120 minutes of run time.   

This accessory will be able to run for a total of five hours using a larger battery, with both the TPCAST stock battery and extended battery being shown below.  

  

 

HTC has been heavily focusing on HTC Vive accessories at CES 2017, with TPCAST’s wireless HTC Vive add-on taking center stage.   

At this time is is unknown when pre-orders for the TPCAST Wireless HTC Vive unit will be available in the US and EU. 

 

You can join the discussion on TPCAST’s HTC Vive add-on on the OC3D Forums.