Virtual reality headset shipments hit a record in Q3 2017, Canalys reports-- 1 million units, proof the device category is not slowing down... at least for now, at any rate.
Leading the Q3 2017 market is Sony, with PlayStation VR (PS VR) shipments reaching 490000. Following is Oculus with 210000 Rift headsets (with a summer sale boosting shipments) and HTC with 160000 Vive VR units. Together the 3 companies make 86% of the total market for the quarter.
“VR adoption in the consumer segment is highly dependent on price, and Oculus’ strategy of lowering prices has definitely helped drive adoption,” the analyst says. “Hugo Barra is betting on his next product, the $199 Oculus Go standalone headset, to reach more users next year. The Go will excite first-time users, but driving adoption beyond social media will be a challenge.”
Driving such growth are more brands entering the OLED market, as well as promotional efforts from major vendors such as Sony. This comes despite the problems of OLED technology, namely colour decay and burn-in issues, and more companies are looking into further developing the technology. On the other hand QLED TV makers, including Samsung, TCL and Hisense, are finding the high pricing of QLED an issue when it comes to promotion.
Version 2.1 handles resolutions up to 10K, together with dynamic HDR formats. Bandwidth capability is increased to 48Gbps through a Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable able to handle uncompressed 8K video with HDR with exceptionally low EMI (electro-magnetic interference) and backwards compatibility with existing HDMI devices.
The projector uses 0.47-inch single-DMD-chip DLP technology together with BenQ CinematicColor technology and an RGBRGB colour wheel to hit 96% coverage of Rec. 709 colour gamut. In total it can push 8.3 million distinctive pixels, with 2200 ANSI lumens brightness and 1000:1 contrast ratio.
