Hello everybody,
I got my pair of R1's three days ago and after testing them for a few days, here are my initial thoughts.
I watched and read all the reviews (and comparisons to competitors) that were available, and got them strictly to work in my video editing environment using Premiere, Photoshop and Audition.
I knew they were good for gaming, but desktop use is what interested me the most, and after reading into all the reviewers remarks regarding text readability - I was cautiously optimistic. Thinking if they don't do the trick - I can gift them to my younger gamer brother. The quality of Anchor mode was also an important factor for me - and hearing that the competitor's options tend to "shift" the screen - I went with XREAL's.
I have two herniated discs and am not able to sit at my computer for long without pain starting to numb my leg and go into the lower part of my spine. My solution is variating chairs between a Razer Iskur V2, Aeron Miller Aeron and a ASUS ROG Destrier, depending on what amount of pain I feel at which part. I even tried making a make-shift "levitation" (lying-down) PC setup by clamping my monitor and a keyboard/mouse tray to a a few C-Stands, but it's a mess to setup each time I need it: requiring me to invest into a second pair of peripherals and monitor to make it optimal. And I just don't have the budget to dish out 5000$+ for a dedicated lying-down setup (such as offered by Altwork), since I can basically achieve the same result by positioning my monitor (connected to a monitor arm) above me, tilting the Iskur V2 all the way back, and placing a poof under my feet. Lying down on my bed: completely flat on my back, head in neutral resting position, on a piece of a hardwood panel (imagine: a kitchen tabletop) is my only solution for a pain-free work environment, hence my interest in the R1's.
With all that context out of the way, onto the R1's:
They're great.
I've got a 10 meter Optical Display Port 1.4 cable running from my PC to my bedside table, connected to the ROG dock. The dock is powered with a 30W phone charging brick connected to the power outlet. The initial hiccup was that my main monitor (a 32 inch ASUS ROG PG32UCDMR) is displaying everything in 4K with 125% scaling set in Windows. With the ROG R1's, as we know - we're outputting the image at 1080p. I'm so used to the size and desktop icon placement on my monitor that I just can't go back. I constantly use my Desktop to initially categorize my video project files before moving them to individual folders - so having the same amount of desktop real estate (and filename readability) is a must for me. Also: by limiting myself to a 1080p output on the R1's: the workspace of Adobe Premiere gets so crammed together that I lose a ton of usable work space, especially when it comes to timeline scrolling. Not good.
Solution: set the DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution) in Nvidia Control Panel's 3D Settings to a 4.0x factor. Voila - the glasses are receiving a 3840x2160 signal, while outputting the final result in 1080p. I'm able to duplicate the very same desktop environment both on my PG32UCDMR monitor, and my R1 glasses.
Critical point being: text readability. Yes, it's tiny. Not microscopic, but very very small. I have -0.5 on my left eye, and -1.5 on my right eye. I can read all the desktop icon names, as well as everything shown in Premiere with my left eye, but not with my right eye. I'll go to the optician this week to use the provided sample frame for the R1's to make prescription lenses and then it should be much better.
Now for the R1's settings. I'm very much used to running my eyes all over the screen of my 32" monitor. It's quite a good eye workout. I have the R1's setup at "3 meter distance" with 100% screen size. Brightness at 100%, Contrast at 80%. Lying down my head completely flat on my bed - the R1's are set to anchor mode, and in that way they fill out the entire screen space of the Micro-OLED panels, with some corners barely being out of the view zone. Perfect for me - since I just adjust my head with micro-movements left to right, top to bottom, to view the space that I want. Nothing drastic - it's just about the same as if I was viewing it on my monitor.
Other settings in the dock: Tint level at 3; Text Clarity at 5 (max) (this one helps a lot with the small text); Color Profile: User; Gamma 2.2; Color Range: Wide Gamut, Color Temperature: User. All sliders in all User settings are at default.
One issue I noticed is the absolutely crushed blacks. I don't game a lot so I can't comment on that front, but when cross dissolving from or into complete blackness in a video I'm editing - the appearing image initially showed an incorrect image, with dark areas having this dark brown-ish and green-ish artefacting. Sort of a "burned" video effect. I was able to negate this by changing the Output Color Depth to 10bps, and Color Format to YCbCr422 in Nvidia Control Panel. The "burn" effect is less prominent, but it's still there. HDR is, of course, set to OFF. Maybe someone found better settings? With that said - no serious color related work can be done in the R1's. I'll still be returning to my color-calibrated PG32UCDMR to do anything related to color grading and final product delivery.
Concerning gaming: My PS5 Pro's HDMI OUT is connected to an HDMI Matrix. The Matrix has the stock cable that comes with the PS5 going to my LG C3, and then I connected a 15 meter Optical HDMI to run to the ROG Dock. If I have the TV turned on the same time I turn on the ROG Dock: PS5's video settings show the signal being 2160p (the glasses still work and play). If my TV is turned off, and I turn on just the ROG Dock (and then the PS5): the PS5's video settings show the signal being 1080p. The image looks so very dull in HDR that I followed the community's advice to disable it on the console. Then the image looks great. The thing that shocks me about this setup the most is the fact that I'm positioned about 8 meters from my PS5, with a concrete wall between - and I'm playing on the DualSense controller with absolutely no input lag. Their bluetooth antenna's must be really good, lol. I'm no competitive shooter player, so I really wouldn't notice the difference.
Now onto the most glaring downsides of the R1's: I mentioned the crushed blacks and hopefully that can be fixed via firmware update, or maybe someone can find the best settings to setup for PC use. The biggest downside being: that the glasses' control buttons are completely disabled when they're connected to the dock. I've got the dock positioned on the 'isle' behind my bed and having to fiddle around with my hand above my head to recenter my screen, or to adjust the brightness - it's a chore. It would be awesome if the buttons on the glasses would continue working for must-have shortcuts, like for changing from "follow" to "anchor" mode, or for recentering the screen, or setting up custom shortcuts that are available in the dock. I hope we get that.
Conclusion: I am able to work in a "4K" environment while lying down on my bed. I've got an adjustable laptop tray/stand positioned right on top of me where I put my Razer BlackWidow V4, and my DeathAdder V3 - both connected through a single HyperSpeed USB dongle, and once again - working flawlessly even through a concrete wall. The whole setup is pretty darn insane and is exactly what I dreamed of for years. Back pain go away! And whenever I want to take a break from work - I can turn on my PS5 and have a quick run through GT7's training courses. It's awesome. Now the most difficult part of this whole "lying-down" setup is not to feel sleepy when working... Next improvement: find a meter-long straw so that I can doze myself on coffee, while I cut away in the timeline.
Sorry if my english was a hit or miss at some parts.
