Pimax continues to struggle with 8K VR headset, offers 5K Plus instead

Chinese virtual reality company Pimax made headlines with a Kickstarter campaign to fund development of an “8K” VR headset, but has continued to struggle through the final stages of finalizing and manufacturing the device. The latest issue: Out of nowhere, the company has announced an alternative called the “5K Plus,” which despite a lower resolution actually offers decidedly superior details and performance than the 8K model.

As implausible as that might seem, the 8K versus 5K issue casts a spotlight on little-appreciated differences between the pixels in modern displays — their microscopic arrangement and shapes. Rather than using same-sized rectangular red, green, and blue pixels, some displays include a mix of pixels and sub-pixels in different sizes and patterns. As a result, one display will deliver an “8K” resolution by including a large number of sub-pixels for color and contrast reasons, while another will actually deliver greater detail despite using fewer pixels.