How good is the XZ Premium for VR? (and does it support Daydream)?

[Davimas]

The first test with 4K ADB Mode is Amazing
i download a 3D Video and play it with MXPlayer......great, Quality 1A
Gear Vr and other Systems can go home:good:

First Foto:

the Phone is in 2160x3840

 

[nomailx]

The first test with 4K ADB Mode is Amazing
i download a 3D Video and play it with MXPlayer......great, Quality 1A
Gear Vr and other Systems can go home:good:

First Foto:

the Phone is in 2160x3840

Congrats!

Ok, if i understand correctly, you changed the phone's native resolution to 801 ppi with ADB command from windows right?

But does it mean that now your phone always uses 4K? How hard is it on the battery?

Can you change it back to 2K whenever you want from the settings?

Also, what Headset did you use?

tnx!

 

[sfex3best]

YouTube 4k 360 does work atleast but finding other apps is difficult

 

[X10iMark]

I use the 'Fulldrive' app for vr, it says for some video's that it's 4k.

 

[kot5nik]

I can confirm that MX Player, VRTV Player and VLC can display 4k content properly even without overall 4K mode.

I took a screenshot of each app and a stock video app playing the same 4K video and all the screenshots 4K are identical. And yes, the phone always takes screenshots in 4K resolution.

And when I set the overall resolution to 4K using ADB I also got images identical to ones taken previously.

Sent from my G8142 using XDA Labs

 

[nomailx]

I can confirm that MX Player, VRTV Player and VLC can display 4k content properly even without overall 4K mode.

I took a screenshot of each app and a stock video app playing the same 4K video and all the screenshots 4K are identical. And yes, the phone always takes screenshots in 4K resolution.

And when I set the overall resolution to 4K using ADB I also got images identical to ones taken previously.

Sent from my G8142 using XDA Labs

Thanks for the information Kot5nik, we don't have much source around so it's appreciated.

Also here are a few followup questions:

Did you try to watch 3D 4K 360 degree content on VR? And if so, which headset did you used?

thanks again!

 

[kot5nik]

Did you try to watch 3D 4K 360 degree content on VR? And if so, which headset did you used?

Unfortunately, I don't have any VR headset, but the phone plays such content just fine.

Sent from my G8142 using XDA Labs

 

[Davimas]

Hey, in the 4k ADB Mode works the AAA VR Cinema player great, you can make many options for the 180 or 360grad Videos, and the Screen is amazing

 

[nomailx]

Hey, in the 4k ADB Mode works the AAA VR Cinema player great, you can make many options for the 180 or 360grad Videos, and the Screen is amazing

Can you tell us which Headset you are using?

thanks!

 

[Davimas]

i have tested the expensive Zeiss vr one plus, and i send it today back. I bought at Amazon the cheap Bobo VR 4 Mini, the say that has 120 FOV, and realy its bigger screen. And the Quality to look through the Lenses are same. nothing blur or bad quality.

 

[nomailx]

i have tested the expensive Zeiss vr one plus, and i send it today back. I bought at Amazon the cheap Bobo VR 4 Mini, the say that has 120 FOV, and realy its bigger screen. And the Quality to look through the Lenses are same. nothing blur or bad quality.

Why did you return the Zeiss?

So if I buy the XZ premium, you recommend the Bobo VR Z4 Mini right?

Edited:

I found another thread where a user also prefered the Bobo VR Z4 Mini for some reasons. Well I guess its the headset to go then.

 

[VRHead]

Hello, by any chance did anyone compare VR between S6/S7/S8 (or similar) and Xperia ZX Premium? Are there noticeable difference since one is 2.5k and another is 4k? Any screen lag for XZP due to LCD in terms of 360 video? Thank you.

 

[nomailx]

Hello, by any chance did anyone compare VR between S6/S7/S8 (or similar) and Xperia ZX Premium? Are there noticeable difference since one is 2.5k and another is 4k? Any screen lag for XZP due to LCD in terms of 360 video? Thank you.

I had a Note 7 and used it for VR. I can confirm that VR is 10 times better with the 4K display of the XZ premium, and no there's no lag whatsoever. The first thing you will realize when you use the XZP for VR is how much Youtubers are full of sh.t when reviewing phones.

And the LCD display is in no way a problem for VR. (Even Pimax 8K VR headset has an LCD display). I have many threads in these Forums about that.

By the way, I am the Original Poster of this Thread, and since I opened this thread I finally got the XZP. I highly recommend it. It's a better phone in each aspects to any other devices around. (Again, I used to think that the Note 7 was the best phone ever).

For some reason the XZP is the most undervalued phone ever. You can also read my other thread about how Sony fails to market its own phone here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/xz-premium/how-to/how-sony-fails-marketing-xz-premium-t3651110

PS: As a VR Headset for the XZP the Bobo VR Z4 is the way to go. It has a wider field of view than the Gear VR.

 

[Xifar]

I had a Note 7 and used it for VR. I can confirm that VR is 10 times better with the 4K display of the XZ premium, and no there's no lag whatsoever. The first thing you will realize when you use the XZP for VR is how much Youtubers are full of sh.t when reviewing phones.

And the LCD display is in no way a problem for VR. (Even Pimax 8K VR headset has an LCD display). I have many threads in these Forums about that.

By the way, I am the Original Poster of this Thread, and since I opened this thread I finally got the XZP. I highly recommend it. It's a better phone in each aspects to any other devices around. (Again, I used to think that the Note 7 was the best phone ever).

For some reason the XZP is the most undervalued phone ever. You can also read my other thread about how Sony fails to market its own phone here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/xz-premium/how-to/how-sony-fails-marketing-xz-premium-t3651110

PS: As a VR Headset for the XZP the Bobo VR Z4 is the way to go. It has a wider field of view than the Gear VR.

Did you find a solution for running Cardboard apps in 4k?
Most games I tried have a tiny 1080p view in the lower middle part of the screen when running the phone in 4k.
VR Player Pro works ok with Barrel Distortion Correction off. VaR's VR Player runs well.

I tried different profiles in the Cardboard app, but the ones that do make the screen bigger still don't fill the entire view and mess up the 3D effect.

 

[VRHead]

I had a Note 7 and used it for VR. I can confirm that VR is 10 times better with the 4K display of the XZ premium, and no there's no lag whatsoever. The first thing you will realize when you use the XZP for VR is how much Youtubers are full of sh.t when reviewing phones.

And the LCD display is in no way a problem for VR. (Even Pimax 8K VR headset has an LCD display). I have many threads in these Forums about that.

By the way, I am the Original Poster of this Thread, and since I opened this thread I finally got the XZP. I highly recommend it. It's a better phone in each aspects to any other devices around. (Again, I used to think that the Note 7 was the best phone ever).

For some reason the XZP is the most undervalued phone ever. You can also read my other thread about how Sony fails to market its own phone here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/xz-premium/how-to/how-sony-fails-marketing-xz-premium-t3651110

PS: As a VR Headset for the XZP the Bobo VR Z4 is the way to go. It has a wider field of view than the Gear VR.

Thank you Nomailx!! This is invaluable info!! I too was waiting on 4k for Galaxy Note 8 but since it did not happen so I wanted to give Sony XZP a try.

I too had the feeling that Samsung seemed to be moving down the road what Apple did with retina display. Over two years ago, I was finally fed up with the retina display “brainwashing” since one could easily tell the difference between retina display and a Galaxy S6. Today, I just bought XZP and really looking forward to test it out!

 

[Katsigaros]

PS: As a VR Headset for the XZP the Bobo VR Z4 is the way to go. It has a wider field of view than the Gear VR.

Why to get the older Z4 and not the newer Z5 model? Are there any differences?

 

[nomailx]

Did you find a solution for running Cardboard apps in 4k?
Most games I tried have a tiny 1080p view in the lower middle part of the screen when running the phone in 4k.
VR Player Pro works ok with Barrel Distortion Correction off. VaR's VR Player runs well.

I tried different profiles in the Cardboard app, but the ones that do make the screen bigger still don't fill the entire view and mess up the 3D effect.

Do you mean that you modified the ADB to make your phone use 4K display all the time? I highly recommend to not do that. 3D VR games are meant for 2K maximum in general, therefore any distortion issues you get are expected side effects. Unless an APP supports 4K natively, it's better to keep it that way. (I myself never changed the native resolution of the XZP. Most video Apps already show 4k Content without any need to modify them, and 3D Games are designed for lower resolution so why force and distort them? Also you may have heating issues by doing that).

About Video Players, most Apps will play 4K content in 4K, even though they do not really support it. I tested several Players with 2k vs 4k videos, and mostly 4K content was played in 4K. So you don't really need your "Player APP" to support 4K or be in 4K itself.

But if you have any doubts and do not agree, then here's a Player which supports 4K VR 100%: "Moon VR". It's THE Player you want to play most movies.

Thank you Nomailx!! This is invaluable info!! I too was waiting on 4k for Galaxy Note 8 but since it did not happen so I wanted to give Sony XZP a try.

I too had the feeling that Samsung seemed to be moving down the road what Apple did with retina display. Over two years ago, I was finally fed up with the retina display “brainwashing” since one could easily tell the difference between retina display and a Galaxy S6. Today, I just bought XZP and really looking forward to test it out!

Same here! Completely disappointed with Samsung's new Approach. The XZP is the perfect solution. Remember though that Cardboard Apps will mosty be in 2K, but the XZP paired with the bobovr Z4 is still better than any Gear VR even for 2K Cardboard games. But! This said! 360 VR 4K Content is where the XZP truly shines and makes you forget any Samsung phone. When you will see the difference between Samsung's 2k VR videos and XZP 4K VR videos, you'll be pissed at Sony for not advertising enough!

Why to get the older Z4 and not the newer Z5 model? Are there any differences?

I didn't try the Z5 Model. I am sure that it's even better but since I don't really know, i can't say! (Btw, be careful if you gonna get the Z5, there are 2 models. The Daydream version and the Main version. You don't want the Daydream version cause it's for specific phones supporting Daydream).

 

[P0ll0L0c0]

My experience hasn't been as good as those above. I bought this phone based on the good VR experiences reported on this thread. Previously I was using an LG G3 and LG G5 with a clone of the Bobo VR Z4. I recently bought a Samsung VR headset to see if the optics were better, but surprisingly the Bobo VR looks just as good and has a better field of view.

For test files I used 4K 2D videos, a 1080P side by side 3D video (3840X1080), and 1440P 180 degree VR videos. Based on the recommendations above, I used VRTV, Moon player, as well as my old options of AAA VR, and Kodi. In all cases the image was just as pixellated as with my LG G5. I did extensive back to back testing over the last two days. I believe that unless the programs is written to support 4K the image is getting rendered down to 1080P or 1440P, then split to two eyes. Kodi reports a screen resolution of 1080P that cannot be changed.

The one time I saw pixels go away, was when I used the built in Sony Player with my 1080P 3D file. It screwed up the aspect ratio and couldn't play the audio, but the pixels went away and the image was just as sharp as I'd expect from a 1080P TV.

I'm disappointed to say the least. I plan to return this phone to Best Buy - I bought an open box version. I bet that if I used ADB to change the resolution to 4K all the time, these issues will go away. I noticed someone on this thread did that, but I'm not going to go that route.

That said, I'm sure eventually more apps will be written to support 4K, but not until suppliers like Samsung and LG start regularly producing phones with that resolution. For me, it's not worth keeping this phone until then. I'll keep my LG G5 and keep waiting.

 

[nomailx]

Hey there!

1. When you are testing the XZ Premium for 4K, be sure to use VRTV or MoonPlayer.

2. Make sure that your testing Videos which are at 2160p. Any video lesser than 1800p won't make such a big difference from a 1440p display.

3. If you want to see the "Obvious" difference between VR with the XZ Premium and VR with any other phone, use a 360 (or 180) degree, 4k (2160p), video. And compare it to the same video in 1440p. The difference is more than obvious. It's different enough to make you look for a 4K version of any video, and ignore any 1440p videos, after you've seen the difference.

4. Be careful with Youtube. Sometimes the 2160p and 1440p don't have so much difference because of the uploader's settings. (They can encode an original 1440p video as 4K). But usually, even in Youtube most of their 360 4k videos are true 4K. But still, the best source where you will be certain that the 4k version of a video is true 4k, and thus better than the 2k version, is... Well, you know the source.

5. When watching 2D, or 3D SBS videos with the XZ Premium won't make a huge difference between other 1440p displays because the App never fills the display with the actual 2D movie like in 360 or 180. To see a difference you must Zoom in and fill the display with the 2D movie, like you're sitting on the front row in a movie theater. But even that said, a 1080p SBS movie won't cut it.

To check the 3D SBS 4K Capabilities of the XZ Premium, here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1-7tpiBCks

 

[amanieux]

If you force a 4K resolution using wm size in adb then the cardboard app will **** up and the viewing area will be only a small area at the corner of the phone..

you can use this cardboard QR code i generated as a workaround for this bug ( http://imgur.com/a/ZG0ua ) works both on z5 premium and xz premium but it is crazy to see that sony could fix this bug that exists since the z5 premium was out 2 years ago ( the only interest of 4k on a 5.5" inch screen is for VR so if they want to sell their phones they could have fixed that VR bug, i don't get it sony ! )

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

Did you find a solution for running Cardboard apps in 4k?
Most games I tried have a tiny 1080p view in the lower middle part of the screen when running the phone in 4k.
VR Player Pro works ok with Barrel Distortion Correction off. VaR's VR Player runs well.

I tried different profiles in the Cardboard app, but the ones that do make the screen bigger still don't fill the entire view and mess up the 3D effect.

try this cardboard QR code as a workaround ( http://imgur.com/a/ZG0ua ) works on z5 premium and xz premium but it is not perfect as i forced it for 90 fov so if your VR headset is 110 degree fov there will be a bit of distortion.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 PM ----------

Yes I buy the XZ Premium to 90% for VR
At Weekend spend 461 Euro on Ebay, its today arrived and on Friday came BoBo Z4 mini
They say its have 120Grad FOV, i will see.....
I had the Zeiss VR one Plus, but it was to small with the Optik - like a tunel.....and with the Z5 Premium in ADB 4k Mode was cardboard applications bad, not correct - to small/little.....

I must find a app that play VR Videos correctly in the ADB 4 k Modus with 800dpi.......

i write at weekend more

try this cardboard qr code for vr in 4k that has a normal size ( http://imgur.com/a/ZG0ua )

---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:33 PM ----------

Yes - this is very bad and same here. 4K with ADB looks great on the phone, but when start Youtube VR Videos, that came little wieving area and not in the middle.....
Or another Apps to play VR content.......

try this cardboard qr code ( http://imgur.com/a/ZG0ua )