LG 360 VR PC adapter

[rothas]

I just thought I should share this, since the VR Headset has extremely limited functionality through the phone.
There is a dongle available from a company in South Korea that enables PC use (for movies and Youtube) specifically for the 360 VR. It basically converts HDMI output from your graphics card to USB-C and also has a micro-USB secondary connection for controls.
The name of the tool is Vagle VRD-1000 VR Data Transformer. I was able to get one from the US Amazon this week and waiting for it to arrive and test.
The price was not prohibitive compared to HDMI to USB-C capture boxes that run for a few hundred bucks and it seems tailor made for the LG 360 VR.

Cheers

 

[wilvelas]

I'm curious to know how this works out for you. Considering you can grab an LG360 VR google set for under $100, would be a fun addition to play with.

 

[rothas]

And it works

I'm curious to know how this works out for you. Considering you can grab an LG360 VR google set for under $100, would be a fun addition to play with.

I've received the adapter this week. It works as advertised for playing individual VR video files and Youtube VR streams. I had to download the VR Player from the manufacturer's website and it appears like a modified version of CodePlex VR Player. It includes a device preset for the LG headset. It also installed the K-lite codec pack and VLC automatically.

Head tracking works, video was a bit jittery as I could only test it on my laptop under W10 with an Intel IGP. The manual specifies Intel Graphics are not recommended. My desktop is sitting waiting for memory modules and I will test again once fixed.

One thing to note - as I connected the glasses through the adapter Windows set them up as a second monitor at their native resolution however I couldn't see anything. The glasses only fired up as I've opened the VR Player. However, after closing the player, the glasses still showed the desktop, but it was rotated by 90 degrees. I will try to rotate the desktop on my PC and see if I can have the picture laid out properly. If it works, it might allow me to play my flight sim on the headset.

Long story short, if you want to watch VR videos on the computer, the dongle will work. I've got the LG 360 VR for $60 off ebay and ended up spending more for the dongle ($90). All together it came down to less than a brand new LG 360 VR bought from LG.

 

[alanma75]

whereto download this vr player?

hi Rothas, I tried to plug lv 360 directly into my NUC which has usb-c (thunderbolt 3, compatible with displayport over usb c), it recognizes it as a display 1440*960. but like you said below, nothing is shown on the goggle. want to try this vr player - you said you had to download from manufacturer's website? can't find the website even , can you help?

thanks
Wei

I've received the adapter this week. It works as advertised for playing individual VR video files and Youtube VR streams. I had to download the VR Player from the manufacturer's website and it appears like a modified version of CodePlex VR Player. It includes a device preset for the LG headset. It also installed the K-lite codec pack and VLC automatically.

Head tracking works, video was a bit jittery as I could only test it on my laptop under W10 with an Intel IGP. The manual specifies Intel Graphics are not recommended. My desktop is sitting waiting for memory modules and I will test again once fixed.

One thing to note - as I connected the glasses through the adapter Windows set them up as a second monitor at their native resolution however I couldn't see anything. The glasses only fired up as I've opened the VR Player. However, after closing the player, the glasses still showed the desktop, but it was rotated by 90 degrees. I will try to rotate the desktop on my PC and see if I can have the picture laid out properly. If it works, it might allow me to play my flight sim on the headset.

Long story short, if you want to watch VR videos on the computer, the dongle will work. I've got the LG 360 VR for $60 off ebay and ended up spending more for the dongle ($90). All together it came down to less than a brand new LG 360 VR bought from LG.

---------- Post added at 02:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 PM ----------

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0LTVBpzZVOLRkx4NEhrelR5RE0

hi Rothas, I tried to plug lv 360 directly into my NUC which has usb-c (thunderbolt 3, compatible with displayport over usb c), it recognizes it as a display 1440*960. but like you said below, nothing is shown on the goggle. want to try this vr player - you said you had to download from manufacturer's website? can't find the website even , can you help?

thanks
Wei

 

[rothas]

VR Player

Good to see you found it, could you let us know if it works on the NUC without the dongle?
Also, make sure you select the LG device in the player, that is what brings the picture up on my headset. Thanks.

 

[alanma75]

It worked !!!

wow, good news everyone, this really rocks: get LG 360 plug in to a displayport over usb c compatible computer (NUC 7th gen for example).
and fires up this vr player - so far the image are 90 degree turned - I am so excited so need to share the news first. will tweak more and let you guys know.

Good to see you found it, could you let us know if it works on the NUC without the dongle?
Also, make sure you select the LG device in the player, that is what brings the picture up on my headset. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 06:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 PM ----------

everything works inside vr player once the tracker is set to LG ER1 - I guess it tells VR player to align the orientation from the goggle.
can't seems to get it to work directly - it shows the screen but are 90 degree turned, one clock wise and the other eye counter clockwise, so you can't even change alignment in display setting to fix both eyes

overall I am very happy, just saved $100 on this Vagle if your computer is able to output displayport over USB C directly - it works exactly as the adapter does.

thanks Rothas for this great finding, I wouldn't even think it is possible if I did not read your post.

wow, good news everyone, this really rocks: get LG 360 plug in to a displayport over usb c compatible computer (NUC 7th gen for example).
and fires up this vr player - so far the image are 90 degree turned - I am so excited so need to share the news first. will tweak more and let you guys know.

 

[rothas]

Great

Oh, I forgot to mention to load up the .json preset included with the player, it does something to the viewing plane.
I still haven't tested rotating the display in W10 due to lack of time, I'll post something once I'm done.

I wish I could've saved the $100 but my desktop doesn't have native USB-C :laugh:

 

[lenreed]

Installed the player and it sort of works. I get the 90" rotated display in the player. Unfortunately my windows doesn't see the glasses driver.Any ideas?

 

[game-genie]

I was able to get my hands on a R100 VR headset for a real bargain.

To get it to work in my use case (As FPV glasses for my racing drone) I need help from someone owning the VRD-1000 "transformer":

Could someone owning said converter please open it up and take pictures of both sides of the PCB? I want to gather some information on the SLIMPORT chipset they used so I can hack together my own adapter.

I am not able to purchase the VRD-1000 it here in europe and importing it would cost me over 200 USD which is quite a bummer

Help would be greatly appreciated! Of course Ill share my findings if this leads to something!

 

[rothas]

VRD-1000

I was able to get my hands on a R100 VR headset for a real bargain.

To get it to work in my use case (As FPV glasses for my racing drone) I need help from someone owning the VRD-1000 "transformer":

Could someone owning said converter please open it up and take pictures of both sides of the PCB? I want to gather some information on the SLIMPORT chipset they used so I can hack together my own adapter.

I am not able to purchase the VRD-1000 it here in europe and importing it would cost me over 200 USD which is quite a bummer

Help would be greatly appreciated! Of course Ill share my findings if this leads to something!

Will PM you tonight

 

[game-genie]

Will PM you tonight

You are my hero!

I'll update ASAP with my findings

 

[snap3D]

There was a question about components used in that Data Transformer dongle. It's not a direct answer, but the following press note lists the components used in LG G5 phone and in glasses themselves (google for the following title):
"Analogix and LG Take Mobile VR to the Next Level with LG 360 VR"

The components are:
LG G5: SlimPort ANX7816 transmitter and ANX7418 USB-C switch and controller;
LG 360 VR: SlimPort ANX7737 converter and ANX7402 USB-C controller.

I have a question to alanma75. What happens when you plug LG glasses to your NUC, without starting that VR prlayer? What do you need to do to force the glasses to show anything?
I have access to one Win7 and one Win10 laptops with USB-C interface. When I connect glasses to them, laptops recognize an external display of 1440x960 resolution, I can extend the desktop to that space, I can drag the windows there, but the glasses remain dark. For a moment I thought that simply there is no back-light triggered, but I don't see any activity on those LCD pa panels (yes, I unscrewed the lenses to look directly at LCDs). What needs to be done to kick-start the goggles?

 

[0TheRain0]

Just picked up one of these headsets for $20, B&H photo has them refurb for that right now. Have had my eyes on these to try and hack and mod a bit.
But reading over the info, it's gonna be a tough one, maybe not really worth it.
The Vagle VRD-1000 is pretty interesting, this PDF has some interesting details about what it does internally:
http://tvlogic.tv/VR/vagle(VRD-1000) Product Profile_v1.0(ENG).pdf

Interesting parts: I see HDMI to Display Port and DDC. DDC appears to be "Display Data Channel" which is an i2c protocol. See here for some info on that and how that fits in to USB - C https://www.mouser.com/applications/usb-type-c-adds-hdmi/
Perhaps DDC is used to instruct the goggles how to display - for instance it's been mentioned of people getting images, but 90 degrees rotation? Perhaps DDC is used to instruct the goggle how to orient the image, etc.

Then also I see mentioned "Coordination info" this is probably motion tracking info I'm guessing. Personally I'm not as interested in this aspect, I'm more interested in just being able to control the displays, maybe get general HDMI input working.

Here is an interesting github project that appears to be using or attempting to use the VRD-1000 along with this headset https://github.com/TrueOpenVR

 

[5casper5]

How about an adapter Type C to USB 3.0, somebody tried, it works?

The code for get orientation data from USB сan be found after decompiled "Vr Player.Trackers.LgeR1360Tracker.dll" (C#, decompiled without problems with using ILSpy). File "Vr Player.Trackers.LgeR1360Tracker.dll is located in the player folder [1][2]
There can do support for SteamVR and other vr programs.

snap3D, it is probably necessary to send the packet over USB to enable it. LG G5 (or Vagle VRD-1000) most likely sends a special package to turn on the displays. Probably it's done so people do not try to connect to the PC. Need to capture the usb packet (from Vagle).

 

[snap3D]

I also have G5 phone (and obviously VR360 glasses light up when LG app is running and glasses proximity sensor is covered; glasses immediately turn off when proximity sensor is uncovered), but unfortunately no access to USB-C analyzers. It would be interesting to see if the glasses connected to PC (via Vagle adapter or directly through USB-C interface) can continue to show the image after initial packet trigger. To test that theory I ordered a "MeeGoPad T09" micro computer (for $130 from "geekbuying" Asian site), which is less than $10 more expensive than the Vagle adapter (and as a bonus I'll have a tiny PC running Win10 OS; you can go even smaller with PC-stick "MeeGoPad T08"; both MeeGoPads have USB-C interface). I'll try to install that proprietary VR player s/w (link provided earlier in this thread) on MeeGoPad and we will see what happens.

 

[0TheRain0]

snap3D, it is probably necessary to send the packet over USB to enable it. LG G5 (or Vagle VRD-1000) most likely sends a special package to turn on the displays. Probably it's done so people do not try to connect to the PC. Need to capture the usb packet (from Vagle).

I think that "USB Packet" might actually be an i2c packet over a wire that's a part of the USB C spec. The DDC "Display Data Channel" signal I mentioned before. So might be easier to reverse engineer than a USB packet would.

 

[5casper5]

del

 

[0TheRain0]

So I took my goggles apart just to look around inside. Noticed these test pads on the main PCB, labelled GND, 5V, D-, D+ and B. So that looks like USB to me, but not sure what B is. These might just be some kind of ISP firmware update pads or something though. I might try to solder a USB A cable to them, plug it in to my computer and see what happens. Also here's a picture of the back side of the board just for info. Let me know if anyone wants a picture of something specific.

 

[5casper5]

0TheRain0, yes, I wonder what will happen.

 

[knickerblogger]

Does my $75 solution work better LG G4 with the Oneplus loop VR?