iFixit Takes Apart the Oculus Rift DK2, Finds Galaxy Note 3 Display Inside

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

iFixit Takes Apart the Oculus Rift DK2, Finds Galaxy Note 3 Display Inside

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 31, 2014 @05:26AM from the wait-'til-it's-handed-out-like-earphone-on-the-plane dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a teardown from iFixit of the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2: "iFixit's teardown reveals lots of interesting hardware within, including 40 infrared LEDs, a well-organized motherboard, and a display panel lifted directly from a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. They also took apart the IR tracking camera for good measure." The review is the usual iFixit blend of funny, concise and technical; they include a nice shot showing those IR sources embedded in the plastic of the frame. Why the straight-from-a-phone display? "This seems to make economical sense, since Oculus is working to ship something like 45,000 DK2s—a goodly number for a mid-development prototype, but certainly not enough to warrant a fully custom display."

19 of 57 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Gonna get sued! by tbuddy · 2014-07-31 05:34 · Score: 4, Insightful

I doubt they would partner with them and then sue them over it.
Re:Gonna get sued! by thevirtualcat · 2014-07-31 05:42 · Score: 2

Doesn't Samsung manufacture their own displays? I'm pretty sure that if Samsung had any issues with them incorporating that display, they just wouldn't have sold it to them.
I suppose it's possible that they might actually be buying Note 3's and disassembling them. And I can see that possibly causing a problem for them. But I also can't imagine that being particularly economical.
"This is how you disassemble a Note 3 and get the display from it without breaking it. Any questions?"
"Nope."
"Good. Now do it forty five thousand times."
Surprise? by Ralph+Wiggam · 2014-07-31 05:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

I thought that Oculus had always planned on using off-the-shelf cell phone displays. If they can keep the retail price under $300, they will sell a ton of units.
1. Re:Surprise? by Alejux · 2014-07-31 06:20 · Score: 2
  
  The CV1 may be another beast all together. With FB's backing, they'll have enough resources to order custom panels from Samsung, instead of having to rely on Samsung's mobile phone products.
2. Re:Surprise? by AmiMoJo · 2014-07-31 06:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Manufacturers of high quality colour LCD/AMOLED displays will laugh at you if you ask for a custom design in quantities of less than 1,000,000. Even for the final version it will be hard for them to justify signing a contract for 1 million displays up front, not being certain of sales volume. Off-the-shelf displays are pretty much their only choice.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
3. Re:Surprise? by HornWumpus · 2014-07-31 07:01 · Score: 2
  
  That's their claim.
  I've only had my DK2 for two days but it gives me motions sickness at a very similar level to my old VFX1 (when the VFX1 was hooked to computer 4x faster than any available on it's ship date, resulting in 200fps, of course going through a 60Hz LCD display).
  That said about the only software working on the DK2 is one of the roller coaster demos and breakout.
  
  --
  John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Re:I thought that the OR2 delivered a 1080p displa by Guspaz · 2014-07-31 05:51 · Score: 4, Interesting

Dual screens was never in the plans for any Rift, why would it be a surprise or a disappointment? The consumer version is expected to use at least a 2560x1440 display.
Got mine 2 days ago. by HornWumpus · 2014-07-31 05:53 · Score: 3, Interesting

Don't let anybody tell you they fixed the pukeyness of VR with low persistence!
It's still up to the software not to make the user sick.

--
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Re:I thought that the OR2 delivered a 1080p displa by gstoddart · 2014-07-31 05:54 · Score: 2, Funny

It's disappointing to see that each eye is just 1/2 1080p because it uses a single 1080p phone display shared by both eyes.
Yo dawg, I hear you like specs ... I 'spec the specs for your specs aren't what you'd 'spec.
Just remember, just because the marketing department says something, doesn't mean carries the same meaning as you and I would assign to it.

--
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Re:I thought that the OR2 delivered a 1080p displa by Dusthead+Jr. · 2014-07-31 05:55 · Score: 2

Does such a display exists? I always assumed that that's what they were doing. I can imagine that it would much more. It might be cheaper to use one small 4K display than 2 smaller 1080p ones.
Shut up and take my money already by xtal · 2014-07-31 05:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

Finish this.. I've been waiting since the iGlasses came out in 1997..

--
..don't panic
Re:Not a big surprise by Guspaz · 2014-07-31 05:59 · Score: 2

Except in this case, Oculus and Samsung aren't operating as competitors, they have a partnership for producing VR devices? Samsung is contributing hardware to Oculus, and Oculus is contributing software to Samsung.
Laser retinal painting by BaronM · 2014-07-31 06:03 · Score: 3, Interesting

I don't know how practical it will be, but this looks much cooler:
http://www.laserfocusworld.com...
1. Re:Laser retinal painting by ArcadeMan · 2014-07-31 06:45 · Score: 3
  
  No thanks, I don't want to attach sharks to my head.
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
2. Re:Laser retinal painting by vix86 · 2014-07-31 07:05 · Score: 2
  
  AKA the device from Snow Crash.
Re:Gonna get sued! by tbuddy · 2014-07-31 06:10 · Score: 5, Informative

Or they are partners.
Re:Gonna get sued! by tbuddy · 2014-07-31 06:18 · Score: 2

Samsung would sue if someone sold their displays with their logos on them without their consent. In this case Samsung is providing the displays for the device as part of a partnership as referenced in the fine article and even links to said partnership.

A common part is a huge deal when the common part is the logo for the company. That's typically a counterfeit product.
Leaving the entire panel intact makes sense... by Gordo_1 · 2014-07-31 06:44 · Score: 5, Interesting

The cheapest and simplest thing for Samsung to do for a relatively small run of only 45k devices is to literally lift existing pre-built screens directly off the Note 3 assembly line and hand them over to Oculus. Virtually any kind of customization, like removing the Gorilla glass or touchscreen controller would require an assembly line change and could result in a much larger production slow down. I know it's hard to believe that 'wasting' unnecessary materials is actually cheaper than removing them, but if you know anything about manufacturing you understand the enormous impact that an assembly line change can have.
No Thanks by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-31 07:02 · Score: 3, Interesting

A total of 1920x1080 for both eyes might be passable, but NOT when that 1920x1080 isn't actually 1920x1080.
The Note 3 has a pentile display - you're getting significantly reduced chroma resolution.