Pimax foveated rendering (FFR and DFR) no longer works in VRChat due to EAC
closed
SargonDragon
VRChat Version: 2022.2.2 [1213]
Description: Pimax foveated rendering no longer functions as of the EAC update. This Pimax feature is believed to operate via DLL injection and so it is probably being blocked by EAC.
Foveated rendering is needed for reducing the GPU load on high resolution VR headsets. Without it, frame rates drop significantly.
In particular the Pimax 12K slated for release Q4 2022 will have 6K displays per eye and will be reliant on eye tracking and DFR in order to be usable with current GPUs on the market. This issue will have significant impact on being able to run VRChat on this new headset.
Steps to reproduce: Enable any foveated rendering setting in Pitool and then run VRChat.
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StormRel
closed
Turns out this is not an issue VRChat can address, as it is a problem between Pimax and EAC. As such I will have to close this out.
StormRel
tracked
DAG-XR
StormRel: Thanks, Rel ❤
yanorei32
StormRel What is the current internal state of the problem? The problem is still occurring. I keep experiencing unacceptable VRAM consumption and performance regressions.
StormRel
needs more information
StormRel
Thank you for reporting this issue. Since this post is quite old, we are requesting that you confirm that the issue is still present and to provide any updated information.
RamesTheGeneric
StormRel: Can confirm, on Pitool V1.0.1.277 with an 8KX DMAS, FFR still does not work in VRChat.
DAG-XR
StormRel: FYI, thanks for checking back in on this. My Pimax Crystal is about to be shipped here soon, and it has built-in eye tracking. I'll try to investigate too.
For information, Pimax uses firmware "PiTool", and "Pimax Play" which can link with SteamVR. I pinged Sargon (OP) to see if he can respond. I sold my Pimax 5K Super, so I can't do anything to test this.
M
MCFeelBoy
StormRel: I have a Pimax 5k super and i can confirm that its still not working with the latest updates.
SargonDragon
StormRel: I have rerun my testing and verified that this issue is still present.
EAC does not prevent VRChat from starting with the feature enabled. Foveated rendering simply doesn't function as if it is not enabled. I expect that this is because the feature relies upon DLL injection into the Unity engine by Pimax's software, and EAC prevents it from doing so.
From VRChat's programming blogs, I see that you're working on your own foveated rendering which connects through OSC. My recommendation would be to contact Pimax's engineering to discuss how best to make things work. There are disadvantages to the DLL injection method. So in some ways using native foveated rendering would be better. However, Pimax also intends to use foveated transport for their 12K which probably would not be enabled by VRChat native foveated rendering.
There is probably some low hanging fruit here particularly if the two engineering teams communicate about it.
Cocaine-MF
yep, at 1.0.1.132 also not working.
danrulz98
Pitool 1.0.1.277 FFR werkt:)
satsuki（桜月）
danrulz98: My Pimax 8KX & PiTool 1.0.1.277 FFR no longer works after EAC update...
SargonDragon
danrulz98: I believe you are mistaken. The operation of FFR can be visually subtle (which is the intent), and that can make it difficult to distinguish whether it is actually operating or not.
I have re-run my testing to verify that FFR is not working. Especially I have tested that the frame rate does not improve when FFR is enabled which is the most definitive way of determining whether it is actually operating. When it used to function prior to the EAC release, it produced a 59% improvement in frame rate on VRChat on large FOV at 100% resolution in my tests. That's hard to miss.
I am using Pitool 1.0.1.280. FFR was definitely working before the EAC release and is definitely not working afterward. I'm confident that no version of Pitool including 277 makes FFR work right now. The feature has always relied on DLL injection.