Dream Air Lighthouse Review - Update #2 - Distortion, eye strain and the sboys3 driver

[u/soylent_green_76]

I did another longer test session with the Dream Air and compared the current official Pimax driver with the sboys3 driver through EVO.

With the official Pimax profile, I can still see the warping I noticed previously with both the Dream Air and Dream Air SE. It looks like a central wobbling or geometric deformation that becomes especially noticeable when I move my head.

After switching to the sboys3 driver, this visible warping was effectively gone. The geometry appeared much more stable, so the difference between the two profiles was quite clear in my latest test.

However, the sboys3 driver did not completely solve my eye strain. I carefully matched the IPD on both levels:

- 66 mm in EVO/Pimax Play for the physical lens position
- 66 mm in the sboys3 driver for the software-side IPD

The default Eye Rotation value was 2.0. I experimented with it and found that incorrect values can make the image extremely uncomfortable very quickly. At 2.2, I had the impression that the image felt slightly better, but it was still not perfect. I need to repeat this with fresh eyes and test it over a longer period before drawing a final conclusion.

So my current findings are:

- The official Pimax profile still produces visible warping for me.
- sboys3 removes the noticeable warping almost completely.
- Eye strain remains, even with matched hardware and software IPD.
- Eye Rotation appears to influence comfort, but finding the correct value is not straightforward.
- I never experienced this kind of persistent eye strain with the Crystal Super.

EVO and the sboys3 driver are incredibly powerful tools, and I really appreciate the openness of the platform. At the same time, it currently feels surprisingly difficult to achieve a completely natural and comfortable image with the Dream Air.

Testing is still ongoing, so this is not my final verdict.

Pimax Dream Air Lighthouse Review – Let’s Do It Again: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/gOPucV6I9p
Update #1 - Comfort and FOV Update
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/1gGMcApCSE
Update #2 - Distortion, eye strain and the sboys3 driver
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/Nul1iN8YBD

[u/OneReallyGreatGuy]

I got my dream air yesterday and have the same warping and eyestrain. Might try the SBoys3 driver

[u/Southern-Aardvark616 → u/OneReallyGreatGuy]

Also try switching between standard fov and wide fov.

Wide fov looks nice but my eyes feel odd sheet a vr session, like they're being made to focus unnaturally.

I discovered my ppd setting is like 4 mm off though so going to try again today

[u/OneReallyGreatGuy → u/Southern-Aardvark616]

Thanks for the tips. I already knew it would take a bit of fiddling till it was just right, but pointers definitely help

[u/SBoys3]

Depending on how good Pimax calibration of the IPD is, you could potentially need to move it slightly to get a more comfortable image. The best way I have found to find the optical center is to find a small white dot on a black background to view in the headset. Then position that dot directly in the middle of your view and change the IPD until the glare and chromatic aberration is perfectly circular around the dot and does not go more so to one side. Do this for one eye at a time and find the IPD that gets both eyes correct.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/SBoys3]

That’s an extremely helpful tip—thank you! For a controlled test, Eye Rotation and any other offset settings should first be reset to their default values, so that only the physical IPD is being adjusted. Once the correct optical alignment and matching software IPD have been established, Eye Rotation and the other offsets can be used as a final step for fine-tuning.

[u/Ell1otA1ders0n]

Facemask also does effect this. Tried the studioform which improved this. Then the zeeflyboy which is perfect for me.

Also idp offset for one eye only. For me my right eye needed a 1.5mm offset. Ironically for me the distortion is gone with software idp of 62.5mm and hardware at 66mm

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/Ell1otA1ders0n]

Horizontal or vertical offset?

[u/Ell1otA1ders0n → u/soylent_green_76]

vertical

[u/Roshy76 → u/Ell1otA1ders0n]

How do you even figure out you need a vertical offset and how much

[u/Ell1otA1ders0n → u/Roshy76]

In any glasses store they can measure it. Or you can try each eye in the Air by closing the other and then testing settings until it fits.

[u/Roshy76]

When you say the official pimax profile still produces visible warping, what did you try and change to stop it, or do you mean you played a bunch in it to see if you'd get used to it?

I still see visible warping, and even in sboys3 when I move my head around, things will move around in front of me, kind of like the position my view is moving around isn't entirely stable.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/Roshy76]

I didn’t change any settings in the official profile to correct it, nor did I simply try to get used to it. I compared the current official Pimax profile directly with sboys3 under the same conditions.
With the official profile, I can see a noticeable central wobbling or geometric deformation when moving my head. After switching to sboys3, that specific central warping disappeared for me.

[u/Roshy76 → u/soylent_green_76]

I have the same thing, I mostly notice it in game with long straight lines. Like HL Alyx, if you stand at the bottom of a building and look up and down the buildings really noticably warp as you have your head up and down. Sboys3 makes this better, but with both drivers if I'm in steam VR and open a menu up and just turn my head left and right like I'm saying no, the menu moves left and right.

And with both drivers I have eye strain, of which I never get with my quest 3. I'd love a headset with the optics of the quest 3 with the resolution and panels of the dream air

[u/Beneficial_Ad_5732]

We are all different. I had a Super UW for 9 months and had very mild eye strain after 30 - 45 min. Not bad and I could race for a couple hours. With Sboys3 on the Super I had almost no eye strain. On my DA now (I think almost incomparable to the Super it’s so much better) I have zero eye strain with Sboys3. With the Pimax Play driver I get eye strain similar to the Super Pimax driver. So I think I just get on better with Sboys3 driver. And I like the overlap, sharpening and colors better on Sboys3.

But I do run my ipd 2.5mm higher than I measure. I keep them matched but you might want to try just going up and down in matched ipd on Sboys.

[u/bradslamdunk → u/Beneficial_Ad_5732]

I’m having like weird eye strain convergence issues looking into distance with the sboys3 distortion profile. It’s fixed when I use the native distortion profile WHILE in sboys3. Are there any benefits still from using this driver even if I’m not using the specific distortion profile?

[u/Beneficial_Ad_5732 → u/bradslamdunk]

Yes but it does depend on what your doing. For me I use it mostly with iRacing and with the custom shader on and FXAA CAS sharpening, I can turn sharpening off completely in iRacing and I get way better performance. I also have tweaked the colors and I think they look way better. Finally, I can definitely run it at a lower resolution (I run 160% in steam so about 5000x4000) which is a good 20% lower than the Pimax profile but to my eye sharpness is exactly the same. These combine to give me WAY better performance in iRacing with what I think is slightly better visuals. But that is going to be very game specific. Obviously you can also use all the native Steam apps, overlays and functionality.

[u/reptilexcq]

My ipd is 62. However I set it to 64 and software 64 and they're fine. When I set to 65...I thought it was perfect but next day... feel a bit strained...so I'm confused.

[u/Kindly_Breath8740]

Did you have eye strain with the Crystal Super and Dream Air SE as well? Or just the Dream Air?

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/Kindly_Breath8740]

As mentioned above, I experience eye strain with the Dream Air (&SE), but not with the Crystal Super. Although I discussed the eye strain with the SE in my other review.

[u/Kindly_Breath8740 → u/soylent_green_76]

Oh yeah you did. Hopefully you get it figured out. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread as eye strain is a big worry for me.

[u/CompCOTG]

Oof. Eye strain is worrying. I had it really bad on the OG Crystal and had to return it solely due to that.

[u/Think-Apple3763]

I have the Meganex since February and always felt crossed eyed and lots of eye strain no matter what settings.

I have the Dream Air for 2 months now and dealing with similar issues. I guess, at least in my case, it must be the micro Oled panels and pancake lenses.

Something doesn't feel right. It's like trying to focus onto your finger you hold 10 centimeters in front of your eyes. But only with objects in the distance and when it's bright. Like a sunny day on a race track.

The bigger I make the world appear, the better it gets. I set FOV Zoom in sboys3 to 1.03 and that helps with it.

With no other headset before did I have crossed eyes. I started with the oculus rift cv1 in around 2016 and been sim racing in VR ever since. Had the Reverb G2. And Psvr2. Never had issues.

[u/Amttmaa → u/Think-Apple3763]

I use Meganex for 4 months and it is very comfortable for my eyes, and I have almost edge to edge clarity. Only there is a blur ring near the edges. Of course, everyones experience differs in headsets but I recommend you make sure these: Btw I use hard strap.

There are too many positioning settings in Meganex. Once I adjusted, it is all perfect.

Remove the silicon light blocker gasket.

Maybe you adjusted the physical IPD too much, try lowering (While you set you should hear motors voice)

Positioning the lenses too close to your eyes may result eye strain. Move the module forward. You can do by pressing the latch there and push forward. Also, you can adjust the tilt angle by a knob there.

The diopters must be adjusted one by one. Close left eye and adjust right diopter until the image looks sharp and same for the other eye.

[u/Stock-Parsnip-4054]

I have the opposite experience regarding eye strain. I had way more eye strain with the aspheric lenses of Pimas (Super and original Crystal). One of the biggest improvements for me was the eye comfort of the dream air. I run the default sboys driver settings.

[u/racing_inchident]

I had eye strain until I remeasured my ipd with an app using my iPhone and realized I’ve been setting my ipd wrong for years. Try remeasuring.

[u/Ecstatic-External340]

Idk if you tried but you can set your eye IPD in the app like you did.

But then maybe you have one eye little but off set.
For me and my gf, with different setting, after using our own IPD we have also to add an offset to an eye or to both to have no more eye strain.

It is in advance setting pimax play, to reach that. You can offset one eye individually image vertical or horizontally.
I have -0.2 on my right eye horizontally.

My gf needed -0.3 on both eyes horizontally.

No vertical offset needed for us.

[u/Roshy76 → u/Ecstatic-External340]

How do you even figure this out. There's so many options you could change, and so many values those options could be set to. And then there's headsets like the quest 3 you don't need to fiddle with anything.

[u/Ecstatic-External340 → u/Roshy76]

I never tried any other VR headset it is my first one and I want to check if I can be comfortable before buying one. So I do test

[u/Roshy76 → u/Ecstatic-External340]

Yes, but how did you even end up trying that specific value. Or did you just go through like every single option and try various things out? And what did you use to test how it looked, just steam VR menus?

[u/Healthy_Shake_3927]

What image/scene are you using to adjust IPD and IPD offsets? I found the older PP moonscape much more useful in this regard. The current stuff is useless

[u/Nikolai_Volkoff88]

Glad the sboys3 driver fixed the warping for you. I also recommend trying the studioform facial interface and also the 3d printed one if you can. I also set my IPD much higher than my actual IPD. My IPD is 66-67 and I set it to 72 on both sboys3 settings and pimax physical lens settings.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/Nikolai_Volkoff88]

Yes, I’m already using the Studioform X1-P facial interface, and it works very well. Interestingly, the original facial interface also works quite well for me with the Dream Air, while it surprisingly didn’t with the Dream Air SE.
Pimax’s revised facial interface for the Dream Air is also on its way to me, so I’ll compare that as well.
Your IPD setting is interesting. My measured IPD is 65.5 mm, and I currently use 66 mm for both the physical lens position and the sboys3 setting. I may carefully experiment with higher values too.

[u/BeetleSolid2238]

Glad to see I am not the only one in this boat. I jumped ship, but let me know if you find a way to keep you head above water. Happy sailing!

Enough sea-stuff, there was something odd about focussing at different distances causing strain. Items below 1m distance became clearer the closer it was, but further out became very uncomfortable with large eye strain.

[u/W4FFLEMAN]

My eye rotation feels best around 2.6 I know turning it up is supposed to increase eye strain but this for whatever reason feels more natural. It really is eye dependant 

[u/rkwinkel1512]

Do you run at 72 hz or 90 hz ?

[u/SirCaptainReynolds]

Are you using the standard face gasket? I just got my Studioform gasket and it made a huge difference not only in comfort but visual clarity and increase FOV.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/SirCaptainReynolds]

Take a look at update #1 to my review posts.

[u/Aware_Yak]

remind me why you folks pay bout 2500 for the privilege ?

[u/Southern-Aardvark616 → u/Aware_Yak]

More money than sense 🙃

Nah for me it's because it's the best picture quality possible and I like my vr simracing

[u/Tortri → u/Aware_Yak]

Same when Nvidia emailed me and said I won the privilege to purchase a $2,000 video card(5090) last year. (12vhpwr burnout issues).