[Feature Request] VR Dual Output Mode (OpenVR HMD + 2D Monitor Output)

[maximechaos]

Hello, and thank you for this incredible software!

I’m using sView mainly to watch 3D SBS movies on my PSVR2 headset, and it works perfectly! However, I’m facing a real-world use case that I haven’t found supported in any VR video player yet, not even in sView’s “dual output” mode, which appears to target dual monitors only. I don't know if you are open to accepting any feature request, but since I dream about this kind of possibility, I dare to ask, feel free to ignore it if that's out of scope, of course.

The feature I would LOVE to see being implemented in sView:
A “VR dual output” mode that supports: 3D playback in VR headset as the current OpenVR HMD mode + Simultaneous 2D mono output on the monitor

This mode would let one person use an HMD while the other could watch the movie on the TV.

Real-life use case:
I enjoy watching 3D movies in VR, but my partner can’t wear a VR headset.
This would let us: Watch the same 3D SBS movie, from the same computer, with shared audio (home cinema).

Today, no video player supports this setup. sView already has a powerful video engine and OpenVR support; it feels like it has everything, and yet, something that feels possible is not. Because of the Dual Output mode, I was sure it was doable in one way or another, and I spent half an hour before understanding that it wasn't. If there is ONE VR media player out there that could make it happen, it's this one.

This would allow people to enjoy 3D movies in VR without isolating themselves from friends or family in the room.
Games have implemented this kind of “asymmetric VR” for years, and sView could be the first to do it for movies. I truly believe many users would love this feature.

Thank you so much for your time and all your work on sView.

Best regards,
maximechaos

[gkv311]

I could agree, that VR + mono output sound like a useful combination. Although I can barely imagine how one person would watch movie in HMD, while another person(s) would watch it on TV in the same room - it looks like the two persons will be isolated from each other ;).

Games usually provide display mirroring option, which is useful for debugging / tracing, and not much for other users enjoying the game itself, as the mirror usually has distorted proportions for HMD.

The main rationale for not displaying mirror view is to spare system resources, which are critical for VR experience to avoid extra lags.

Another issue is technical one - what should application display? The mirror of VR output?
Simple to implement, but it wouldn't allow another user to enjoy the video...

Displaying mono? But sView displays also a user interface and should handle user input... How it would handle both VR and window at once? Current sView architecture just doesn't support this scenario.

[maximechaos]

Well, I was obviously talking about asymmetrical VR games which implement a totally different display for the 2D screen, not just a mirroring display (that you can already get from most free PCVR tools, including Steam VR). But I fully understand the confusion since there are only around a hundred VR games of this kind. Here is a gameplay video showing one of them with both displays at the same time to grasp the concept fully, in case my English is not doing the job hahaha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ_yvRXGR0s

Now for the technical part, that is tricky, especially for the menu/UI/control part of having both a mono and a VR display. Again, controls should be optionally given to one or another with a toggle, but I completely understand that it would be a lot of work (too much work for like 1 person in a million that would need this feature hahaha).

But, the great news is that... I found a way to do what I wanted! But it was quite a lot of work and thinking, and I would still prefer a simpler solution of course, but hey, I'm still happy and sharing what I did so that if people want the same thing find this with a Google search, they will find a possible solution.

It's to be noted that I have a very good PC (RTX4090 - i9-14900K -128Gb of RAM -SSD only), so I don't know if my way would work on lower setups.

Here is how I proceeded:

• Connected the PC to the TV, to the Home Cinema (can work with a second monitor too), and to the VR headset
• Launched the 3D movie in any video player (so without any 3D treatment)
• Set the video player in Fullscreen on my Home Cinema
• Launched Bigscreen Beta in my PCVR headset
• Selected my Home Cinema as my in-app PC monitor to then set it as a 3D source
  Now I have my movie in 3D in my headset, from a direct source copy of my Home Cinema (or second monitor)
• Installed OBS
• Added Window Capture Source
• Selected the video player (displaying the untreated 3D source, so SBS in my case)
• Cropped the 3D source 50% width and used the "Fullscreen Projector" to send the cropped source to the TV
  And that's it!

Since there’s only one video player, everything is fully in sync (playing/pausing/etc.).
So, in the end, I made it work, but it needs 3 different apps running at the same time + a second monitor (or Home Cinema).

I fully understand that my feature request was very niche, and I also understand that it would make zero sense to try to make an all-in-one solution for absolutely every use case possible. But if I can still suggest something, it would be for sView to have the dual monitor output working as SBS for one screen and Mono for the other, this would get rid of the OBS need and would lower the needed apps to 2 instead of 3. But again, that would still be to cover something very marginal. Anyway, thanks a lot for your attention and your detailed answer! Have a great summer!

[gkv311]

Well, I was obviously talking about asymmetrical VR games which implement a totally different display for the 2D screen, not just a mirroring display

I didn't know about such games, thanks for sharing info.

[gkv311]

Added an option to mirror VR content into window.