My understanding is that the headset view is sent via HDMI from PS4 to the breakout box where it's processed and sent to the headset. If the same view is being duplicated on the TV then the box does some extra image processing and sends an undistorted feed out on the second HDMI to the TV.
Correct, but I don't think the breakout box does any processing on the image destined for the headset. I'm pretty sure it's passed through as-is; any processing done at this point would tend to introduce a lot of latency, I'd imagine.
The headset sends tracking info back to the breakout box via USB which is used for interpolation and is sent on to the PS4.
Just to be clear, the breakout box doesn't process the tracking information. It just collates all of the data being collected by the inertial sensors in the headset, packages it up to be sent over USB, and forwards the "raw" data to the PS4, where it's combined with information coming from the camera to determine the location and orientation of the headset. This is no different from the board inside your DS4 that collects input from the DS4's inertial sensors along with input from the buttons, analog sticks, and trackpad and packages it up for transmission via USB or BT.
Now, once the PS4 combines the data from the inertial sensors and the camera to determine the headset's location,
that location is sent
back via USB to the breakout box, so the DSP inside can use it to process/compose the 3D sound for the headset.
For asymmetric multiplayer everything remains the same except the PS4 renders another viewpoint, encodes it and sends out via USB to the breakout box, which decodes it for the TV.
That may well be. If so, then I'm even more curious to learn how that dev got the breakout box to perform this function, if Sony didn't explicitly lay the groundwork for them.
Happy to be proven wrong, but given the info at the moment this is more likely than some unknown solution involving sending two streams via HDMI.
Yeah, I'm just speculating here, and as yet, I'm not particularly pleased with any of my theories. lol It could certainly work as you describe, but I'm still hung up on how it could work that way if Sony hadn't planned for it. Shu did say that after the dev showed them, they thought it was so cool they made it an official part of PSVR, so perhaps the dev originally came up with a makeshift split-screen solution like I described, and then Sony added the necessary hardware to the breakout box for "full" asymmetric support.
Again, we need more information!
Since Sony confirmed motion-trackable DS4 will be their default VR controller, here is my example of PSVR SKUs:
- cheap camera-less PSVR SKU [just headset]
- $50 more for headset+camera SKU
- 99$ for 2 Moves and few bundled games
I assume the +$99 price point also includes the Camera? Yeah, that seems pretty reasonable.
Kinda hope everyone gets a copy of Dreams though, regardless of what other software may be bundled. Since VR is a brand new medium, we need as many creators out there as possible; "amateur" or otherwise. UGC from Dreams will go a
long way to filling in the gaps between other software releases, with gaps and a general lack of content being a primary concern early in the lifecycle. Anyone waiting a year or two to jump in will have plenty of content available, but we need to keep those early adaptors happy and engaged while they wait for the games to arrive. Dreams can do a lot of work there, even if the user in question isn't creating anything themselves. The first Mario Galaxy clones will start appearing within weeks.