page_title: Pimax
section_title: Pimax 8K
hierarchical_section_title: Pimax / Products / Kickstarter era / Pimax 8K
caption_attribution_description: English: Pimax 8K Prototype
context_page_description: Pimax is a technology company specializing in virtual reality hardware products.
  In 2016 its first product, the Pimax 4K virtual reality headset, was released, becoming the first commercially available 4K headset. In 2017, they ran a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the Pimax 8K headset, raising approximately $4.2 million. On the 19th of December 2017, Pimax announced they had closed a $15 million series A funding round.
  On 8th of January 2020, Pimax’s flagship headset- world’s first dual native 4K consumer VR headset- VISION 8K X featuring high resolution and ultra-wide field of view,200°/170°/115°(V), was selected as Top Tech of CES: AR/VR by Digital Trends.
context_section_description: The Pimax 8K is a virtual reality head-mounted display. It features two 4K displays, one for each eye, with an advertised field of view of 200 degrees. However, the Pimax 8K does not use the most common 8K resolution standard 8K UHD which contains four times as many pixels as 4K UHD. Since the Pimax 8K contains two 4K UHD displays it only has half the number of pixels as that of 8K UHD. In addition, due to bandwidth limitations in the connection cable, the headset's input is limited to 2560×1440 for each of the displays. This is then upscaled in the device to the displays' actual resolution.
  The company has announced that they are partnering with third parties to develop expansion modules for the headset. The expansion modules announced include features like inside-out tracking, eye tracking, wireless transmission, and scent. As of February 2019, none of the accessories has been released, despite stating release date of Q2/Q3/Q4 2018 with low risk.
  
  AT CES2019 in January 2019, Pimax disclosed strategic partnerships respectively with LeapMotion and 7INVENSUN on the development of hand motion tracking module and eye tracking module.
  LeapMotion was acquired by UltraHaptics in May 2019 and a new company called UltraLeap was established. On the 26th of February, Pimax signed an agreement to offer UltraLeap hand tracking for its whole VR headset range with specifications including a stereoscopic IR camera that creates an interaction zone of up to 100cm (40”) range, extending from the device in a 160×160° field of view (approximately 74 cubic feet or 2.1 cubic meters of interactive space).
  The headset uses the SteamVR positional tracking system (previously called "Lighthouse") initially developed for the HTC Vive by Valve. This means that existing Vive base stations and controllers are compatible with the Pimax headset, removing the need for existing Vive users to set up an additional tracking system or buy new controllers.
  The headset is compatible with SteamVR and Oculus software making it compatible with a wide range of already existing VR content. It is not a native SteamVR headset, and it requires "PiTool" software to be installed along with it.
  The headset was initially planned to start shipping in January 2018, but was repeatedly delayed due to design tweaks and manufacturing refinements. As of July 2019 all backers with verified addresses had received their Pimax 8K and 5K+ headsets.
caption: Pimax 8K prototype from Kickstarter campaign 2017
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