DPVR P1
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| DPVR P1 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | Standalone VR |
| Developer | DPVR (Shanghai Lexiang Technology Co., Ltd.) |
| Manufacturer | DPVR (Shanghai Lexiang Technology Co., Ltd.) |
| Release Date | 2018 (China pre-orders opened 8 August 2018) |
| Price | CNY 1,399 (China launch price, August 2018); US$299 (DPVR price listing, 2026, excluding tax, freight or VAT) |
| Successor | DPVR P1 Pro |
| System | |
| Operating System | Android 7.1 based |
| Chipset | Allwinner VR9 |
| CPU | Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 at 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Arm Mali-T760 |
| Storage | |
| Storage | 16 GB; TF (microSD) card slot |
| Memory | 2 GB |
| Display | |
| Display | Single LCD binocular (2.5K fast-switching LCD) |
| Resolution | 1280x1440 per-eye |
| Refresh Rate | 72 Hz |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 100° diagonal |
| Optics | |
| Optics | Custom Fresnel lenses |
| Ocularity | Binocular |
| Tracking | |
| Tracking | 3DoF |
| Audio | |
| Audio | Integrated speakers with simulated surround sound |
| Connectivity | |
| Battery Capacity | 4000 mAh |
| Battery Life | About 4 hours of video playback (manufacturer claim) |
| Device | |
| Weight | 400 g without head strap |
| Material | Aluminum alloy front panel |
| Color | Four color options, including black and gold |
| Input | Touchpad on the right side of the headset; voice commands; optional 3DoF controller |
DPVR P1 is a virtual reality head-mounted display released in 2018. It is a standalone headset made by the Shanghai company DPVR (Shanghai Lexiang Technology Co., Ltd.), and in China it was sold as the "全景声巨幕影院" (panoramic sound giant-screen cinema), a headset designed mainly for watching films and video.[1][2] DPVR's English-language store calls it the DPVR P1 Personal, and the design entry that won an iF Design Award in 2019 used the name DPVR Personal Cinema.[3][4]
The P1 runs on the Allwinner VR9, a system on a chip that Allwinner designed for VR and AR headsets, and has a 2560 x 1440 LCD, Fresnel lenses and 3DoF rotational tracking.[5][6] Pre-orders opened in China on 8 August 2018 at a price of 1,399 yuan.[2] It was the first model of DPVR's P1 series, which later included the P1 Pro, P1 Pro 4K and P1 Ultra 4K.[1][6]
History
DPVR was founded in April 2015. Before the P1 it had released the E2 PC VR headset in 2015, the M2 standalone headset in March 2016 and the E3P headset with laser-based 6DoF positioning in March 2017.[1]
In an article published before launch, DPVR engineers wrote that the company had chosen Allwinner's VR9 chip years earlier and had suggested to Allwinner that operations such as asynchronous timewarp be moved out of the GPU into dedicated hardware. They described the VR9 as strong at video decoding at the cost of GPU performance for games, and presented the new headset as a product for video and audio playback.[7] The engineers' article and a Leiphone contributor writing about the launch both cited figures from Facebook's F8 and Google I/O conferences indicating that users of the Oculus and Daydream platforms spent roughly 80% of their time in VR watching video.[7][8]
DPVR announced that pre-orders would open at midnight on 8 August 2018 through JD.com, Tmall and the 3D播播 video platform, at a launch price of 1,399 yuan. Buyers who ordered during the launch period received a gift package that DPVR valued at 500 yuan.[5][2] VR陀螺 reported that, according to DPVR, more than 1,200 units were sold in the first 24 hours.[9] DPVR's company timeline lists the P1 as released in August 2018.[1]
In January 2019 DPVR released the DPVR P1 Pro, which uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 processor. The company describes the later P1 Pro 4K as an upgraded version of the "P1 2.5K" headset.[1] As of September 2026, DPVR's online store still has a product page for the DPVR P1 Personal, listed at US$299.[3]
Hardware
Processor and memory
The Allwinner VR9 has four Arm Cortex-A53 cores running at 1.8 GHz and an Arm Mali-T760 GPU. It can decode HEVC video at up to 6K at 30 frames per second or 4K at 60 frames per second, and Allwinner said its latency could be as low as 20 ms.[10] DPVR marketed the VR9 as the world's first dedicated VR chip and highlighted its hardware decoding of 6K panoramic video.[5] DPVR lists 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for the P1.[3] VR陀螺's review described the built-in storage as too small for some users and noted the TF card slot, which lets owners copy videos and apps from a computer to a memory card.[9]
Display and optics
The P1 has a 2.5K LCD with a resolution of 2560 x 1440, which VR陀螺 identified as a Samsung fast-switching LCD panel.[9] DPVR's launch announcement gave a fixed refresh rate of 72 Hz and 14.9 pixels per degree, which it said was 30% higher than similar products. DPVR also claimed twice the clarity of its previous headset.[5] In their pre-launch article, DPVR's engineers instead gave the refresh rate as 70 Hz, compared with a default of 60 Hz on the Oculus Go.[7][8] The lenses are custom Fresnel lenses.[5]
Audio
The headset has built-in external speakers, with outlets placed near the ears around the head strap mounts. DPVR called this "VR全景声" (VR panoramic sound) and said it was the first headset in its class to include it.[5][9] According to DPVR's engineers, a surround sound simulation algorithm produces the effect, and the sound field is directional so that bystanders hear it differently from the wearer.[7] The iF Design Award entry describes the speaker as "invisibly integrated into the body".[4]
Controls
The P1 is controlled mainly with a multi-touch touchpad on the right side of the headset. Three physical buttons on the underside handle volume and the back function, and the left side has the power button, an audio jack and a USB port.[9] A 3DoF handheld controller was sold separately.[5] At launch, VR陀螺 reported that DPVR planned to release the controller in mid-September 2018 and criticized text entry by head movement, which it found could cause dizziness.[9] DPVR also advertised voice control.[5] VR陀螺 found that the voice assistant was a simple command system for opening apps rather than an AI assistant, and that DPVR had promised to add AI features later.[9]
Design, battery and weight
DPVR's iF entry describes a gold and black headset with an aluminum alloy front panel that helps dissipate heat, a one-piece soft face cushion and a T-shaped head strap. According to the entry, the strap allows the headset to be used while lying down. It lists a 2018 launch and development time of up to 12 months.[4] VR陀螺 reported that DPVR offered four color options, and that the headset weighs 400 g without the elastic strap.[9]
The P1 has a 4000 mAh battery. DPVR rates it for about four hours of use.[9][6] VR陀螺, citing figures supplied by users, reported a charging time of around two hours and more than three hours of continuous operation.[9] DPVR's engineers attributed the battery life to three power states (normal, standby and deep sleep) and dynamic adjustment of CPU and GPU clock speeds, and claimed about twice the video playback time of the Oculus Go.[7]
Software
The P1 runs a system based on Android 7.1, with a home screen that VR陀螺 compared to the Oculus interface.[9] It ships with the 3D播播 VR video platform and supports Chinese video apps including iQIYI VR, Youku VR, TV Cat and Douyu live streaming, as well as local video playback and mirroring from a phone or computer.[5] The built-in cinema player lets the viewer watch from different seats in a virtual theater or switch to bedroom and beach scenes.[9]
DPVR said it had optimized rendering with front buffer rendering, Queue Ahead, Hidden Mesh and asynchronous timewarp (ATW).[5] According to its engineers, timewarp, lens distortion correction and chromatic aberration correction run on a separate display chip rather than on the GPU, which they said reduces GPU load and power use. They also described an image post-processing system called SmartColor, which adjusts detail, color and contrast, and front buffer rendering with a single display buffer to reduce motion-to-photon latency.[7] A contributor to Leiphone who had tested an engineering sample reproduced these explanations and compared the P1 with the Oculus Go.[8]
Specifications
| Specification | DPVR P1 |
|---|---|
| Display | Single LCD binocular[9] |
| Resolution | 1280x1440 per-eye (2560 x 1440 total)[5][3] |
| Refresh Rate | 72 Hz[5] |
| Field of View | 100° diagonal |
| Pixels per degree | 14.9 (manufacturer figure)[5] |
| Chipset | Allwinner VR9[3] |
| RAM and storage | 2 GB + 16 GB, TF card slot[3][9] |
| Tracking | 3DoF[6] |
| Battery | 4000 mAh, about 4 hours (manufacturer claim)[6] |
| Weight | 400 g without strap[9] |
| Price | 1,399 yuan (China launch price, 2018);[2] US$299 (DPVR store listing, 2026)[3] |
Reception
VR陀螺's August 2018 review called the P1 an unremarkable but satisfactory product for its price of around 1,000 yuan and suitable as a first headset for people new to VR. It found the face cushion let in light around the nose and said the weight rests mainly on the face, which makes long sessions uncomfortable for a device built for watching films. It also found that much of the VR video in partner apps was low quality, with some flat video simply converted to panoramic format.[9]
In 2019 the P1, under the name DPVR Personal Cinema, won an iF Design Award in the product design category for gaming, VR and AR.[4][3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "DPVR - 了解更多关于我们的历史和成就". DPVR. Shanghai Lexiang Technology Co., Ltd.. https://www.dpvr.com/about.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 VR陀螺 (2018-08-08). "大朋DPVR全景声巨幕影院售价1399元，8月8日正式上市". VR陀螺. https://www.vrtuoluo.cn/510953.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "DPVR P1 Personal". DPVR. https://www.dpvr.com/en/product/dpvr-p1-vr-headset/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "DPVR Personal Cinema". iF Design. iF International Forum Design. 2019. https://ifdesign.com/en/winner-ranking/project/dpvr-personal-cinema/253996. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 "1399元 ！大朋DPVR全景声巨幕影院于8月8日正式开售". ITheat. 2018-08-07. https://www.itheat.com/view/6317.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "DPVR P1 Wireless Virtual Reality Headset Range". DPVR. https://www.dpvr.com/en/vr-headset-products/p1-wireless-virtual-reality-headset/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "为什么是全景声巨幕影院？来自大朋DPVR工程师的创新分享". 93913. 2018-08-01. https://www.93913.com/18506.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 木子 (2018-08-06). "大朋DPVR全景声巨幕影院新品PK Oculus Go：背后的战力是？". 雷峰网 (Leiphone). https://m.leiphone.com/category/industrynews/ByluBjvAEXGD1uqq.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 锅灶 (2018-08-20). "最"正经"的VR观影神器大朋VR一体机评测". VR陀螺. https://www.vrtuoluo.cn/511035.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Jean-Luc Aufranc (2018-04-20). "Allwinner VR9 SoC is Specifically Designed for Extended/Virtual Reality Headsets". CNX Software. https://www.cnx-software.com/2018/04/20/allwinner-vr9-soc-is-specifically-designed-for-extended-virtual-reality-headsets/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.