HTC announces Vive Pro with increased resolution and built-in headphones

Today at CES in Las Vegas, HTC announced a new Vive VR headset, the Vive Pro, which will feature a major resolution increase over the current model, as well as built-in headphones like the Oculus Rift.

The Pro's total resolution will be 2880x1600, nearly a 78 percent increase in pixels over the current Vive's 2160×1200. Other improvements are "integrated, high-performance headphones with a built-in amplifier," dual microphones, and dual front facing cameras "designed to empower developer creativity," presumably with augmented reality applications.

HTC also announced the Vive Wireless Adapter, which uses Intel’s WiGig wireless docking tech—which Tuan tried a prototype of back in June—as well as Viveport VR (see the video below), an upgrade to its subscription service which will include previews of games and apps. 

The Wireless Adapter is coming in the fourth quarter of this year, while more information on the Vive Pro's price and availability is coming "soon." 

In related news, Valve will be showing off SteamVR Tracking 2.0 at CES this week, which will allow the use of four base stations. The 2.0 base stations will also be "smaller, more reliable and offer improved performance," says Valve.

Tyler Wilde
Executive Editor

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the rise of personal computers, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on the early PCs his parents brought home. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, Bushido Blade (yeah, he had Bleem!), and all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now. In 2006, Tyler wrote his first professional review of a videogame: Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS2. He thought it was OK. In 2011, he joined PC Gamer, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.