With only some days left until the PSVR release I think this is the perfect moment to warn future owners that VR headsets do have a natural enemy! The sun!

You should never let direct sunlight hit the lenses of any of the high end VR headsets, as their lenses focus it onto the screen resulting in permanent damage to the OLED screen inside - the organic compounds used in OLEDs are light sensitive.

There are several reports that the Vive and the Rift suffer from that within seconds of being exposed to direct sunlight and whether or not Sony found a solution to that problem is unknown and unlikely.

The 2 reddish-pink streaks in this picture are an example of sun-damage.

Indirect light and light from artifical sources (apart from high powered lasers) however is harmless, because the light intensities reached with these is 2 or more orders of magnitude lower than direct sunlight.

edit:

Cant you just have some cloth laying around, and stuff into it, when your not useing them instead?

Should be enough to protect the screen from sun light damage.

yea I think it's best to put the HMD into a box after usage or to put something into the facemask-component

Ah, the sun. Mans oldest enemy...

*shakes fist at sky*

Yeah I just had the same thought.

Anyways this is a good thread, I dont think most people would think of this.

And it would suck to buy say a HTC Vive (800$), and have it be damaged just because you left it laying around and it took damage from sun light.

yea, I read of a Vive owner that set up his unit in his garden .. it was heartbreaking

Damn... did not know this :o Thanks for the info. I wont jump on it day 1, but most definitely will one day. This should be written all over the boxes with massive red letters IMO.

#nosunlightinmyflatanywaymasterrace

I'm surprised that this info isn't more widespread. That's pretty much a huge problem. My PC and my TV are close to windows. I usually close them when playing, but otherwise a bit of sun surely hits my TV and PC, so a VR headset could pretty much be subject to some sunlight.

These kind of stuff really makes me believe even more that the tech isn't here yet and these things may just flop.

Thanks for the heads up. I always keep my electronic devices like that out of the sun. Psvr will be no different.