The first Oculus Rifts are sent and iFixit has a copy of the VR glasses in hands. The teardown conducted by the website reveals that the consumer version of the VR goggles features twin OLED panels and uses hybrid Fresnel lenses.
Oculus Rift Teardown
The Oculus Rift displays images at a resolution of 1080×1200 pixels per eye. Thanks to the iFixit teardown of the VR goggles, it is now clear that the headset uses twin OLED panels, each having a diameter of 90mm which brings the pixel density of 401ppi.
on both OLED panels, a fresnel lens is mounted. These lenses ensure that the 90mm displays are displays big when the user sets the VR goggles on the head. According to iFixit, Rift makes use of hybrid Fresnel lenses, where one layer has been added that mimics a traditional lens with bulging. This makes it possible to focus by moving the headset up or down on the face. By doing so the wearer is looking through a different part of the lens, wherein the focus is always changing.
It is not the first time that iFixit disassembles an Oculus Rift. Previously, the site did a teardown of the development versions DK1 and DK2. The latest development version used the entire front panel of the Samsung Note 3, including 5.7 “-AMOLED screen. One screen was used to control two eyes.
The consumer version utilizes separate panels, making it easier to get a good eye sharpness because the screens can be moved independently of each other. The development versions of the Rift also made use of traditional lenses to focus and were supplied with different lenses sets. With the hybrid Fresnel lenses, Oculus has ensured that this is no longer necessary.
According to iFixit, the Oculus Rift is also relatively easy to repair. The VR goggles score a 7 on the field of reparability. However, the website notes that are commonly used fragile ribbon cables and that it, therefore, is very difficult to detach the lens, displays, and the motherboard.