In the past decade, the world of moving drones has developed a lot. Something that used to be a specialty pleasure for tech fans and workers is presently something that many individuals appreciate. As the popularity of drones has skyrocketed, so has the technology that accompanies them. First Individual View (FPV) goggles are quite possibly one of the main important innovations that have significantly had an impact on the manner in which individuals fly drones. Drone pilots can see how the situation is playing out in real-time with these super-advanced contraptions. This direct visual access transforms their flying into a deeply engaging activity, far beyond simple remote control. This gives them a more natural flying experience than in other ways.
The Development of Drones
Drone technology has significantly evolved from basic, remote-controlled toys to sophisticated, autonomous flying machines equipped with high-tech sensors, HD cameras, and more. These drones are now capable of not only capturing breathtaking aerial photography but can also perform complex surveillance and data-gathering tasks.
- Utilization Across Various Fields: With their technological advancements, drones are now widely used for racing, pleasure flying, as well as for photography and videography purposes.
- Pilot Experience Limitations: Despite these advancements, drone piloting methods have certain limitations. Pilots often prefer first-person view (FPV) goggles over using a remote controller or mobile device screen, especially in direct sunlight. The goggles provide a clearer and more controlled view, enhancing the overall immersive experience.
What are FPV Goggles?
FPV goggles are advanced head-mounted displays that enable drone pilots to see through their drone's camera in real time. This technology provides a live video feed directly to the pilot's eyes, offering an immersive experience that simulates actual flying.
- Technology Behind FPV Goggles: The goggles are equipped with OLED or LCD screens that deliver sharp, high-fidelity images, creating the sensation of being inside the cockpit of the drone, which enhances control and precision.
- Features Enhancing Experience: Typically, FPV goggles come with built-in receivers and antennas to capture the video signal from the drone. Many models also include head-tracking technology, allowing the camera to move based on the pilot's head movements, further mimicking the dynamics of actual flight. The availability of these goggles ranges from entry-level to professional grades, making them essential for both hobbyists and professionals in the drone-flying community.
Advantages of FPV Goggles
- Enhanced Control and Precision: FPV goggles provide drone pilots with a direct line of sight, making it easier to manoeuvre in tight places and complicated surroundings. This direct view is particularly useful in competitive drone racing or when navigating through difficult terrain. For drone racing and dynamic aerial video, this control is ideal.
- Immersive Experience: FPV goggles make drone flying more fun and exciting. The pilot can experience the thrill of flight from a first-person perspective, which is a unique and exhilarating way to fly. Pilots may make complicated manoeuvres and explore new heights as if they were on the drone.
- Improved Safety: FPV goggles improve safety by giving pilots a great view of objects and situational awareness. This means less likelihood of collisions and accidents, especially important in areas with obstacles or when flying near people. This is essential while flying in hazardous locations or during complicated aerial activities.
- Longer Range: Some FPV goggles enable drone operators to fly longer without losing video signals. This extends the practical range and capabilities of drones, opening up possibilities for long-distance exploration and monitoring. This is helpful for large-scale exploration and search and rescue.
- Versatility: FPV goggles aren't only for drones. Their adaptability extends to a range of virtual experiences, providing an engaging interface for interactive applications beyond traditional drone flying. Other uses include virtual reality games, viewing movies, and operating remote-controlled vehicles and boats.
Choosing the Right FPV Goggles
When selecting FPV goggles, consider several factors to find the right pair. Look for features that suit your specific needs, whether for casual flying or more professional applications. Higher-resolution goggles offer a clearer image, while a wider field of view enhances immersion. Aim for at least 720p resolution and a 30-degree field of view. Comfort is crucial, so look for adjustable straps, cushioned eyecups, and a lightweight design. Low latency ensures real-time control, so choose goggles with minimal delay. High-quality goggles also often feature adjustable settings to fit different head sizes and vision needs. Ensure compatibility with your drone and equipment, including adjustable IPD. Additional features like DVR functionality, built-in antennas, and head tracking can enhance your flying experience.
Interview with World drone champion
Drone Racing World Champion and one of the current best FPV racers in the world, Min Chan Kim did a little interview with our team, listing some of his personal preferences, secrets to achieving victory, and why the Orqas are his choice of gear!
“My name is MinChan Kim and I'm from South Korea. I've been flying FPV for quite a long time now, ever since 2016.”
Min Chan has quite a few racing titles to his name, and there’s a pretty good reason for that.
I really, really love racing, so I focus mainly on that. I’ve also won quite a few of 'em - some of my best scores include 1st place at Drone Champions League, where I won at team racing in 2020, and I also got 2 MVP Pilot of the year titles for 2020 and 2021 seasons. I can’t really say that I have a particular secret for winning in general, but what I can say is that I sort of lose the feeling of how fast I’m going on the track if I take longer breaks from flying, so I do my best to practice every day.”
Skills and talent aside, you cannot win races if you don’t have the gear to support those - and MinChan says he definitely set his mind on what he plans to use from now on!
“As I’ve said, I've been racing for quite a bit now so, naturally, I also tried a lot of different goggles. However, the Orqa FPV.One Pilot goggles are the ones I decided to go with from now on - so far, I absolutely love 'em! One of their main perks are definitely those two FOV modes (Racer and Freestyle) so you can actually decide whatever works best for you. You might have not guessed at first, but my personal preference is Freestyle since bigger FOV suits me better. Another great thing is that they have 60fps DVR built-in, so when you record the video it looks super smooth and high-quality. All in all, these are the goggles I use from now on, during practice hours and I definitely plan to use them in my future races.”
“What Orqa definitely does best is innovation and meeting the wants and needs of FPV pilots and the community in general, so I really can't wait to see what comes next!”
Orqa Goggles:
The Pilot’s form factor is significantly smaller than the DJI FPV Goggles, and definitely more comfortable to wear without much light leaks.
FOV, Screen and Optics
After spending a few days with the new Orqa FPV.ONE Pilot Goggles, I must say the user experience has been better than the HDO2. Not only the Orqa offers a lot more features than the Fatshark (which I will explain in a bit more detail later), the re-designed OSD menu is also very powerful and user-friendly
The only put-off for me would probably be the smaller field of view, though after a while I started to get used to it.
Actually the Pilot is using the same sized OLED screen as the HDO2 (both 0.5″ Sony OLED screens) according to the specs, but the FOV is still considerably smaller. This is due to the different optics. The optics in the Pilot are great, image is super sharp and contrasty, I have nothing to complain about the image quality, but the downside is that they do make the FOV smaller at only 37°, while the FOV of the HDO2 is 46°. You can see the FOV difference using this FPV Goggles FOV comparison tool.
Just an estimation of the screen size / FOV
However for someone who’s new to FPV or coming from goggles with smaller FOV, this probably wouldn’t be a concern. 37-degree is totally acceptable for FPV flying, some people even prefer the smaller FOV as it’s just a personal preference.
As an analogy, it’s a bit like sitting in a cinema, if the HDO2 was the front seat, then the Pilot would be like a few rows behind. Not sure if it’s because the screens are further away from your eyes, it’s more like looking though a tube (as you can see in the below image, there’s a circle around the rectangle screen), you need to be slightly more precise how you position the goggles on your face, to get the screens line up with your eyes to avoid obstruction. But like I said, I got used to this after a while.
Pilot goggles screen, taken from my phone
Receiver Module
Just like the Fatshark HDO2, the Orqa FPV.ONE Pilot doesn’t come with a receiver module, which adds another $100-$150 to the cost on top of the goggles itself. (That’s why I like the Skyzone SKY04X so much as it comes with a pretty decent receiver module)
Here’s the receiver module bay.
The stock module cover is designed for the ImmersionRC Rapidfire, if you want to use some other modules like the TBS Fusion you will have to 3D print the cover for it.
User Interface
Darker colour goggles tend to get hotter in the summer when you fly under direct sunlight. That’s why many like the Fatshark as they are typically white. But the Orqa does look more professional in my opinion with the space grey colour and matte finish.
There are a lot of buttons and some of them are a little too subtle to feel and press when you are wearing the goggles. It takes some get used to. It would be nice if the buttons had some sort of rubbery surface.
You have both IPD and focal adjustment which was missing in the previous version. Also, they are still keeping those diopter slots in case you have special prescription and you can’t wear contact lenses. How thoughtful!
The OSD Menu is fantastic, it’s user friendly and well designed.
Apologies for the image quality of the OSD menu screenshots. The DVR doesn’t record the OSD menu so I had to capture the screen with my phone, it was hard to get it focus. The menu looks a lot sharper and vibrant inside the goggles.
You have total control of the Goggles screen image quality by adjusting brightness, colour, contrast, luminescence and aspect ratio. The cool thing is they give you a real-time preview which is really cool.
Headstrap
The stock Orqa head strap goes through a buckle, fold around and velcro together. As you can probably tell, you won’t be able to use the aftermarket Fatshark straps on the Orqa, because there’s no gap in the strap retainer. But this certainly avoids issues with straps wearing out over time and accidentally slipping right out. You might be stuck with the Orqa strap for now until new straps come out that are made for this goggles.
With that said, the strap provided is of great quality, fits my normal size head perfectly. It works as intended.
Other Features
The built-in DVR is way better on the Orqa than the Fatsharks, probably one of the best on the market with its 1280×960 resolution, 50/60 FPS, H.264 encoding and mp4 format specs.
Audio output using earbud works well.
As we all probably know, Orqa has their own digital HD system coming (but we have no idea when it’s gonna be released), and the Pilot will be compatible. The video receiver for this HD system is not built into the goggles, you will need to purchase that receiver separately when it’s available, and connect it to the goggles via the special connector located on top. As far as we know, the V1 will also be compatible but it will be using the HDMI input just like HDZero.
You can get the official 2S 2500mAh LiPo battery from Orqa, it’s basically the same pack from Tattu which I reviewed before, just rebranded. The good news is that the Pilot supports up to 6S LiPo, so you can pretty much use your drone battery to power it if you want, which is really convenient.
It has some really clever features too that I have never seen before, such as
- focus calibration for your eyes
- head tilt warning – if you drop your head too much it reminds you (useful when using a patch antenna, and it can be turned off)
Quick focus mode – help you adjust the focal length to get the sharpest image possible
FPV.Connect
You can purchase a separate board called FPV.Connect, install it in the goggles, and you would be do many more other things:
- live stream your flight from your goggles to your phone
- download DVR footage to your phone
- update goggles firmware
- more features to come in the future…
You can buy the FPV.Connect Module here:
https://multirotors.store/collections/fpv-first-person-view-goggles/products/orqa-fpv-one-pilot
Here’s where you install the board:
Install the FPV.Connect module in the Goggles.
When you turn on the goggles it creates a WiFi hotspot.
Download the Orqa Connect App on your phone, and connect to the Orqa WiFi network. Password is the FPV Goggles ID (it’s part of the network name, i.e. ORQA-AP-(your goggles FPV ID), or you can find it on the sticker inside the module bay).
Follow the instruction on the app and have fun!
For more info about FPV.Connect, check manual here: https://orqafpv.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/48001144522-fpv-connect
