Help! FPV goggle recommendation for analog/digital

[tamuct01]

I'm interested in moving into the world of digital FPV. I currently have a set of FatShark Dominator v2s, and they've served me well over the years. I'm a casual FPV pilot and have setups on about 1/3 of my fleet. I mostly fly planes and a few quads. No racing, just recreational flying. I'd like to try digital FPV, but don't want to give up the decent investment in analog gear that I have.

So the question is, should I get a (Option 1) high-end digital-capable set of analog goggles and an add-on digital receiver or (Option 2) a set of digital goggles that can do analog as well?

Here's the setups I'm thinking about:
Option 1: analog goggles with add-on digital:
Skyzone SKY04X PRO or Skyzone Cobra x V4 with Walksnail Avatar VRX digital add-on

Pros: Get to use my existing analog natively and share my existing goggles for ride-alongs.
Cons: digital is an add-on, and some day would probably want digital-native.

Option 2: digital goggles with add-on digital:
Walksnail Avatar HD Goggles X with some kind of external receiver

Pros: Digital first, and as analog fades, I could just stop using the external module.
Cons: Add-on analog looks to be very kludgy on these goggles

Option 3: don't mix the two
Or tell me if I'm overthinking this? Should I just get a digital system and keep them separate, and carry 2 sets of goggles when I need to? How have you guys bridged the analog to digital divide?

 

[Bricks]

A little surprised HD Zero was not considered, when I make the move to digital that is the direction I will be going.

 

[LitterBug]

I went down the double path with the Walksnail Avatar.

1) Using my old Fatshark Transformer box goggles with an HDMI input and a Walksnail Avatar VRX as the receiver. This works great for me, not full 1080p, but digital reception is still awesome with this setup. Still use my remote analog diversity ground station on a mount so I don't have to point my face where I am flying.

2) I later picked up a set of Walksnail Avatar Goggles X for full HD and also the capability of doing 100hz at lower resolution, and headtracking. They work great after I got a different foam face padding for them. The stock padding was a bit thin in places and didn't fit my face well. Well known thing and there are plenty of places that sell the replacement foam. They can do analog directly, but I still use my old diversity ground station on a mount so I don't have to aim my face where I am flying.

With both setups, I have an HDMI splitter so I can feed a 12" monitor for "passengers". I also plan to set up one of my bigger planes with dual HD vtxes so the passenger can look around with the GogglesX headtracking, while I fly off a hard mounted camera.

LB

 

[tamuct01]

A little surprised HD Zero was not considered, when I make the move to digital that is the direction I will be going.

I'm not necessarily opposed to HDZero, but from the reading I've done (mostly Oscar Liang and Josh Bardwell), they seemed very focused on the racer community. They are sacrificing resolution for the lowest latency. I believe for my purposes (casual flying) that the tradeoff in resolution for slightly higher latency is worth it.

 

[tamuct01]

I went down the double path with the Walksnail Avatar.

1) Using my old Fatshark Transformer box goggles with an HDMI input and a Walksnail Avatar VRX as the receiver. This works great for me, not full 1080p, but digital reception is still awesome with this setup. Still use my remote analog diversity ground station on a mount so I don't have to point my face where I am flying.

2) I later picked up a set of Walksnail Avatar Goggles X for full HD and also the capability of doing 100hz at lower resolution, and headtracking. They work great after I got a different foam face padding for them. The stock padding was a bit thin in places and didn't fit my face well. Well known thing and there are plenty of places that sell the replacement foam. They can do analog directly, but I still use my old diversity ground station on a mount so I don't have to aim my face where I am flying.

With both setups, I have an HDMI splitter so I can feed a 12" monitor for "passengers". I also plan to set up one of my bigger planes with dual HD vtxes so the passenger can look around with the GogglesX headtracking, while I fly off a hard mounted camera.

LB

Good point. I could use the HDMI input on the existing FatShark goggles. However, one reason I'm looking to change is that my Fatsharks seem to have an issue with interpupillary distance. If I adjust to make the center of the display clear, the edges (where telemetry lies) are blurry and vice versa. I'm thinking this is just a limitation with the goggles, since it's always been this way. If I'm going to replace them as my primary goggles, then I should be considering digital.

 

[LitterBug]

Good point. I could use the HDMI input on the existing FatShark goggles. However, one reason I'm looking to change is that my Fatsharks seem to have an issue with interpupillary distance. If I adjust to make the center of the display clear, the edges (where telemetry lies) are blurry and vice versa. I'm thinking this is just a limitation with the goggles, since it's always been this way. If I'm going to replace them as my primary goggles, then I should be considering digital.

I'd actually like to try a set of the Goggles L to compare with the Goggles X. I can't quite get the "full view" with the X. Either cut off in the center, or cut off at the edges. They seem a bit narrow, and I have an average head. I've had to move the OSD fields in a bit from the sides of the screen to be able to read them.

 

[Houndpup Rc]

A little surprised HD Zero was not considered, when I make the move to digital that is the direction I will be going.

BTW you will get spots in HDzero just like static in analog...Not sure if that matters

 

[Houndpup Rc]

I'm not necessarily opposed to HDZero, but from the reading I've done (mostly Oscar Liang and Josh Bardwell), they seemed very focused on the racer community. They are sacrificing resolution for the lowest latency. I believe for my purposes (casual flying) that the tradeoff in resolution for slightly higher latency is worth it.

Another option is to get the DJI Goggles N3 and the dji o4 lite both of which are top of the line but the cheapest DJI products yet but still pretty good quality...The one thing with DJI is, it looks like imports are being stopped of their products into the US....Walksnail might be a better long term option...

 

[Houndpup Rc]

I'd actually like to try a set of the Goggles L to compare with the Goggles X. I can't quite get the "full view" with the X. Either cut off in the center, or cut off at the edges. They seem a bit narrow, and I have an average head. I've had to move the OSD fields in a bit from the sides of the screen to be able to read them.

Yeah if I ever get Walksnail I will probably get the goggles L only because the price is so much better...I would rather invest more into the camera/vtx side of things.

 

[Bricks]

What I like about HD Zero is open source any issues can be taken care of very quickly and add on`s to no end, like open TX.