A major update for Virtual Desktop prepares the streaming app for Meta Quest 3 and brings several improvements.
The popular tool for wirelessly streaming PC content to mobile VR headsets, Virtual Desktop, is getting a huge update. This implies that you’ll be able to utilize the app with Meta Quest 3 as soon as it’s released on October 10th.
Quest 3 supports AV1 codecs
Guy Godin, the creator of Virtual Desktop, revealed the change yesterday on X (previously Twitter). Because of the more capable Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, Meta Quest 3’s Virtual Desktop version 1.29 now supports AV1 video codecs.
Big update today! Version 1.29 adds official Quest 3 support with a bunch of specific improvements such as AV1 codec support, 120fps in all environments, higher resolutions. The update also adds face/eye tracking support on Quest Pro, a screen transparency option for Quest/Pico.
— Guy Godin (@VRDesktop) October 4, 2023
When compared to HEVC, this is expected to provide for greater visual quality at the same bit rate. Godin claims that AV1 reduces glitches during movement in VR games.
The procedure, however, is more taxing on GPUs. It may not attain the same quality or frame rate as HEVC depending on the graphics hardware utilized. Nvidia 4000 or AMD 7000 series graphics cards are required for AV1 codecs.
Virtual Desktop: All new features in update 1.29
According to the release notes of the update, you can also look forward to the following new features:
Further improvements:
- Maximum bitrate increased to 200 Mbps for all codecs and 400 Mbps for H.264+.
- “Godlike” quality usable up to 120 FPS
- Snapdragon Game Super Resolution can be used with all VR graphics quality options
- 120 FPS can be used in desktop/video mode in all environments.
- Environments are rendered at higher resolutions
New features for Quest 3, Quest Pro and Pico 4:
- Toggle for screen transparency (above the screen in the first 4 environments).
- VR passthrough option in streaming tab with configurable chroma keying
- Face/Eye tracking with VRChat on Quest Pro (via VRCFaceTracking).
- Passthrough environment on Pico
- New virtual assistant that answers Virtual Desktop-related questions in many languages
- Turkish and Russian keyboard layouts added
- Nvidia settings are now automatically saved / restored
- Fixed compatibility issues with Onward via SteamVR when launching via the “GAMES” tab.
