The Oculus Quest 2 achieves a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which can keep up with the ready-to-use valve index. After pointing out the upcoming feature from Facebook AR and VR VP, Andrew Bosworth, a few weeks ago, the Oculus Quest developer roadmap now confirms that the feature is expected to be developed in March.
The roadmap for the Quest platform is available to people with a developer account for the VR headset. First discovered by UploadVR, we can also check that it is indeed a proposed feature on the roadmap, and surprisingly, a proposed release window is included this month.
(Photo credit: Facebook)
The experimental feature would make the Oculus Quest 2 update the parity of the update rate with the out-of-the-box valve index. The last bit is important though, as the index is actually pushing 144 Hz with its own experimental mode. Still, it’s not bad for the headset, which only supports 72 Hz and doesn’t receive a firmware update until later to enable 90 Hz.
“This version provides experimental support for 120 Hz update rates only for apps that support it,” says the roadmap. “The feature has two parts: API support for developers, toggling experimental settings to enable 120 Hz, and users who can toggle 120 Hz for supported apps.”
Since the 120Hz update support function has only “medium” confidence that it will meet the suggested release timeframe, it is marked with a large “EXPERIMENTAL” which tells us that not only delays are likely, but everything else too than likely is guaranteed.
But at least there has to be potential. Otherwise, we wouldn’t see a word with 120Hz support, nor would Facebook’s VPs be happy to tease such a feature.
That said, I hope for a feature like this, even though application and game support has been limited for a while. As indicated in the roadmap, expect developer API support before any official user release.
Increasing the refresh rate will be all the more demanding for the Snapdragon chip of the Quest 2, but 120 Hz still more than 90 Hz. We may see a use for such a function, where Oculus Link is activated between PC and headset, rather than native via the internal chip of the headset.
However, that’s not all that is cooked in the Oculus warehouse. Rumors have it that an Oculus Quest Pro may be in the works. That was something Bosworth alluded to again, and that seems like a good indicator of what’s going on behind the scenes at Facebook’s VR subsidiary.
Perhaps the rumored headset fits the Valve Index even better. However, the Quest 2’s biggest advantage over Valve’s high-quality headset is its $ 299 price tag. Any pro headset must also consider cost.
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