A new tweet from John Carmack teased the potential of Facebook supporting 120Hz mode in a VR headset.
The tweet was quoting one from the Oculus Developers account that discussed the Quest 2’s v23 software update rolling out 90Hz support. The original Quest ran at a refresh rate of 72Hz (equivalent to 72 frames per second) and the Quest 2 launched with higher 90Hz support, but only for Quest Home, Oculus Browser and Passthrough mode. Facebook is now rolling out the v23 update which allows all apps to run at 90Hz, provided developers update their apps with support. Many apps were already updated around the Quest 2 launch so that they were future-proofed for the arrival of 90Hz, but Carmack might be hinting more could be on the way:
Important point: Don’t just default to the highest frame rate available, or your app will likely run poorly if we release 120 FPS support. With only two headsets, you should explicitly test different resolution / framerate / rendering feature sets.
Carmack is encouraging developers to future-proof their content, and while it’s not fully clear if he’s referring to a hypothetical update for Quest 2 or a different, future headset, it’s interesting to think that 120Hz is not off the table either way. According to Bloomberg, Facebook tested screens at up 120 Hz for Quest 2, but may have capped it at 90Hz for battery life reasons.
Alongside 90Hz support, the v23 update for Quest includes Facebook’s new VR fitness tracker, Oculus Move, and will also support gifting games and purchasing to your Oculus friends later this month.
To hear more about what Carmack’s been saying about Quest 2 and the future of VR, check out the 11 most interesting things he said back at Facebook Connect in September.
For added clarity the sentence mentioning the earlier Bloomberg report was changed 10 minutes after publication.
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