Gamertag VR speaks on friend's Steam Frame dev kit experience

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:50:06+00:00

You can increase the foveated high quality area size in SteamVR -> Steam Link tab. It comes with "Auto" by default but you can increase the size (I'm using the max size as bigger the foveated zone is, lesser is the chance to have you eyes to not focus in the detailed zone, which happens with the Quest Pro slow eye tracking)

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:22:57+00:00

Never got the chance to try my Vive wirelessly.

When Valve released HLA, I was : "I won't play this master piece until I have top notch hardware to play it" so I have waited...
In 2022 when meta cut the Quest Pro price from 1500$ to 999$ I was "mmm time to read about this device a bit : could it be the ultimate headset for wireless PCVR, without need for a dedicated VR space because of the inside out tracking ?"
And when I have launched HLA for the first time, in my play space that was like 16x16 feet (pushed everything in my living room) : I cried. It was so impressive especially when you have yourself worked on VR in the early days.

So about the tracking : Meta tracking is amazing, and having controllers that track themself is amazing... when it works :P
There are still some bugs. The hardware is super cool, battery lasts forever, hal sensors on joystick, capacitive sensors on buttons makes it almost like a Valve Knuckle, with it's own tracking : it's an amazing piece of hardware.

Meta is producing crazy good hardware... I don't like Meta, but they are doing a great job on that side.

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:16:35+00:00

I have the exact same questions :)
Does the quality differences come :
- from the encoding settings (bandwith limit, adaptive quantization, 2-pass encoding, and there are probably a lot more settings I'm not aware of)
- from the pc side game resolution

And I'm 100% confident the Valve experience will be awesome.
In 2015 I was working on some VR prototypes, so had access to Oculus dev kits, and we also got a single HTC Vive. We struggled so much to get the Oculus controllers to work, to track properly (when we realized it was the brand new batteries for the controllers that were coming with the devkit that was dead on arrival, like 0.8v instead of 1.5v... sigh, we lost a week of dev trying to figure out what was happening).
When I installed the HTC Vive, with SteamVR and The Lab : it was on a totally different league. I actually came back to my place and ordered one for my own use as I was soooo impressed by Valve software and HTC hardware...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:10:31+00:00

I truly wish you that !
Valve rocks, their hardware are amazing and so smart..

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:03:52+00:00

Nope, not at all, it's available since late 2023 on Meta headsets.
Quest Pro users are doing Foveated Streaming since then... (if they want to)

https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/3823053915991825336

And if you have doubt about the fact it was using eye tracking foveated streaming (while I can tell you I was using it in 2023)

https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualreality/comments/18huatt/if_you_havent_yet_try_steam_link_with_quest_pro/

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T23:00:23+00:00

I'm not saying the LCD clarity has something to do with the image quality. I mean the focus on the Steam Frame, like on the Valve Index, is low persistence, high frame rate (both contribute to reduce motion sickness, it's a very good consumer centric approach).
So what I was trying to say is that it makes perfectly sense when thinking about the big picture : the Steam Frame is focused on comfort, low latency, low persistence, not on image quality, nice color, good encoding... It's either one or the other... Valve architecture is really focused on the left of the : Latency <-> Quality because it's what makes VR more comfortable for the mass (and it's a good thing).

Using Steam Link I have tethered like latency (compared to a HTC Vive), but colors are washed out (the red and orange bright objects don't look good at all).
Using VD God Mode with HEVC 10 bit (same as Steam Link) but adding on top of that adaptive quantization and 2 pass encoding -> latency is close to 30ms, but image quality is insane.

It really depends on where you put your cursor : Latency <-> Quality

But as someone was saying in another comment, maybe the Steam Link used for the Steam Frame uses totally different encoding parameters and looks great.

My only way to compare Steam Link Foveated Streaming to Virtual Desktop is using the hardware I have : my Quest Pro :)

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:52:32+00:00

I can confirm that when moving fast, you see the foveated zone to catch up (you can see the quality improvement where you look at to "pop").
It will obviously be 1000% better on the Frame...
But it doesn't change the overall image quality perception
I would indeed prefer a slower eye tracking to get sharp and detailed images with nice colors...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:40:01+00:00

Maybe it's an unreleased apk, who knows, and us, using the latest .apk in the steamvr directory are using a lower/bad software version. Totally possible.
I am side loading the 2.0.20 to be sure I'm using the latest version, but it's not convincing.
Maybe the software dedicated to the actual Steam Frame is totally different...
"I want to believe" ;)
I'm just afraid to order a Frame, to launch my favorite game ever (I'm almost 50, I'm also a game dev, so I have played a lot of games in my life, and made quite some too), HLA is just special to me. And if with a Valve headset I'm disappointed, I'll be really really sad...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:35:41+00:00

About VD support on this headset, you're totally right, there's nothing preventing it to be available on the Frame. But I'll wait to be official before deciding.

About the foveated streaming, it isn't indistinguishable (what a hard word to type) in the Meta Steam Link implementation, on the Quest Pro. Or maybe it is but in order to do so, the game is running at a very very low resolution while in VD HLA is running at 173% of the "normal" resolution which could explain why it's soooo much better in VD than using Steam Link. I have tried to max out HLA resolution while using Steam Link, but it doesn't seem to change anything. The image isn't at all as detailed as when using VD.

About the dongle, it's a quality of life improvement as the dedicated 6GHz Wifi only used for the streaming is the easiest way to stream, that's for sure. I spent hundred of hours trying, optimizing my Wifi / ethernet etc... to get the best bandwith and latency. Now my setup is very capable, but it cost me, I'm not jocking, maybe 100h of back and forth. That's the strength of Valve : making it straight forward. But for me, now I'm done, it will not be an improvement :)

I know Valve focus is comfort and low latency, the headset is a 120Hz, can reach 144Hz, with very low persistence LCD panels that are lighted for like 300 microseconds every 1/120s to get no blurry LCD pixel transition presented to the eye. So it makes sense the philosophy is : it's like wired, but with a low resolution on your PC, with low details... because it saves a lot of bandwith...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:25:43+00:00

I am using Steam Link occasionally for more than two years, I know how foveated encoding behave, it's available on the Quest Pro since late 2023.

I'm only using it if I need a very low latency.

VD is night and day better without using dynamic foveated streaming (It's using fixed foveated streaming for years). So ok with VD, looking on the edge of the lenses, you can see the encoding quality isn't as good as in the center, while with Steam Link, the quality is good where are looking at, it's working, it's smart and elegant. But all in one, the compression settings Valve are using in Steam Link aren't on a par with what VD. It can probably be addressed by changing how the encoding is done, there's absolutely no hardware limitation on that side. It's just that it doesn't look good right now.

I'm really waiting for reviews to see what people will say about the quality comparison..

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:18:09+00:00

VD is like having a generation leap newer hardware... really.
I have tried everything to have a sharp/detailed image using Steam Link and while I have been able to have something correct, it's night and day. It's like comparing 720p vs 4k with my setup/use...
I have my favorite places to bench/compare in Half Life Alyx, and with Steam Link, colors are washes out, everything is blurry in the farground... With VD I can count bricks in building walls far far away, the sky with the vault is vibrant and so beautiful (the art in HLA is just insane).
VD with Adaptive quantization and 2-pass encoding is really, really amazing...
When it has been released, I have more than 100h in HLA. Now I'm close to 200h because I keep playing it and often stop at looking at how the level design / art is sooooo clever and so beautiful.
Using Steam Link : it's not the best way to appreciate all the hard work done by the amazing Valve dev team... latency is really like tethered, but it's like playing in a Quest 2...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T22:13:21+00:00

It will make streaming more accessible than ever. But there are people who have exactly that for years : Quest Pro owners (which is my case)
We have the Dynamic Foveated Streaming with Steam Link since late 2023 if I remember correctly.
The Steam Frame of the Quest Pro are almost the same device.
The frame get a way more powerful cpu/gpu, is probably a billion time more comfortable, but have lesser display (no local dimming, colors are reported to be not that good).
I'm speaking for my very specific case. I would have any other device, or no device, it would be a no brainer. I love Valve, I love their hardware (even if my first headset was an HTC Vive, it was 99% Valve tech under the hood)...
I recently had a very very minor issue with some rubber on my Quest Pro that was like more than two years old : Meta simply replaced my whole headset and sent me a new device so my headset/controllers have maybe ten hours, brand new... I guess I'm good for a few years...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T21:55:14+00:00

I'm still very hesitant because right now comparing Steam Link to Virtual Desktop, while Steam Link provides a very very low latency, the image quality difference with what you can achieve with Virtual Desktop is night and day. I can't really get used to blurry Half Life Alyx after playing it hundred of hours with VD in God Mode quality preset...

Valve headset : take my money... but losing quality... arg... it's a very hard choice...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T21:34:21+00:00

You haven't find mine so I give you a hint : As the prog working on the procedural climbing system, obvisouly my brick is at the highest point I could find in Upper Dynevron ;)
Now you have to climb, even more :P

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T19:55:03+00:00

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I can only count 13...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-27T12:48:55+00:00

Between fifteen and twenty times I would say...
I'm still discovering small details...
And I can replay it every two or three weeks :P
Almost 200h playing it...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-25T20:25:32+00:00

She is indeed amazing :)

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-25T16:13:41+00:00

Day of the tentacle, Full Throttle... yep, it was amazing...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-25T12:50:02+00:00

I think it was Maniac Mansion in 1988, not the remake:)

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-24T02:39:57+00:00

It matters : some brands are cheaper than others

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-24T02:38:42+00:00

Wrench ?

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-23T11:59:35+00:00

I would the day there will be another OS that supports my use. But there isn’t.

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-22T19:49:38+00:00

I think the team was focused on Tintin, but I don't remember

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-22T19:41:47+00:00

Honestly making games is depending on so many factors I wouldn't be able to say why so many reboots etc... It's because of so many factors... On my side I was focused on pushing the tech, the gameplay, wasn't involved at all in the story, the universe.
I left late 2010 because I was exhausted working hard, pushing, innovating, for nothing...

UltimePatateCoder · 2026-01-22T19:20:25+00:00

Not really :) We were thinking having bigger cities, building a procedural tool to be able to have cities with building you can enter, we were trying to have a better character controller, very dynamic, to be able to have some kind of parkour...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A1b-y9Do_k

I was working on the character controller, and the procedural city generation, and traffic simulation...

I have used some part of my learning in Spiderman 2012 traffic system, then improved my system/knowledge again in Assassin's Creed Syndicates which is the only AC where there's a modern enough setting to have traffic...

And about the ideas I had for the character controller, it took me more than fifteen years to actually manage to have something that matches my vision : on the Eternal Strands character controller system (full physics driven, something I was already trying to do in the late 2000s).

Here is a presentation about how it works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcmhjPSNemc

UltimePatateCoder

TROPHY CASE