Meta Quest 3: Display now supports up to 207 Hz

Meta Platforms is giving its Quest 3 virtual reality headset significantly higher refresh rates. In a recently updated developer documentation, the company lists extended refresh rates of up to 240 Hz, provided that the current firmware 2.7 is installed on the device.

Apps are set to 72 Hz by default, with developers previously able to choose refresh rates of up to 120 Hz for Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest 3S. Only the current flagship Quest 3 benefits from the even higher refresh rates, not the budget model Quest 3S or older VR headsets. Meta states that Quest 3S uses a different panel that does not support refresh rates above 120 Hertz.

The higher refresh rates can be used normally up to 207 Hz. Only above this level are there losses in image quality: between 208 and 240 Hz, the image is transmitted at a lower resolution due to limited bandwidth and then upscaled by the display hardware to the native panel resolution, Meta writes. For this reason too, a frame rate above 207 Hertz can only be activated experimentally via special command-line commands.

First Apps Experimenting with 144 Hz

The advantage of high refresh rates is that virtual worlds appear more natural and the risk of VR sickness decreases. However, from 144 Hz onwards, the additional benefit is likely to become increasingly smaller. Added to this are increasing performance requirements: the higher the refresh rate, the shorter the time budget for rendering an image. If this is exceeded, stuttering can occur due to uneven image output. Crucial is the available computing power, which is significantly more limited in standalone VR headsets than in PC VR systems.

It is no coincidence that Virtual Desktop, as one of the first applications, is experimenting with PC-VR streaming at 144 Hz, as developer Guy Godin announced. If you don’t have a PC, you can also try 144 Hertz natively. The upscaling app Quest Games Optimizer has introduced a feature that allows any VR game to be started at 144 Hertz. However, they must be able to render enough frames per second quickly enough. Even the developer admits that only a handful of older or graphically less demanding titles can manage this. Both developers refrain from refresh rates above 144 Hz, citing technical limitations and limited benefits.

It is unclear why Meta is only enabling the higher refresh rates almost three years after the launch of the Quest 3. The timing could be related to the upcoming market launch of the Steam Frame, which natively supports an experimental 144-Hz mode.

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