Facebook’s next-generation, all-in-one VR headset, the Oculus Quest 2, may be getting support for 120 Hz refresh rates in the future. The possibility was teased by Vice President of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew “Boz” Bosworth during a recent Q&A session, in which he received an inquiry about whether the headset would be bumped up beyond its default 90 Hz refresh rate. According to Road to VR’s coverage, Bosworth gave a “literal thumbs up.”
“Facebook originally launched Oculus Quest 2 with a default 72 Hz refresh rate and ‘experimental’ support for 90 Hz, which has since become the new default,” Road to VR noted. “A faster refresh rate makes the virtual world inside the headset smoother, more comfortable, and more immersive.”
“The headset’s display is ostensibly already capable of a 120Hz refresh rate, but running it that fast raises concerns about performance and battery life. In order to take full advantage of the higher refresh rate, applications themselves need to be able to run at 120 FPS, which is no small task, especially on a mobile chipset.”
id Software founder John Carmack echoed those concerns in a tweet back in November, warning that few apps would run smoothly at 120 Hz and that some units might even show ghosting. The Oculus Quest 2 is available now starting at $299 for the 64 GB SKU.
Quest 2's display can run at 120hz, but there are various concerns about it — few apps could run smoothly at that rate, some units might show some visible ghosting, and it could constrain second sourcing of the display. I argue we should do it anyway…
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) November 19, 2020