Quest 3 - Virtual Desktop (Meta) or Steam Link+Virtual Desktop (PC)?

[Atlas]

[Long post warning!!]

I’m finishing up on my cockpit work so I’m back looking at learning and optimising BMS on my Quest 3. For reference, my PC is a 5900X on an X570 Aorus Master, 32GB RAM, RTX 3080, and running Win10 Pro 22H2.

TL;DR - Steam Link + Virtual Desktop (PC) is the cheapest option, but if passthrough is a must, then Virtual Desktop (Meta) is the only way, but it can get expensive.

My goals for this is the best picture possible, low latency, but retain the wireless nature of the Quest 3. It’s funny how such a small detail as a wire has made a significant difference in my VR experience. I’m no longer worried about stepping over or tripping on the wire when playing room-scale or even just stand-up games (Beat Saber) and being able to get into and out of the cockpit with the headset on is just such a QoL improvement, I’m not going back if I can help it!

At the moment, I’m experimenting with Virtual Desktop (Meta) vs Steam Link + Virtual Desktop (PC). I’ll be referring to them as VD(M) and VD(PC) going forward.

My previous experience was with the HTC Vive which was great for VR games but really quite useless for sims. I appreciated how it gave me a sense of scale in games like Elite Dangerous, but losing all the beautiful details of space stations just didn’t make it worth it. For the past 3-4 years, I’ve been using a Reverb G2 but due to life circumstances, I only really used it for sims and even then, very minimal use ---- until BMS entered the VR scene. This year, I expanded into the Pimax Crystal but unfortunately decided to return it due to the many issues that plague the Pimax lineup. I’ve always seen the Quest 3 in my local Curry’s store and while I was quite impressed with the passthrough and the picture quality, I always thought it would not be on par with the G2 or Crystal. Unfortunately, or fortunately, with my bad experience with the Crystal and the Aero no longer being for sale, I decided to pick up the Quest 3 for “half the price” of the other headsets I normally would consider. I’ve not regretted buying the Q3 at all!

Anyway, as my previous experience was with VD(PC), I used it with BMS and the Quest 3 with no issues. Start up Steam Link on the Q3, enter the House in VR, select VD(PC), and I’m in on the desktop and can start BMS via the Launcher as normal. The only issue here is that if I needed to exit BMS or restart BMS, I would need to re-enter the House and re-select VD(PC) just to get back to the desktop as I think once BMS goes into 3D, it turns off VD(PC) so going back to the desktop, I need to re-do the dance all over again. Aside from this issue, there is very minimal lag/latency once in 3D and the picture is nice and crisp – the HUD and MFDs are readable and using the AAR TE package 2075, I can spot the tanker immediately which is about 8nm away. Unfortunately, using VD(PC) means I cannot use MR. While there are some apps being developed for some form of handtracking, there seems to be some issues with the cockpit scale and switch/button placement such that a replica cockpit isn’t exactly 1:1 with the 3D cockpit. So far, my experience with these handtracking apps gives me latency when they are on.

In the pursuit of MR, I need to look at VD(M), but with zero experience with any of this, I’m having quite a challenging time. To being with, latency seems to be a very, very, very big issue. My PC is on the left side of the cockpit, my router is on the right side of the cockpit, and although I’m using the cheap Virgin Media router, I’ve never felt the need to upgrade it when using VD(PC). With VD(M), oh boy… with my PC connected to the router via the on-board WiFi, I was getting a warning in VD(M) that my performance would be terrible. I bought a CAT8 ethernet cable and now VD(M) is showing me WiFi 5 GHz and 866 Mbps, but I can only run at around 35 Mbps VR bitrate max and even at this value, there is some latency when moving my head really quickly in the cockpit. 25-30 Mbps VR bitrate seems to be the best setting; for LOLz I put it at 10Mbps and while it was smooth, I lost a lot of sharpness in the HUD readouts so it wasn’t worth it. Putting the VR bitrate at 200 Mbps meant that if I moved my head, I would see my room for 1-2 seconds before the VR image is drawn in! Remember that I had zero issues like this when I was using VD(PC) and no ethernet cable from my PC to my router!

I’ve spent most of the past week trying things out between VD(PC) vs VD(M) and the last 2 days trying out VD(M) with BMS running on SteamVR or OpenXR and I don’t see a difference between the two in terms of latency or performance, with the SteamVR option having the annoying thing of putting me back on the House everytime whereas OpenXR just returns me to the desktop.

I will be getting a TP-Link AXE75 router this evening which I’ve seen some YT channels recommend, so more testing tonight and will update with my findings.

…
As a newbie to VD(M), am I missing something really obvious here? Or have all you VD(M) users upgraded your routers in the past to some sort of gaming or performance router?

Is there anything else I should try? I know there is the OpenXR toolkit but is it really needed? I think it is more to do with tweaking the eye candy but nothing to do with latency issues plus with OpenXR toolkit being discontinued this year, I’m not sure if there’s anything there I need.

[Tomcattwo]

@Atlas
I’ve not used VD(PC) with my Quest 3, as, per the homepage, the Q3 wasn’t listed as a supported device. Meta VD works great and cost $20 US. Works great for me. I agree that using steam link (from Meta) is a PITA because it returns you to the room rather than the desktop. I have had no issues using OpenXR, and concur this works fine with BMS. I have not messed around with OpenXR Toolkit as I would afraid it might hurt more than help.

With VD(M) settings, on the VD desktop Streamer settings, I strongly recommend using the A1 Codec for Quest3. It made a notable difference for me for clarity. Here is a good Q3 VR Setup Article for you to take a look at also.

I can tell you that upgrading my router to a 6E version made all the difference in the world for me. I chose a Netgear Nighthawk router and also upgraded my cable modem. With my system, I have no latency issues at all. My advice would be to get the best router you can afford for wireless Quest3 BMS VR setup.
Regards,

[Atlas]

@Tomcattwo
Thanks for that setup article! I’ll have a read through in a moment.

Since I already had VD(PC) and have been using it since the HTC Vive days, it was what I used from day 1 with the Q3 with no issues. If not for passthrough, I probably would never have looked at VD(M). $20 for VD(M) is really pointless when I’m looking at £5 for a CAT 8 cable and £150+ for a WiFi 6E router… but I guess I shouldn’t be complaining after buying a couple of switches at £20-£25 per switch

A1 Codec — seems like this is only for those with a 40XX series GPUs? I’ve never seen VD(M) select it and I don’t quite remember how it fared when I tried it out. I’ll have to try again later.

[spotdott]

Hello, I recently sold my reverb g2 and got onboard with the Quest 3. It came with a link cable so that’s what I’m using. After tweaking the settings in the debug tool I found that it works very well. With the bit rate set to 560, rift app on the PC set to 1.2x, 72Hz and BMS config set to 1.3x I can’t see any degradation of image quality compared to the sweet spot of the G2. Async frame gen is far superior to WMR so I have no issues turning that on for butter smooth frame rates. Overall very happy with the headset. P.s. I don’t have a wifi6 router so not bothering with the VD wireless approach.

[Atlas]

@spotdott
You might be surprised at what you can get with VD.

[spotdott]

@Atlas are you referring to VD (Meta) or VD (steam)? I only have the steam version right now.

[Atlas]

@spotdott
I have both; I’ve had the Steam one since maybe 2016 when I purchased my HTC Vive. Never really looked at getting the Meta one until I learned it had passthrough. I believe the Steam one has not had any updates on it for a while now – all dev time goes to the Meta version.

For the price, this is one of those software I didn’t really mind buying again. Super helpful on the Discord and I really love the evening/night environment on it, the one where you’re in a high-rise apartment. Very relaxing!

[spotdott]

@Atlas oh okay I don’t use passthrough, and don’t have a 40XX series card to take advantage of the AV-1 encoding that VD(Meta) can use. Is there a compelling reason for me to get VD link wirelessly?

[Skorp]

Then if I haven’t a 40xx which códec I have to use?

[Atlas]

@spotdott
No wires. Better support. Not having to go into the Steam “house”. Easy enough to switch between 3D world and “flat screen” monitor.

Have a go with the hand passthrough anyway, it might be something you didn’t realise you needed. If not passthrough, then at least the handtracking may be useful. If you opt with the passthrough via the BMS method, then you can still refer to your charts and other printed materials. Might need to print on a bigger font depending on your eyesight though, but if I can read text off my phone through passthrough, that gives you an idea of how good the Q3’s passthrough cameras are.

@Skorp
I’m using HEVC 10-bit. You can also set VD to auto-select what codec to use.

[Skorp]

@Atlas thank you

I’ve noted poorest performance with vd wired than oculus link with ott and i’m looking how to improve It.

[Atlas]

@Skorp
I’ve never tried wired with the Q3. Either VD (Meta) or Steam Link+VD (PC). Not tried Oculus Link either.

[dozy]

Hey Atlas, I have the TP Link AXE75. You can separate the 2.4, 5 and 6 in the wifi settings. My crappy router runs a Ethernet cable to the AXE75 WAN input, then the AXE75 runs a Ethernet cable to my PC. Connecting the Q3 to the wifi 6 signal I get 2400Mbps. It made a huge difference for me .

[spotdott]

@Atlas does hand pass through allow you to click the virtual cockpit? If so I’m very interested in that.

[Atlas]

@dozy
Yep, got the same router. Everything is on the 2.5/5GHz channel, only the headset is on the 6E, and the router itself is about 4 feet line-of-sight to where my head will be when playing.

@spotdott
Nothing allows you to click the virtual cockpit. You either have to use a mouse to control the cursor or use the virtual mouse which is an even more pain in the… y’know. The purpose of the hand passthrough is for you to see where your hand is so you can manipulate your physical cockpit controls, not the virtual ones, but without blocking out the entire virtual cockpit.

[Rakamora]

@Atlas said in Quest 3 - Virtual Desktop (Meta) or Steam Link+Virtual Desktop (PC)?:

@spotdott
No wires. Better support. Not having to go into the Steam “house”. Easy enough to switch between 3D world and “flat screen” monitor.

Have a go with the hand passthrough anyway, it might be something you didn’t realise you needed. If not passthrough, then at least the handtracking may be useful. If you opt with the passthrough via the BMS method, then you can still refer to your charts and other printed materials. Might need to print on a bigger font depending on your eyesight though, but if I can read text off my phone through passthrough, that gives you an idea of how good the Q3’s passthrough cameras are.

@Skorp
I’m using HEVC 10-bit. You can also set VD to auto-select what codec to use.

How do I switch from 3D to desktop in VD?

[rubbra]

@Rakamora as replied on discord - long press the menu button on your controller. (I think it’s menu, might be the meta button). This will bring up the virtual desktop ui, from there you can choose “switch to desktop”.