Displays · Bigscreen Beyond

01 — Details

Display specifications

2-3x higher resolution

Beyond’s breakthrough displays are 2-3 times higher resolution compared to other headsets such as the Meta Quest 2 (1920×1832 per eye) and Valve Index (1440×1600 per eye). With pixels just 7.2 µm wide, you can see more detail than ever before with no screen door effect.

5120 × 2560resolution

up to 90Hzrefresh rate

500,000:1contrast ratio

OLEDdisplay type

Lifelike visuals with OLED technology

OLED displays are key for creating a VR experience that feels like reality. With a 500,000:1 contrast ratio, you get lifelike visuals in Bigscreen Beyond. On other headsets with LCD displays, shadows and dark scenes don’t look real and appear muddy and grey. With OLED, you see true pitch black and detailed shadows.

The same scene on Bigscreen Beyond's OLED displays

A dark scene on a traditional LCD headset display

Traditional headsets’ LCD displays Bigscreen Beyond’s OLED displays

90Hz on OLED feels like 120Hz on LCD

OLED technology has far superior response times (measured in microseconds) compared to LCD displays, which can take milliseconds to go from light to dark. This difference in latency means OLED feels smoother and more responsive in usage. People accustomed to 120Hz on an LCD-based VR headset will be surprised to discover how smooth a 90Hz OLED headset feels.

02 — Details

Through the lens

Get a glimpse of the stunning fidelity

Photos don’t do Beyond justice as it’s impossible to replicate the human eye. Camera sensors and lenses introduce artifacts that the human eye doesn’t see. However, the photography below will give you a taste of what to expect.

Wide-angle photo through Beyond's lenses of a temple scene in VR, lens edges visible in the corners

This is a wide angle shot through the lenses of Bigscreen Beyond. You can see the edges of the lens in the corners. Cameras can never perfectly replicate the human eye, so aliasing, moire, and camera artifacts may appear here that are not present in VR. Download the full resolution image here.

BlackMagic 6K · Radiant Vision AR/VR lens · 5/25 fps · 1/10 shutter · ISO 500 · WB 4500 · Tint 10 · ND 2 stops

Common misconceptions about resolution at 75Hz vs. 90Hz

At 5120×2560 across two 8-bit displays at 90Hz, Bigscreen Beyond requires enormous amounts of bandwidth. Due to bandwidth limitations of DisplayPort 1.4, display controllers, and MIPI, Beyond uses lossless compression techniques such as Display Stream Compression (DSC) which is commonly found in gaming monitors. First, SteamVR renders content at 3K to 4K resolution per eye. This user-configurable resolution is called “supersampling.” At 90Hz, the Beyond uses DSC to compress the signal to 1920×1920 per eye and a built-in hardware upscaler upscales to 2560×2560 for each display. At 75Hz, the image rendered by SteamVR is displayed directly at 2560×2560 per eye without any upscaling. People commonly misunderstand this detail and incorrectly think Beyond operates at 1920×1920 at 90Hz.

It is important to note that regardless of refresh rate, Beyond’s displays always operate at the full resolution of 2560×2560 per eye.

The difference between 75Hz and 90Hz is a minor sharpness difference primarily noticeable in fine details such as text. 75Hz mode is best for watching movies or reading text, and the 90Hz higher refresh rate is best for gaming. To explain this further, let’s dive into photos that compare 75Hz and 90Hz.

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the temple scene at 90Hz

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the temple scene at 75Hz

75Hz 90Hz

We used a 100mm macro lens to photograph each pixel at 75Hz and 90Hz. You’ll notice fine details are sharp at both refresh rates. The subtle difference in sharpness is barely perceivable by the human eye, and visible when analyzing each pixel with a camera.

Wide-angle photo through Beyond's lenses of a flower scene, showing the full field of view

This is a wide angle shot showing what the human eye would see across the field of view of the Beyond. Download the full resolution image here. Below is the same scene’s 75Hz vs. 90Hz comparison, shot with a 100mm macro lens.

BlackMagic 6K · Radiant Vision AR/VR lens · 5/25 fps · 1/10 shutter · ISO 500 · WB 4500 · Tint 10 · ND 2 stops

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the flower scene at 90Hz

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the flower scene at 75Hz

75Hz 90Hz

The difference in sharpness between 75Hz and 90Hz

A grid of text across Beyond's entire field of view, as the human eye would see it

The compression and upscaling that occurs at 90Hz is primarily noticeable in fine text. This example is a human eye view of a grid of text across the entire field of view of Beyond. The smallest text is sharper at 75Hz vs. 90Hz, as demonstrated in the macro photography below. This is the worst case scenario and the hardest test of 75Hz vs. 90Hz.