Guide: Video decoding at DeoVR (120fps vs 120hz displays)

In VR, framerate means how smooth the video footage is in your headset. A higher framerate means better, more lifelike motion and improved realism. Let's look at framerate and decoding in more detail. 

FPS and framerate at DeoVR: 120fps vs 120hz

Headsets such as the Quest 3 and Quest 3S have 120hz displays. This, combined with 120FPS video, means each scene is silky smooth, with a more stable image that flickers less and puts less strain on your eyes.

If you have a 120hz headset, you can experience VR with a 120fps refresh rate.  

Think of it like paying for lossless music, or an expensive whiskey. People who care the most about the quality of VR video will definitely notice an improvement. See for yourself - here are all the videos available in 120 FPS. 

Decoding VR video

This formula is key to understanding how VR video is decoded:

8192x8192@30FPS=8192x4096@60=5792x2896@120

The output of VR footage recorded using the Canon R5C RF52 is 190º 8192x4096@60FPS, h265, 125 Mbps in Constant Bitrate. Using fish-eye footage keeps the camera's entire FOV, whereas converting to equirectangular cuts it to 180º.

A video gets re-encoded into h265  using the "best quality" setting at 30Mpbs max (for streaming). At DeoVR, we do special high-quality encoding that takes much longer than regular encoding. Increasing this bitrate does not provide notable visual improvements, but would impact on bandwidth and decoding. 

The maximum decoding of most headsets is 8192x8192px@30fps, which equates to 8192x4096px@60fps, which is 6688x3344px@90fps and 5792x2896@120. However, the max supported resolution of 120FPS video is 5792x2896 px (using this same formula). The goal for us is to match the headset screen refresh rate with the FPS of the video, so you get 60FPS on a 60Hz screen, 90FPS on 90Hz and 120FPS on 120Hz headsets like the Quest 3. The video must be recorded in this FPS at source, or interpolated using the best modern techniques.

110ºx96º 2208x2064 part of 190ºx190º 4096x4096 60FPS video is shown on the Quest 3 display at 120Hz.

Please note: ProRes transcoding is currently not supported on DeoVR.