VR performance expectation

[Smokin1469]

What level of performance should I expect using my Quest 2?  Lines are jagged, everything shimmers, and generally looks cartoon-ish.    I can't positively ID another aircraft outside of half a mile or so.  I've tried most of the settings mentioned here with no luck.  All the screenshots and videos I see are amazing and very realistic looking.  Just wondering what is the art of the possible with VR.  Is the only answer a new headset? I've tried all of the preset settings from Low to High and VR with not much changing that I can tell.  

Edited June 9 by Smokin1469

[diego999]

VR will always be inferior to a 2D monitor: you're exchanging visual quality for immersion. Is that trade worth it? Only you can answer that question.

With that said, Quest 2 is an older headset now, and it's clearly falling behing newer ones. It was serviceable for almost 2 years for me, but the moment I tried pancake lenses I knew I couldn't go back (using a Quest 3 now). 

Doesn't matter how much you pump your settings, the physical resolution of the headset will always limit your visuals. In my case, the Quest 3 is better than the Quest 2, but not by an amazing margin. I'm sure high end headsets must provide amazing quality, but you need an equally high end pc to extract the performance. What are your specs?

 

[PawlaczGMD]

IMHO Quest 2 is just not good enough for DCS. The resolution is too low to see fine detail in small objects, which is what you want here. That's why most mainstream VR games have cartoonish, stylized graphics.

I have Pimax Crystal, and the improvement is absolutely huge from Q2. This is very expensive, but Q3 will already be a big improvement, and is an affordable and generally good headset. So yeah, the only answer is a new headset.

[speed-of-heat]

screenshots are functionally taken from the 2d mirror  are videos , some videos from the replays, so they are not a great examples of what you see...

you can try turning up some of the settings in DCS, to improve your experience, but without knowing your PC or your current settings thats going to be difficult to provide advice on.

as others have said a new headset will improve your visual quality if, your pc is strong enough to drive it 

[Smokin1469]

Thanks all.  I was just wondering at what point do I stop chasing my tail looking for the perfect settings.  Even with what I've got DCS is amazing and the level of detail and immersion just blows me away every time.  It's an incredible sim. 

[Mors]

In Quest 3 it still looks terrible and no system or headset, as far as I can tell, will serve a crisp, sharp, jitter free experience at any resolution with VR. Stick to 2D, it wasn't really designed with VR in mind.

[speed-of-heat]

51 minutes ago, Mors said:

In Quest 3 it still looks terrible and no system or headset, as far as I can tell, will serve a crisp, sharp, jitter free experience at any resolution with VR. Stick to 2D, it wasn't really designed with VR in mind.

sorry thats just not true, a lot will depend on your expectations.. but i fly in my Varjo Aero stutter free in campaign missions and complex single player, i have a beast of a PC to make it happen, and i dont run everything on max... but he visual clarity i get is awesome 

[Hiob]

56 minutes ago, Mors said:

In Quest 3 it still looks terrible and no system or headset, as far as I can tell, will serve a crisp, sharp, jitter free experience at any resolution with VR. Stick to 2D, it wasn't really designed with VR in mind.

Actually the visuals in the Quest 3 are pretty good. Double so if you consider the price.
As @speed-of-heat rightfully pointed out though, you need to adress the limitations by proper expectations, proper settings and proper hardware.
For the Q3 e.g. a dedicated WiFi6 router does wonders for a good smooth streaming experience. But of course that is another cost factor.

[Qcumber]

14 hours ago, Smokin1469 said:

What level of performance should I expect using my Quest 2?  Lines are jagged, everything shimmers, and generally looks cartoon-ish.    I can't positively ID another aircraft outside of half a mile or so.  I've tried most of the settings mentioned here with no luck.  All the screenshots and videos I see are amazing and very realistic looking.  Just wondering what is the art of the possible with VR.  Is the only answer a new headset? I've tried all of the preset settings from Low to High and VR with not much changing that I can tell.  

The first thing I would advise is to make sure that the output resolution is sufficiently high. You need to aim for at least 1.5 times the native resolution. So for a Q2 that would be around 2900 pixels. I would aim for something like 3300 pixels if you plan to use DLAA or DLSS. Set the Meta link app to x1 output then use Oculus Debug Tool or Oculus Tray Tool upscaling to x1.5. 

There are lots of things to try before getting a new headset. It also helps to "learn" VR with a more basic headset so the Q2 is fine. I still have a rift s and use it occasionally. Once you understand the various VR settings then you can make a more informed decision about another headset. 

Edit: what are your PC specs? 

Edited June 10 by Qcumber

[Smokin1469]

I'm computer illiterate so not sure what's relevant or not so here goes:

i7-12700KF, 3610 MHz processor,

32 GB RAM

NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti

[Shades71]

Are you connecting with the meta link cable or Virtual Desktop? Personally I get far superior results with virtual desktop.

[Qcumber]

13 hours ago, Smokin1469 said:

I'm computer illiterate so not sure what's relevant or not so here goes:

i7-12700KF, 3610 MHz processor,

32 GB RAM

NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti

Thanks. That gives us a starting point. 

In theory you should be able to get a reasonable performance from your setup with a Q2. 

As above are you using Meta link with a usb cable? Virtual Desktop can produce better results but meta link is very close in terms of quality so if you are currently using meta link I would stick with this until you are more confident with VR and tinkering with settings. 

This post has a lot of information for anyone new to VR. You might find it useful. 

 

[Smokin1469]

Thank you!  Yes, I'm using the Meta Link  cable.  

[Qcumber]

2 hours ago, Smokin1469 said:

Thank you!  Yes, I'm using the Meta Link  cable.  

Have you tried my advice above regarding Meta link app and Oculus Debug Tool? 

[PawlaczGMD]

On 6/10/2025 at 6:50 AM, Mors said:

In Quest 3 it still looks terrible and no system or headset, as far as I can tell, will serve a crisp, sharp, jitter free experience at any resolution with VR. Stick to 2D, it wasn't really designed with VR in mind.

This is possibly the most untrue comment on this forum. DCS in VR is awesome, you just need the right hardware.

Edited June 11 by PawlaczGMD

[Qcumber]

12 minutes ago, PawlaczGMD said:

This is possibly the most untrue comment on this forum. DCS in VR is awesome, you just need the right hardware.

I agree with that. VR takes a lot of perseverance. Unfortunately it's not easy to set up an tune yet but it has got better and better over the last couple of years. 

[diego999]

On 6/10/2025 at 7:50 AM, Mors said:

In Quest 3 it still looks terrible and no system or headset, as far as I can tell, will serve a crisp, sharp, jitter free experience at any resolution with VR. Stick to 2D, it wasn't really designed with VR in mind.

 

If you're not going to participate in a constructive way, kindly go be wrong somewhere else. Thanks.

[Mors]

On 6/12/2025 at 3:02 AM, diego999 said:

 

If you're not going to participate in a constructive way, kindly go be wrong somewhere else. Thanks.

I can only speak from my own experience (and the many others with superior systems still facing issues). A 32GB ram, i12700KF, 3080Ti with the game installed on a dedicated 2tb SSD should be able to run VR seamlessly, with good graphics settings just as it does in MSFS or IL2. Sadly, the reality is it doesn't and no amount of 'get gooder' system wise seems to make much of a dent. You have to turn everything down until the landscape resembles minecraft and still it will lag, jitter and tear in my Q3.

Just trying to inject a little realism. It works great in 2D and, with head tracking, will provide a far less frustrating and much more enjoyable experience.

[PawlaczGMD]

13 hours ago, Mors said:

I can only speak from my own experience (and the many others with superior systems still facing issues). A 32GB ram, i12700KF, 3080Ti with the game installed on a dedicated 2tb SSD should be able to run VR seamlessly, with good graphics settings just as it does in MSFS or IL2. Sadly, the reality is it doesn't and no amount of 'get gooder' system wise seems to make much of a dent. You have to turn everything down until the landscape resembles minecraft and still it will lag, jitter and tear in my Q3.

Just trying to inject a little realism. It works great in 2D and, with head tracking, will provide a far less frustrating and much more enjoyable experience.

Your system is very mid. I get a stable 60+ fps on a much higher-res Crystal. But you are right in that if you can't upgrade, 2D will work better for you. 

[diego999]

14 hours ago, Mors said:

I can only speak from my own experience (and the many others with superior systems still facing issues). A 32GB ram, i12700KF, 3080Ti with the game installed on a dedicated 2tb SSD should be able to run VR seamlessly, with good graphics settings just as it does in MSFS or IL2. Sadly, the reality is it doesn't and no amount of 'get gooder' system wise seems to make much of a dent. You have to turn everything down until the landscape resembles minecraft and still it will lag, jitter and tear in my Q3.

Just trying to inject a little realism. It works great in 2D and, with head tracking, will provide a far less frustrating and much more enjoyable experience.

 

I started my VR journey on a very modest 10400 with a 3060ti. I had to make several compromises but I could play with decent graphics and stable 72fps as long as I wasn't on the ground, over a big city, or in a complex mission with hundreds of units.

I'm playing now on a 9700X + 4070ti Super and the performance is great. Smooth frames, rock solid 72fps on my Q3. I can now even play online servers, something I could not do before. 

Either you don't know what you're doing in order to tweak VR for good performance, or your expectations are totally unrealistic. A 12700KF is decent but not great for DCS VR nowadays, and 32GB are on the low side of RAM amount.

[inZane]

I Meta headset uses compression for PC gaming, whether using link cable or air link. What happens in the software compresses the video to pass to the headset that decompresses it to display. This causes issues and will never be as good as a true PCVR headset. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that can show you how to get the most out of the Q2. There is one app that doesnt exist anymore and that is Occulus Tray Tool. 

[diego999]

52 minutes ago, inZane said:

 There is one app that doesnt exist anymore and that is Occulus Tray Tool. 

 

I'm still using it.

[inZane]

2 minutes ago, diego999 said:

 

I'm still using it.

Yes. it is still out there in the wild, but OTT has closed their website and there is no support. I guess saying it doesnt exist was the wrong word. On the internet, everything still exists somewhere. 

 

Edited June 18 by inZane

[diego999]

1 minute ago, inZane said:

Yes. it is still out there in the wild, but OTT has closed their website and there is no support. I guess saying it doesnt exist was the wrong word. On the internet, everything still exists somewhere. 

 

 

Yeah, you're right. It's not supported anymore, so any Meta or DCS patch can break it. Still works, so fingers crossed.

You can do most of the same stuff with Oculus Debug Tool, but it's annoying as it doesn't remember the settings.

[Qcumber]

5 hours ago, inZane said:

This causes issues and will never be as good as a true PCVR headset

By "true PCVR" I presume that you mean a dedicated DP connection without any compression. DP will be better from a technical point of view but in terms of user perception the differences are likely to be negligible. As long as the headset is properly configured and the user knows what they are doing and can optimise the bitrate, video codec and other related settings (e.g. router for VD etc.).

5 hours ago, inZane said:

There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that can show you how to get the most out of the Q2.

Do you mean Q2 or G2? The context of your comment (DP Vs link compression) suggests that you mean "..get the most out of the G2". If that's what you mean then yes, you should always aim the get the most out of any headset you have before going down the upgrade route. I still have a rift s and learned so much about VR using this headset. I still go back to it occasionally to apply new knowledge and experience to see how I can get more out it.