Quest version of Steam connector gets "advanced supersampling filtering" to reduce aliasing

This week on SteamVR Beta isQuestIt brings Advanced Supersample Filtering and supports Steam Link applications.

Advanced Supersample Filtering has been an option in SteamVR since 2017, but Valve says it was "accidentally disabled" a few years agoMetaThis feature of the headset is "another side effect of the change." Latest SteamVR Beta update for Steam LinkMetaMeta's Quest Link reintroduces this functionality. This setting has no effect on Virtual Desktop.

Supersampling refers to rendering at a higher resolution than the headset's display panel to produce a sharper, perceptually higher-detail image with less aliasing. After rendering, the higher resolution image needs to be downsampled to the native resolution of the headset it is being sent to.SteamVR's Advanced Supersample Filtering option is a new way of doing this that reduces aliasing but results in a slightly blurred image.

To notice the effects of Advanced Supersample Filtering, you need to use very high resolution values in the SteamVR video settings, so it's most useful for players with ultra-high-end graphics cards without using the "Auto" setting.

The update also adds support for AMD graphics cards that support 10-bit color depth video encoding, which should significantly reduce color banding and therefore improve image quality, especially in any situation with noticeable color gradients, such as fog or darkness. Valve warns that Steam Link's AMD support is still considered experimental.

Here is the full changelog for Steam Link for this week’s SteamVR Beta update:Link:

• Enable 10-bit video encoding for AMD graphics cards.

• Enable “Advanced Supersample Filtering”. This will improve video quality when using high supersampling rates. This will be a significant improvement for users who are seeing poor quality without using the Automatic setting.

• Debugging UI improvements.

• Fixed an issue that made some network lags worse than they should be, by reducing the impact of stream resets in non-optimal wireless configurations.

• Allow connections to continue in network configurations without QoS support.