SteamVR Beta 2.19.1 Sharpens Steam Link Streaming and Upgrades the Linux Runtime

Valve released SteamVR Beta 2.19.1 on November 2. Valve says the focus is streamed image quality: “sharper text, clearer colors, and better detail,” across streamed VR apps, the SteamVR interface, desktop streaming, third-party overlays and the theater screen. Everything below is from Valve’s official announcement.

Streaming (Steam Link)

• Higher default resolution: the recommended render resolution for streamed PC VR apps goes up to render scale 1.5, targeting 1.4 times the headset’s panel resolution. Steam Link no longer runs a GPU performance test to pick it.
• Steam Frame encoding: the default encoded video size on Steam Frame goes from 1152 to 1216.
• Sharper colors and detail: better color downsampling before encoding, better brightness at edges between saturated colors, sharper peripheral image outside the foveated region, and crisper text and UI throughout SteamVR.
• Before-and-after comparison: on the host PC, go to Steam Link > Advanced > Stream Quality and choose Default or Legacy. Legacy reproduces the old image quality. If you manually changed encoded video size or render resolution, those settings are kept; set them back to Auto to try the new defaults.
• Other streaming changes:
  • Per-app refresh rate overrides.
  • A Preferred Foveated Sharpness setting for the SteamVR interface.
  • Better head motion prediction.
  • A prompt asking whether to share eye-tracking data with PC apps.
  • A fix for a possible cause of Error 17.

OpenXR

• XR_KHR_composition_layer_cylinder support on PC and Steam Frame.
• XR_FB_composition_layer_image_layout support on Steam Frame.
• XR_EXT_stationary_reference_space support.

Linux

• SteamVR now runs under the Sniper runtime, supporting Steam Runtime 3 clients.
• Non-Proton OpenXR games can launch without SteamVR already running.
• OpenVR and OpenXR runtimes can run inside Flatpak, bubblewrap and other sandboxes.
• A symlink for the 32-bit OpenXR runtime has been added, which Proton can also use.
• All Render Quality options are supported, where high-quality samplers were previously disabled.

Context: the Steam Frame’s audience

Valve’s October hardware survey put the Steam Frame at 4.13% of VR headsets on Steam, which we covered in our October survey story. Analysis (VR.org): VR.org calculates that this works out to roughly 1 in 24 headsets, and argues that most of October’s rise in Steam users with VR headsets, from 1.35% to 1.75%, lines up with a drop in Simplified Chinese-language respondents rather than Frame sales. That’s VR.org’s interpretation, not a Valve statement.

Anyone can opt into the SteamVR beta through Steam.