Bigscreen Beyond 2 Displays

A deep dive on display quality.

A close look at what makes Beyond’s displays so sharp, from resolution and pixel density to a clear answer on the compression, DSC, and 75Hz vs 90Hz confusion, and what it all means for what you see.

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.

Resolution: 5120 × 2560
Contrast ratio: 500,000:1
Refresh rate: up to 90 Hz
Peak pixels per degree (PPD): 32

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

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.

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.
Full resolution ↓

Common misconceptions about resolution at 75Hz vs. 90Hz

At 5120×2560 across two 8-bit displays at 90Hz, Bigscreen Beyond requires more bandwidth than DisplayPort 1.4, display controllers, and MIPI can carry raw. So at 90Hz, Beyond uses Display Stream Compression (DSC), a lossless technique commonly found in gaming monitors. SteamVR first renders content at a user-configurable 3K to 4K per eye, called supersampling. DSC then compresses the signal to 1920×1920 per eye, and a built-in hardware upscaler restores it to 2560×2560 on each display. At 75Hz no compression is needed, and the image is displayed directly at 2560×2560 per eye.

Regardless of refresh rate, Beyond’s displays always operate at their full resolution of 2560×2560 per eye.

The remaining difference between 75Hz and 90Hz is a minor sharpness difference in fine detail such as text. 75Hz mode is best for watching movies or reading, and 90Hz is best for gaming. The photos below compare the two.

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the temple scene at 90Hz — A 100mm macro lens photographing each pixel at 75Hz and 90Hz. Fine details are sharp at both refresh rates; the difference is barely perceivable by the human eye.

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the temple scene at 75Hz — A 100mm macro lens photographing each pixel at 75Hz and 90Hz. Fine details are sharp at both refresh rates; the difference is barely perceivable by the human eye.

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.
Full resolution ↓

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the flower scene at 90Hz — The same flower scene under the macro lens. Sharpness holds at both refresh rates.

Macro photo of individual pixels rendering the flower scene at 75Hz — The same flower scene under the macro lens. Sharpness holds at both refresh rates.

The difference in sharpness between 75Hz and 90Hz

The compression and upscaling at 90Hz is primarily noticeable in fine text. Below is a human eye view of a grid of text across the entire field of view of Beyond: the worst case scenario, and the hardest test of 75Hz vs. 90Hz.