What you want to know
- Model 1.54 of the official YouTube VR app on the Meta Quest now helps 8k (4320p) SDR video.
- HDR video remains to be restricted to 4K, however the Meta Quest 3’s show decision is not fairly 4K decision.
- Google is probably going laying the groundwork for the YouTube VR app to run at 8K on higher-resolution Android XR headsets, which is able to come later this 12 months.
Google has been on a roll with YouTube VR updates recently, and the corporate’s newest replace on the Meta Quest platform now helps 8K SDR movies in immersive mode. So long as you are on YouTube VR app model 1.54 or larger, any non-HDR video that is been uploaded in 8K ought to provide the choice to play it at full decision when in immersive mode.
Beneath is a screenshot of a clip from The Avengers operating at 8K within the YouTube VR app on the Meta Quest 3.
To search out content material in 8K, you will simply have to seek for “8K movies” inside the YouTube VR app. Whenever you pull up a video, faucet the video settings icon within the backside left and choose 4320p from the listing of accessible choices. Take into account that HDR movies will nonetheless solely play at a most decision of 4K for now. Beneath is a screenshot of what the participant seems like when deciding on 4320p decision.
Observe that YouTube would not have a ton of 8K content material simply but, however the variety of 8K movies on the platform is rising.
This replace comes after Google up to date YouTube VR for the discharge of the Meta Quest 3, supporting “pill” mode so you possibly can watch movies whereas nonetheless seeing the actual world round you because of the headset’s upgraded combined actuality cameras. To change between immersive and pill modes, simply click on the icon on the high of the YouTube participant that appears like two arrows pointing at one another.
8K movies however no 8K headset?
However this newest replace begs the query: why? The Meta Quest 3’s shows look nice however they don’t seem to be fairly 4K decision, not to mention 8K. I checked out a handful of movies for myself and noticed that there is a notable high quality distinction between 4K and 8K when viewing them in headset.
Simply as with the toggles between 720p, 1080p, and 4K, every decision improve additionally comes with a bitrate improve that helps cut back compression artifacts and make movies look crisper. Nonetheless, an 8K video considered by means of the Meta Quest 3’s pretty restricted decision will not blow you away the way in which a TV of the identical measurement and full 8K decision would.
However I surmise that this replace is not actually for the Meta Quest platform in any respect. As an alternative, it is rumored that Google can be displaying off Android XR at Google I/O 2024 — that is the corporate’s upcoming particular model of Android constructed for combined actuality headsets — and YouTube VR in 8K could possibly be a centerpiece to the corporate’s plans to launch an Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional competitor with Samsung later this 12 months.
The Samsung XR headset is alleged to be launching later this 12 months and would make the most of extraordinarily high-resolution OLED shows that might probably make the most of the newfound decision enhance in YouTube VR. That, alongside the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 that is mentioned to be powering it, might assist Samsung differentiate itself from Meta’s gaming-focused headsets.
It could not have an 8K show nevertheless it’s obtained hundreds of nice video games to play proper now and it is probably extra inexpensive than the rumored value of the upcoming Samsung headset.
