Hi there,
I just got a Quest 2 a couple of days ago since my buddy kept telling me to get one. Bit the bullet, and now here we are. I’ve gotta say, right off the bat, VR is really incredible.
Now, I’ve been simming for years using a monitor only, and have been spoiled by good graphics and performance. However, after jumping in on VR, this is definitely the future. Never thought I’d buy into it, but WOW.
Now, for the topic at hand, I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t even know how the sim is supposed to look in VR. I’d like a sharp image with little distortion/artifacts, and legible text on engine instruments. I get it, Anti Aliasing isn’t going to be the greatest since the GPU is essentially driving 2 monitors, but there’s gotta be something better than what I’m seeing.
If someone could describe what the image should look like with the Quest 2 (I’m running a 3090) properly set up, I’d appreciate it. I just feel like over the past couple of days that I’m going crazy because no matter how much I change the settings in the Oculus software: Current settings 
It seems to make absolutely no difference.
It’s not as clear as a monitor - but you can get good enough resolution to read the instruments nicely.
Five basic things:
- Check you have the right IPD setting ( Just try all three - i.e. moving the lenses on the quest apart)
- In game render resolution makes a big difference on sharpness. (and framerate).
- I got improved sharpness with Virtual Desktop over the oculus software - but not everyone reports this.
- Lots of people report improvements in clarity with the NIS scaler tool - but it didn’t help me.
Thank you for the reply. Where’s the 5th thing? 
just kidding.
I’ll look into the virtual desktop thing…it’s like $20 right? Just want to make sure I was looking at the right thing. I’ll look into the NIS tool too.
Look at the resolution numbers in the game settings → general → vr settings. If they match the numbers you see in oculus
Also the natural resolution of the oculus is all the way to the right. The 1.2x just means it’s more than oculus thinks your computer can handle.
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If I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying that I should match the resolution with the render scale to what I have set in the Oculus software?
Yes VD is about $20 from the Oculus Store. You need good 5Ghz wifi and to be physically close to the router.
Another really simple thing is to keep your headset lenses clean.
As for in game VR render scale, it doesn’t need to match Oculus. It ends up a trade-off between framerate and clarity. Set it high (100) and it will look good, but you may get stutters. Lower (80) and it will be blurry but smoother.
The 5th thing was to check out this thread. Lots of tips and tricks in it. One thing I get from it is that experimentation is required for your combination of rig and personal preference… It’s kind of a game within a game, but be careful of spending more time tweaking than flying! Flying VR is amazing.
Thank you for the info. You’re right, it is easy to get into the ‘tweaking’ trap. I think the issue may be that the Quest 2 isn’t the best headset for PC gaming. Otherwise, it’s still a blast to fly around in VR
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We could help you better if you told us what CPU and GPU you have. I have a 9700 K at 5 GHz and an RTX 2070 with my quest 2. I would try to setup a minimum visual quality but also reasonable performance, somewhere between 20 and 30 frames per second, you should be able to set the render scaling so that when you look at that settings line in VR you will see that it tells you the resolution is at least 1600 x 1600. The NIS scaler is called the OXR tool kit now and you’ll see the major thread in the general section of this form. Best wishes and enjoy
Yeah, you’re right, forgot that stuff.
I’m running a 11900K and RTX 3090.
I’m wondering if there would be less “judder” using a PC dedicated headset that plugs in directly to the GPU. With the cable, the visuals are slightly better, but still not all that great. Have been thinking about getting the G2…
I notice I get better clarity with increased resolution and bitrate modified with OTT @ Quest Link.
I can’t go too much higher without crapping out the connection, maybe my 1080Ti is too weak, I’m not sure, so I’m sticking with 3864 px / 350 mbps.
Do you happen to know the difference between the Oculus debug tool vs the Oculus Tray Tool?
In function they are pretty similar. “Oculus Tray Tool” is a 3rd party app while “Oculus Debug Tool” is from Oculus themselves.
I stopped using Tray Tool a while back as it seems I can get the same functionality from the official app.
- Your original screenshot is from Oculus’s Headset config, that is what your headset will render on the LCDs themselves, but you still need to send you headset a good picture with high enough resolution from the game itself.
1.a If you notice flicker in the whites of the image, and for me I notice it when I’m not looking at it directly but only out of the corner of my eye, increase your Refresh rate to 90 or even 120. The higher you go, the more it eats into your performance, so find what works for you without the flickering.
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In MSFS set your render to 100, that will give you the base line.
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In MSFS you can increase or decrease resolution by either going over 100 or under. Play with it, and find a balance between FPS and clarity. You have a beefy enough of a system to be able to run a good,clear picture.
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Stay within Oculus software for now, it should give you a good picture. Understand your settings there first and then you can start expanding to Virtual Desktop and OpenXR Toolkit.
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In Oculus Debug Tool, make sure you have “Link Sharpening” - ON. It helps a lot with clarity.
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In Oculus Debug Tool, put “Visible HUD” to “Performance” it will show you an overlay of your system’s performance while you are tweaking, it helps a lot.
Hope this helps a little bit.
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Thank you so much for such a detailed guide!
I do find that the image does look a little blocky, but didn’t know that the refresh rate was directly linked. Would a lower rez with a higher refresh rate yield any benefit? Or would the opposite be true (higher rez, lower refresh rate). I’ll keep playing with it, and I’m starting to get more comfortable. I have been tinkering with the OpenXR Toolkit, and it seems to help a tiny little bit. I guess I’m still trying to understand what a “clear” image is. I do enjoy having a smooth experience, but I don’t know how much is dependent on the headset, and how much is dependent on settings.
Thanks again.
I use Oculus Air Link and my PC has a Ryzen 5600x and a RTX3080. I get an average of 30fps (even in CPU/GPU heavy areas like New York) which is more than enough for MSFS. I think everything above 25fps is fine for a smooth experience. Furthermore I have sharpening enabled in the Oculus Debug tool (I DON’T use the XRToolkit) and in MSFS I have Renderscaling set to 100%. If you set it to a lower valua it will dramatically degrade the image quality. Also there are a lot of helpful video’s on Youtube (e.g. from Pie in the Sky) who guide you through the best settings. For the rest it’s a matter of tweaking the settings in MSFS to get the best performance/quality. But that’s all personal preference. For example I find cloud quality and reflections very important, so I want them to be set as high as possible. In return I set other settings lower to keep fps as high as possible. But quite honestly, even with my PC specs I can set everything pretty high and still get decent fps. For a lot of options higher settings don’t give visually better quality while they do decrease fps. Also after EVERY update of MSFS, Quest firmware, Oculus software or video driver you have to check if your settings still give the most optimal performance. So bottom line: tweak, tweak and keep tweaking.
Then there is some very good news on the horizon: DLSS support is coming this year. That will very likely improve image quality and performance by a LOT!!
I think I’ve got performance pretty stable, no hiccups under taxing conditions which is nice, I just wish the picture quality was better.
With the headset on, this is what the image looks like. It looks pretty fuzzy.
Man, I literally just jumped in to say I feel like I’m having the same problem and haven’t been able to figure it out. I have a 5900x, 3080TI, 32GB ram, NVME, and a quest 2 and on-screen the results look great but viewing it through the headset I see a lot of blocks and pixels in the clouds and trees. The instruments are pretty clear but anything in the distance or on ground is fairly pixelated and blocky.
I use a link cable (third party on Amazon) and have tried a handful of different settings and don’t notice any change no matter what I do…I feel like we’re in the same boat as I don’t know what I should be expecting. Should I see something similar to what is being shown on my monitor?
I did a speed test on my cable and got 2.6 GBps, not sure if that matters and secondly does the monitor play into anything with the results? I have an ultra wide that’s not meant for gaming with a 60Hx refresh rate. I can’t see why it would but though maybe we can start tackling this in this thread lol.
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I think I’ve gotten it as good as it’ll be. I’m going to bite the bullet and invest in a Varjo. It’s not cheap, but I think that VR is going to be the way I use the sim in the future…may as well do it right. Gonna take a bit of saving, and a bit of a waiting period to get one, but in the end, I think it’ll be worth it. In the mean time, the Quest 2 will do. Here’s what I have set.
I think the biggest thing for performance is settings are the FOV Tangent Multiplier to 0.7; 0.7, and the OpenXR Fixed foveated rendering to custom. From my limited understanding, what you’re doing is limiting the number of pixels drawn to 70%, but not reducing the density of rendered pixels. You’re basically “culling” the image from the outside-in so it’s less work on your GPU.
Try it and see how it works for you. It’s definately not perfect, and I think it may be a result of the headset itself, but it’s better than it was originally.
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Will give it a shot, appreciate it!
We have almost identical systems. (5950x 3080Ti 32g NVME) using the quest 2. I was spending hours tweaking the multitude of options in ODT OTT quest, etc… But then I spent the $19 for virtual desktop and started using Steam VR. No more tools at all and everything smoothed out nicely. I have Steam VR at 150x and MSFS at 100 with 230 TLOD. No stutters and excellent graphics and no cable to the PC. Finally able to enjoy the sim for what it can be…
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