VR with Quest 2 - Settings Adventure - Time To Go Fly It

[cyclicalobsessv]

I have tried (what feels like) every possible MSFS VR Graphics setting in combination with Oculus Tray Tool settings, then tried using Oculus Debug Tool settings. With each I found settings which appeared to give the highest VR image quality with no stutter and no artifacts.

The feeling flying in VR is very good, but the image quality I have been able to achieve is not enjoyable for me. Turning Final in a tight pattern, the runway is blurry. When taxiing, I cannot read the taxiway/runway signs till I am right up to them.

I cannot figure out how to capture what I am actually seeing in the Quest 2 so I created these two 2D images that are very representative:
 

 

What I see when flying 2D on my 4K 24" Dell monitor

 

 

Approximation of what I am seeing when flying VR on my Quest 2

 

 

I was hoping to find some setting combination that would give be a single digit frame rate that would blow me away with detail and quality, and then back off things till I got a smooth 30 frames per second with no obvious stutter or smearing when I moved my head.

When I fly using the virtual “2D desktop display” the quality is very good, not like 4k but very crisp and detailed. When I switch to 3D mode, I just feel like I need the prescription in my glasses changed bad.

How can I know that I am seeing the best Quest 2 can deliver?

 

UPDATE: SOLUTION IS HERE AT END OF THE THREAD

 

My data flow (as best I understand it):

MSFS → RTX 4070 → [Oculus Debug Tool | Oculus Tray Tool] → Oculus PC App → Cable/QuestLink → Quest 2

 

 

Details on my setup:

Computer Specs:

• Manufacturer: MSI
• Model: Aegis R 13th Gen Intel Gaming Desktop
• Part#: AeR13NUE452
• OS: Windows 11 Home
• CPU: Intel Core i7-13700F
• Chipset: Intel B760
• Motherboard: PRO B760-VC WiFi
• CPU Cooler: Liquid 240
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB Video RAM
• Memory: 32GB DDR5 (2x16GB) 5200 MHz
• LAN: 2.5Gb Ethernet Realtek RTL8125B
• WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MU-MIMO Rx, 2.4GHz/5GHz up to 433 Mbps
• Bluetooth 5.1
• Audio: Realtek AL897 7.1 HD Audio
• Video: 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DP-out(1.4a)
• Rear USB: 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A, 4x USB 2.0
• Front USB: 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C, 4x USB 2.0
• HDD: 2TB
• SDD: 1TB M.2 NVMe Gen3
• PSU: 650W

 
 
OBSOLETE

 

 
When using OTT:

 

 
When using Oculus Debug Tool:

 

 
The Oculus Cable test always passes with 2.5Gbps.

meta-quest-2 vr nvidia

[RebuffedBee9595]

For maximum quality you need to render as many pixels as possible, which means maximum resolution in Oculus app and a setting of TAA or DLSS-DLAA in MSFS settings.

I use one of the above modes for max sharpness when in glass cockpit aircraft, in analogue aircraft I sometimes drop to DLSS Quality. DLSS Balanced or Performance (as in your screenshot) will be very blurry as the game is rendering far lower than the Quest 2 native resolution, and DLSS is “guessing” what the missing pixels should be - this works fine for large objects like the horizon but it is not possible to accurately guess fine details and so will be blurry.

[wizhippo]

Just for fun try turning aliasing off, 100 percent scale in fs2020 and ramp oculus to max 1.3 scale.

I finds I can tolerate the shimmering for the extra performance and clarity gained and have started to use this. But, I only have a 3080ti so you may have the performance for aliasing.

[Steinways]

Yep, what wizhippo and rebuffedbee said: Set the oculus software to 1.3 (which should make it run close to the native resolution of the quest2 headset, you have the horsepower) and point it at 90hz, restart the software… then go into oculus tray tool and try these settings:

The 1.2 supersampling that i’ve used is expirimental to me, i’ve only just tested it.
The Fov multiplier of 0.7 that you have dailed in (from what i understood whilst fiddling with my headset) makes for the outer edges of the view not rendering…(basically the smaller you set it, the more toiletroll image you get) might just be me, but just try it at 1.0 and see what happens. Change it back to 0.7 if you run into stutters on the whole picture in the headset. (i just noticed in OTT you have it set to 0.0, might also be a correct setting, dunno, never tried that) Apparently it eats frames, hence the default i think is 0.7.

The encode resolution, from what i understood, should nearly match what you are trying to get in the headset by that 1.3 earlier, so, 2x 1980ish= 3960
the Bitrate can be between 350 and 500, i stuck to 450.

Ingame vr resolution 100 and you “should” see some major difference. (and TAA…as mentioned before)

What i usually look for when testing, is if my wing is tearing when i’m off the ground and shake the ailerons hard from side to side… if it my wing tears up/gets pixelated, turn ASW on, if they dont, leave it locked at 45 asw off. ASW is a help, but it can also be a burden because of the graphicscard. Also try Adaptive gpu scaling if you run into issues later on in the fiddling process, seems that in windows HAGS on or off is also an item with the newer cards… but again, that’s for later in the fiddling process.

oh, and only use one of the two: Either Oculus Tray Tool or oculus Debug tool, not both. Also, start Debug tool in admin mode, apparently some changes donot stick and sometimes need restarting.

Personally,i was hoping the quest 2, or rather this generation of VR would be more user friendly, instead i found myself dipping into settings alot more, instead of enjoying the beauty of this sim. I was not prepared for that and also, if yer new to vr, it’s all very confusing, whilst for an already 2nd or 3rd gen user, it’s all peanuts… i found the learningcurve quite high, to get the quality just right for my system… But, every system is different… i hope that the settings above might help you get the enjoyment you want from your system. Every beast is different. Once you have established what you feel is a nice baseline, make screenshots, stickies or whatever, because once you start fiddling afterwards, you might forget the settings that were actually any good
And if i got anything wrong, well, i had to learn from about 45 video’s on the subject. It’s just that the experts talk such jibberish, that a normal person can only scratch his head in disbelief and still has no clue on what to do. I found the whole VR experience rather anoying but interesting, if i’d sum up the emotions that came with getting it to run nice enough with an outdated GTX 1080… i’m looking to score that 4070 you are running next, once the prices go down a bit, or the 5000 series arrives, whichever comes first.

Hope you are going to have an awsome flight.

Regards,

Steiny

[Woodier72]

Thanks for kind explanation, Steiny.
However, It is said in the source below “In the process of lenses warping the image and then VR software reversing the effect, the game actually has to be rendered roughly 40-70% higher than the target resolution. This means that in order to achieve a visual output close to the native resolution of the Quest 2, you will have to max out the render resolution (5408×2736) in Oculus software”.

Air Link Resolution & Quest 2 Quality Settings (Explained) | Smart...

[Steinways]

Thanks for that, Woodier, it’s been a challenge getting this thing to do the things i want it to do

In this case, i never went beyond what my oldy GTX1080 could do, i saw a video explaining that, tried it, but it just didn’t work for my oldy. So, thanks for the correction, i wrote that from the “what i experienced” perspective, you are absolutely right!

I just hope that @cyclicalobsessv can do anything with all this information and get it to run somewhat properly. Cyclic gave a but no clue if that means it’s working now. And now… i am curious.

Kindest Regards,

Steiny

[Woodier72]

You are so kind.
I think still you could get some headroom for higher render resolution and super sampling by lowering down in-game graphic settings.
Hope you could enjoy clearer vision.

[cyclicalobsessv]

@Steinways

I just hope that @cyclicalobsessv can do anything with all this information and get it to run somewhat properly. Cyclic gave a but no clue if that means it’s working now. And now… i am curious.

I have tweaked, restarted, rebooted, retweaked over a hundred times since, and have indeed seen better quality using the starting point you posted, than anything I had tried before but transitioned into derating each single item to understand what will maintain the quality while giving smooth frame generation.

Last night I thought I was there till I landed at a dirt strip I am working on in the SDK. Oh boy, the ground right in front of the nose turned into wiggling jello and I nearly heaved taxiing to the grass parking.

Also, I hosed the Quest Link at first and had to uninstall OpenXR, OTT, Oculus, and walk through the registry wiping all traces of oculus, to get back to the Link working.

I’m still investigating…

[Steinways]

Well, sounds like yer savvy enough to punch some holes in the workings of it… most people understably dont have any prior or computer knowledge and maybe even accept the low quality… until they try someone else’s headset with proper settings.

That heaving doesn’t sound too goo Cyclic! Sounds a bit like the first wingover landing i tried in VR…

[cyclicalobsessv]

@Steinways

yer savvy enough

No way man! I understand enough to know I have some deep holes in my understanding.

I sort of understand what is going on in the headset, and sort of understand what is going on in MSFS, but what goes on in the Link is where things get fuzzy.

Oculus Tray Tool: Game Settings: Default Super Sampling

• When I set it to 1.0, with the Quest 2 set to 72Hz 1.5x 5408 - MSFS GenOps: VR: Render Scale shows 100% scale as 2704 pixels (when view MSFS GenOps: VR with MSFS in 3D mode)

• Setting it to anything else seems to tell MSFS that 100% render scale is xx% more pixels, so has the same effect as leaving OTT setting of 1.0, with MSFS Render Scale set to 1xx

• What I don’t understand is if MSFS is generating more pixels than the headset is set to use, where the downscaling occurs?

I don’t understand the fixed value Oculus Tray Tool: Quest Link: Encode Resolution

• Is the link always scaling the frames from MSFS to the selected Encode Resolution?

• The max is 4040 - so the max resolution the link supports is 4040 regardless of what is going into the pipe and what the headset wants???

• actually, if I set it to 4040 the link does not work. Setting it to 3960 makes the link work again. I didn’t realize this before and did the whole uninstall/clean/reinstall ordeal to make the link work again.

Does choosing OTT:Quest Link:Encode Dynamic Bitrate: Enabled allow a dynamic frame rate to maintain the fixed Encode Resolution?

• When disabled what is the max Encode Bitrate possible with the cabled Quest Link?

Where does the Oculus Tray Tool:Quest Link:Sharpening happen?

• (I’m generally setting my MSFS “AMD FidelityFX Sharpening” to 200% - I tried setting the AMD sharpening to 0 and enabling the link sharpening, but it didn’t seem to be sharpening the image.)

[wheeliemonsta]

Quick question - how is the quality/performance difference/trade-off between TAA and DLSS-DLAA?
I’ve been using TAA because even DLSS Quality doesn’t give sharp enough glass cockpits, but haven’t tried DLSS-DLAA…

Thanks!

[cyclicalobsessv]

@wheeliemonsta

I’ve been using TAA because even DLSS Quality doesn’t give sharp enough glass cockpits, but haven’t tried DLSS-DLAA

Setting to TAA appears to be the secret sauce! When I was using the NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution setting, nothing I did could get the quality of TAA.

[Deelee6800]

I have fine-tuned my i9-9900k OC’ed to 5.0GHz and 3080Ti to run incredibly smooth with great clarity (able to read any screen/gauge in all aircraft)… I use a combo of Oculus App, Oculus Debug Tool and OpenXR Toolkit to achieve this. No SS via the ODT, TAA100 ultra/high settings in MSFS…

Check this out for my settings… I recommend trying as a baseline and tuning up/down from there. Have used these settings with very few modifications for almost a year and get smooth, locked in performance in most any location, any aircraft… and that’s while running a livestream with several plugins pulling GPU/CPU resources.

MSFS | Epic VR Performance! Best VR Settings Guide Quest 2!

[RebuffedBee9595]

Hi, When DLSS was first released I compared TAA and DLSS-DLAA and settled on TAA as also found the glass cockpits to be sharper - but I have read a bit recently of people (I think this was on the 2d forum, although I am on Quest2) saying that DLSS-DLAA gives a better result on thin objects such as radio antenna which normally have aliasing - so I am gonna take another look next time I am on the sim

[cyclicalobsessv]

@Deelee6800

Check this out for my settings… I recommend trying as a baseline and tuning up/down from there.

I set up with the settings in the vid, with the following notes:

• ODT Encode Resolution of 3664 breaks Quest 2 Link, had to set it to 3690
• My MSFS VR GenOps adds “NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency” which I set to ON
• OpenXR has additional setting: Cull Outer Mask (HAM), which I left OFF
• OpenXR Shake Reduction appears to now be Over-Prediction Reduction
  • Adjusting it to -60% announces “Setting Breaks ASW”

My first reaction sitting on the GA apron was amazement at the good sharpness of the reduced detail.

When I entered the runway for takeoff, the edges of the runway and the centerline turned into giant zig-zags, but looking around the scenery was still looking ok - way less than when I fly 2D on a 4k monitor but what was displayed looked good.

When I leveled out at 1000’ AGL, the scenery under me and immediately in front of me was very good, and the world was increasingly flat/smeared looking much beyond my position. I paused and raised the Terrain LOD to 350 to have a chance of spotting the airport in the distance. The antennas and power-lines displayed well that I use as VFR reference in my area.

On approach to my destination runway (FD38) the runway was a jagged mess that did not clear up even after landing.

I’m going to have to fiddle to see what my system will tolerate, but as @Deelee6800 stated his settings are a great starting point.

[cyclicalobsessv]

With the starting point of @Deelee6800 (is that a reference to the Motorola 6800 of 1976?), I have arrived at a point where I can stop tweaking and start flying. I cannot say that I am happy enough with the visuals to “never go back to 2D” flying, but I think that VR is so helpful in my helicopter landings that I will probably use VR whenever I want to fly the heli.

VR stayed alive for a 1h 40m Cabri G2 helicopter flight out of Glasgow Scotland. Other than the “gamey” buildings/trees, and some weird (and very annoying) color banding over water - I consider these settings the best compromise my combination of CPU/GPU/HMD can give for my kind of flying (VFR GA at 0-1000 feet AGL) for quality and smooth rendering. If I move my head too fast the visuals stutter, but for normal look around and for takeoffs/landings it is smooth enough. Sometimes, when I feel my pulse heavily, my eyes seem to jump a little causing very brief double vision.

Video comparison flying the Cabri G2 in VR with the Quest 2 versus flying in 2D (on 24" 4K monitor)

These are my settings:

 
 

 

 

 
Using screen shots from the video - haven’t figured out how to get these with my setup yet

 
 
Note “Shaking reduction” is called “Over-Prediction Reduction” in my OpenXR toolkit, and shows warning “Breaks ASW” but I have ASW disabled so no problem

 
 
UserCfg.opt: EyeAdaptation and Sharpen both set to 0 in the VR section

[PiperPilot3604]

I have my new PC hooked up with my Quest 2 and it looks BAD. I have a 7800X3D with a 4090 GPU so my settings are screwed I’m sure. I’ve been watching videos and trying stuff but something is screwed up somewhere. Is there a “start from scratch” tutorial etc out there ??? And are there settings outside of MSFS that I may have screwed up ??

[SearBreak225638]

Start here and then increase some of the settings

1. Encode Bitrate to 400 if using Link cable instead of Airlink
2. Load and use OpenXR ToolKit ( Quickstart | OpenXR Toolkit (mbucchia.github.io))
3. Try without and without Motion Reprojection (ASW)

NOTE: Also try settings above in this thread. One resolution test is to set in MSFS the Render Scaling to TAA long enough to see that you are getting at least 2500x2500 if not more like 3000x3000 and then select back to DLSS->Quality for more FPS and almost as good clarity of instruments. Use Oculus Debug Tool Visible HUD to Performance , and Performance HUD mode to Performance summary or Oculus Link to check on overall performance. OXRTK has FPS readouts with some extra detail as well.

[PiperPilot3604]

I’m going back to square 1. But 1st I have a question. The guy that made this YT video replied to a question from me that what I see in 2D watching his VR stream was representative of what he sees in VR. His scenery is great compared to mine. I mean my scenery looks awful. I understand some of the glass in the cockpit won’t be crysta clear but I KNOW something is off with my setup so … I’ve got OpenXR toolkit and Oculus debug tool downloaded. I guess I will now download OTT ?? I have a 7800X3D with a 4090 so I’m hoping 1 of these days I canget to enjoy my Q2.

[Deelee6800]

If your scenery is a bit washed out, maybe try setting EyeAdaptation and Sharpen to off (zero) in the UserCfg.opt file (make sure you set these in the VR section toward the bottom of the file). Like this:

{PostProcess
Enabled 1
EyeAdaptation 0
ColorGrading 1
Sharpen 0
Fringe 0
LensDistortion 0
Dirt 0
LensFlare 0
FilmGrain 0
Vignette 0
LensBlurMultiplier 1.000000
FringeMultiplier 1.000000
}