Virtual Desktop has collaborated with Qualcomm to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, a software enhancement squarely targeted at increasing the wireless streaming quality and latency of PC visuals to Quest 2 and Pico devices.

Virtual Desktop is a great tool not only because it provides standalone headset users wireless access to their computers, but because its developer, Guy Godin, is constantly adding in new features to tempt users away from using built-in solutions, e.g. Air Link.

That’s a tall order since built-in stuff like Air Link are typically free and usually pretty great, letting Quest and Pico users connect to their VR-ready PCs to play games like Half-Life: Alyx, but Virtual Desktop goes a few steps further. With its PC native application developed for high quality wireless streaming, you can do things like cycle through multiple physical monitors and even connect to up to four separate computers—a feature set you probably won’t see on the Air Link change log.

Now Godin has worked with Qualcomm to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution for built-in upscaling, essentially creating higher resolution images from lower resolution inputs so it can be served up to standalone headsets in higher fidelity. Check out the results below:

Because producing clearer visuals with fewer resources is the name of the game, Qualcomm says in a blog post that its techniques can also reduce wireless bandwidth, system pressure, memory, and provide power requirements.

SEE ALSO
VR's Most Immersive Kayaking Game Gets Real-time Multiplayer Mode on PSVR 2 & Steam

Godin says in a Reddit post that the new upscaling works with “Potato, Low, Medium quality (up to 120fps) and High (up to 90fps), and it upscales to Ultra resolution under the hood. It can work with SSW enabled as well and doesn’t introduce any additional latency.”

You can get Virtual Desktop on Quest over at the Quest Store, priced at $20. It’s also available on Pico Neo 3 and Pico 4, and will also soon arrive on Vive Focus 3 and XR Elite too, Godin says.

Update (10:30 ET): Guy Godin reached out to Road to VR to correct that the new Snapdragon Game Super Resolution is available on Quest, Pico, and will soon come to Vive Focus 3 and XR Elite. We’ve included that in the body of the article.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Gosane

    That Guy is awesome !

  • Guy never ceases to surprise us with how far he can stretch wireless performance. Can’t wait to try that out!

  • ViRGiN

    upscaling? this just looks like sharpening.

    of course people are already forgetting when he stole Meta sliced encoding tech, abandoned the PC version, or straight out locked legitimate users by silently introducing DRM cause he hasn’t made enough millions just yet

    • MayorSnow

      WTF are you on about? VD existed for years before Meta had released anything. Meta originally blocked VD – most likely because they didn’t want an airlink competitor. This is a single developer project that works so well that tons of people were pirating it – so he added an internet requirement only when updating to new VD versions so that it was harder to pirate. Find me any modern, popular piece of software that doesn’t do this. Does he not deserve $20 for the years of work he put into this project? He’s not some huge corporation milking customers. If he was, he’d introduce paid updates and charge $50 for the app.

      • ViRGiN

        WTF are _YOU_ on about?
        When you publish at Meta store, you follow certain rules, just like on ANY other store, be it GOG, Steam or whatever else you can imagine.

        VD got “blocked” by Meta, cause developer SMUGGLED new unregulated feature in a quiet update. Airlink has been in the works LONG before that, as evidenced by a recent public interview on YouTube by the main developer involved.

        You have ZERO statistics about piracy scale. First of all, VD is absolutetly obsolete unless you have a proper gaming PC – and Quest is MAINLY used standalone. Half of Quest users will NEVER need virtual desktop. It has been DRM free for years prior. Just recently there has been more and more Quest imports to China – cause that’s the only standalone platform holding any weight – and Chinese users CAN NOT legally purchase stuff from Meta without some shenanigans that put citizens at risk of reprisals.

        Show me WHAT CORPORATIONS are regularly CHARGING FOR UPDATES nowadays. Tons of software switched to subscription models, as that is what works for both customers and companies.

        VD migth be a largely single developer project – but ONCE AGAIN, VD was DOGSHIT prior to Meta unvealing their SLICED ENCODING technique when they first showcased Link. Before that, WIRELESS STREAMING was largely considered AN ABSOLUTE GIMMICK, ABSOLUTE DOGSHIT, NOT HOLDING A CANDLE TO A “TRUE” PCVR HEADSET. Meta technique which they presented FOR FREE largely cut on latency and performance overhead, and GREATLY improved user experience.

        You know NOTHING about VD developer and just praise him SENSELESSLY. You don’t know the number of accusations he has made over the year for many which he largely quietly apologized.

        VD was and still is considered an ESSENTIAL and literally next to nobody actually pirates it unless they REALLY have to. There is no money less here. Those users wouldn’t purchase it anyway. And they don’t need to, since AirLink is a NATIVE feature.

        I can use Photoshop without internet connection. I can use motion capture software without CONSTANT internet connection. RICH WANTS TO GET RICHER, and you’re here SIMPING cause he is a “SMALL GUY”. No, he hasn’t been for years. Stop clowning cause you’re embarassing white knight to the entire community with ZERO backinformation.

  • MarcDwonn

    If he would only fix the performance/quality of the actual “virtual desktop” feature, it would motivate me to buy the app. Or is it already fixed these days?

  • MasterElwood

    Why do we need this for streaming when we have this on the other end already (DLSS & co).

    This is much more needed for standalone quest apps!

    • Cburn

      I think its to counter compression from the wifi stream since its not anywhere near close for true data rate like a wired headset would be

  • Till Eulenspiegel

    Since firmware v51, it’s running on Android 12 – this allows the Qualcomm chip to be fully utilized.