Valve released SteamOS 0.5.8 Beta for Steam Frame and SteamVR Beta 2.19.2 for all users, bringing numerous improvements to smoothen some rough edges, GamingOnLinux reported.
Steam Link fixes several regressions with overlays and game menus introduced in SteamVR 2.19.1, alongside patches for an occasional crash and transient visual artifacts when streaming resolution changes. The update restores the ability to reduce the encoding resolution down to 512 and improves resilience to brief network-related stream interruptions. On Linux, the patch fixes launch issues when running the SteamRT3 client without the Legacy Steam Runtime installed in the default Steam library. A general fix addresses an issue causing the Quick Access Menu battery tab to report the right controller twice with third-party drivers like the PSVR2. PC streaming on SteamOS 0.5.8 Beta now supports Room View without hiding remote content, allowing users to see a remote desktop or game theater while camera passthrough is active. PC VR games with OpenXR mixed reality support, such as X-Plane 12, can now blend VR content and camera passthrough. To get the update, users need to opt into the SteamVR beta through its properties in the Steam library. Overlay render quality now defaults to Low on Steam Frame while hiding the option to prevent problems caused by selecting Ultra.
Valve’s earlier SteamVR 2.19.1 beta update brought streamed image quality improvements to all supported standalone headsets, Road to VR reported. Steam Link now targets a higher recommended render resolution at 1.4 times the headset panel’s resolution and improves color clarity using a higher-quality filter to downsample color before encoding, according to Road to VR. MIXED News reported that the update removes the automatic GPU benchmark previously used to pick a streaming render scale, while Steam Frame’s default encoded video size increases from 1152 to 1216.
PC Guide noted that Steam Frame beta updates also improved vibration filtering for pose prediction and introduced a display dimming feature that darkens the screen for 30 seconds before sleep. SteamVR Beta 2.19.2 Updates and SteamOS 0.5.8 Beta
How do I opt into the SteamVR beta on PC?
Right-click SteamVR in the Steam library, select Properties, open the Game Versions and Beta tab, and choose beta. What resolution does Steam Link target now? Steam Link targets a recommended render scale of roughly 1.4 times the headset’s panel resolution. Are the new streaming defaults applied automatically? Manual render resolutions and encoded video sizes are preserved unless users return those settings to Auto.
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