Highlights
- Valve’s recent patent could mean an upgrade to the Steam Deck, with better streaming and VR integration for gamers on the go.
- The potential upgrade aims to reduce latency and improve wireless streaming, enhancing the Steam Deck experience.
According to a recent patent submitted by Valve, the Steam Deck could get a major upgrade with new technology that allows better streaming to the system and VR integration. Valve’s Steam Deck first debuted in February 2022, being a handheld system that acts as a portable PC and allows gamers to play their Steam library on the go. It is a popular option for gamers who want to access their libraries on the go, with a few different models to choose from. The three main models of the Steam Deck are the 256 GB LCD, 512 OLED, and 1 TB OLED.
While the Steam Deck is an effective system that allows gamers to play PC games on the go and natively, it’s a balancing act between performance and battery life. One option that gamers can use to sidestep this issue is streaming from their desktop PC to the Steam Deck, though the biggest hurdle to this approach is latency, such as the Moonlight application. Valve appears to be working on an upgrade to the Steam Deck that can support low latency, according to a recent patent, along with high fidelity over wireless transmissions.
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Based on a recent post on the r/gamingleaksandrumors subreddit by user TareXmd, Valve submitted a patent for “dual detail encoding in a distributed system,” which provides both low latency and high fidelity images from a host computer to another device. It specifically mentions a wireless foveated transmission and rendering between a console and a head-mounted device or handheld system. This means that not only would the Steam Deck get an upgrade that improves its streaming potential from a PC, but also a VR option.
What can this new Valve patent be used for?
Valve had commented on a standalone Steam Deck VR headset before, saying that the Steam Deck’s custom AMD APU would work well in the environment and that the idea was relevant to Valve’s future plans. Valve also has experience developing VR technology, as seen with the Valve Index VR wired headset. As such, this patent could also point to a major upgrade of the headset and make it a standalone system.
Seamless latency and wireless streaming are definitely things that would improve upon the Steam Deck, the possibility of this being used for an upgrade to the Valve Index headset also seems incredibly likely. The recent submission of this patent seems to suggest that gamers won’t be hearing about how it will be used for quite a while, though. For the time being, gamers will just need to keep their ear to the ground until more information is provided by Valve.
Steam Deck
The Steam Deck is Valve’s entry into the handheld PC market, using a custom Linux-based OS to bring your Steam library wherever you go. Launched in 2022 with an LCD screen, an updated model with an OLED screen followed in late 2023.
- Brand
- Steam (Valve)
- Operating System
- SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
- Storage
- 64GB eMMC / 256GB NVMe SSD / 512GB NVMe SSD / 1TB NVMe SSD
- VR Support
- Technically possible, but not designed or optimized for it.
- Resolution
- 1200 x 800
- App Store
- Steam
- Wi-Fi
- Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E radio, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- Ports
- USB-C with Power Delivery/DisplayPort
- HDR Support
- No
- Original Release Date
- February 25, 2022
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $399–$649
- Weight
- Approx. 640 grams
- Dimensions
- 298mm x 117mm x 49mm
- Processor
- Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
