Meta Quest 2 gets video recording in 16:9 format

Meta Quest 2 gets video recording in 16:9 format

It is finally possible to record videos in landscape format and in different quality settings with Quest 2. The feature is reserved for developers for now.

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For years, content creators on YouTube and the like have been annoyed by the insufficient options for recording videos of VR games on Meta Quest 2. Until now, they had to settle for a rectangular image format. That was only practical for the portrait videos on Tiktok or Youtube Shorts.

Those who wanted to record in landscape format on the Quest 2 previously had to resort to unofficial apps like Sidequest. Recently, however, Meta offers more settings for video recording for developers.

Meta Quest 2: Video recording in 16:9

Requirements are a developer account, the "Oculus Developer Hub" app on a PC, and a connection to the Quest 2.

The options are lush, aside from the standard 1:1 square format at 1024p and 36 frames per second: 16:9 alternatives range from 1080p at 36 frames per second to 2160p at 60 frames per second, which is equivalent to 4K resolution.

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However, if you choose 16:9, you'll have to live with the video being cropped. After all, the Quest 2 format is square in virtual reality.

You can also increase the bitrate for lower compression. This is useful to avoid a washed-out image with artifacts. Here the scale ranges from 5 to 40 megabits per second (Mbps). Recording a stereoscopic video is also possible.

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It is not yet known whether these new recording options will be available for all users.

Recording affects performance in VR games

In a first test run, I still had problems with aborted recordings, but Robert Aldridge's recordings already work better: The developer of the medieval VR games Heartlands and Medieval Designer noticed the new function for the first time at the end of June.

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He posted initial results on Twitter, though they are a bit jerky in 4K: "It's obviously going to affect performance a little bit because the CPU on Quest is only so good," Aldridge writes.

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Sources: Oculus Developer Hub, Robert Aldridge (Twitter)