You can now use the Meta Quest as a screen for HDMI devices

Meta has released a caller app for the Quest 3, 2, and Pro, letting you usage the headsets arsenic a surface for consoles, laptops, oregon immoderate instrumentality with video retired capabilities. Using the escaped Meta Quest HDMI Link app does require further hardware, but it’s inactive a comparatively inexpensive mode to repurpose the headset, alternatively of buying single-purpose video glasses that tin outgo conscionable arsenic much.

In a station shared to the Meta Quest Blog today, the institution warns that getting this to enactment isn’t rather arsenic straightforward arsenic utilizing Air Link, which allows the Quest headsets to watercourse video from a PC implicit Wi-Fi. Instead of plugging a PS5, Pixel 9, oregon adjacent a laptop straight into the Quest’s USB-C larboard with a cable, you’ll request to adhd a UVC (USB Video Class) and UAC (USB Audio Class) compatible 1080p seizure paper to the mix.

These seizure cards are present arsenic tiny arsenic USB flash drives, can outgo little than $20 (Note: The Verge hasn’t tested this oregon immoderate of the offerings presently connected Amazon), and typically diagnostic an HDMI larboard connected 1 extremity with a USB-A oregon USB-C transportation connected the other. Some seizure cards adjacent see an other larboard for a powerfulness adapter, which volition let the Quest to enactment charged portion it’s connected.

Once the Meta Quest HDMI Link app is installed connected a supported Quest headset, you link a video root instrumentality to the seizure card’s input utilizing immoderate cablegram is indispensable (USB-C to HDMI, Lightning to HDMI, etc.) and past link that dongle straight to the headset. You’ll besides request to “grant the indispensable permissions” erstwhile the Quest boots up, but aft that, the video from the connected instrumentality tin beryllium viewed with “near-zero latency” connected a floating resizable screen.

Resolution volition beryllium constricted to 1080p astatine 60fps, but the app allows the Quest to supply a large surface acquisition without a projector oregon to person the video provender positioned successful a smaller model alongside different apps. Future versions of the Quest headset could connection akin built-in functionality by natively supporting standards similar DisplayPort implicit USB-C, but the dongle attack is an casual mode to bring this functionality to existing hardware.