Commercial availability of dual-screen, virtual-reality (VR) head-mounted displays could ramp up significantly with Spectra7 Microsystems’ latest chip development. Increasing bandwidth up to 80%, the VR7200 feeds dual ultra-high resolution displays that support resolutions over 500 pixels/in. in deep color at 80 frames/s, and at distances up to 5 m from the source.
Dual-screen VR offers a more immersive, broad field of view. However, it requires about twice the bandwidth of other VR systems and is typically burdened by multiple, thick passive cables. The VR7200 features high-speed, active signal processing and a single super-thin cable/ultra-compact connector combo to combat those issues. VR interconnects built with the chip are capable of dual 2560-by-1440 wide quad high definition (WQHD) display resolution at 4:4:4 Chroma at up to 80 frames/s per screen. Thanks to Luma or Chroma subsampling, there’s no image degradation. A separate, external HMD power connection is not required.
According to consulting firm KZero, the consumer VR market is expected to reach $5.2 billion by 2018, with an installed base of over 250 million VR-capable game consoles. Therefore, delivering differentiated products becomes necessary in order to appeal to the broadest consumer base. Dual-screen systems are thought to hold the potential to set an industry benchmark for immersive VR by reducing perceptible latency and delivering enhanced audio fidelity and video resolution.