How Do VR Headsets Work?

The ability to step into alternate realms, explore distant galaxies or even simulate everyday experiences from the comfort of your own living room is nothing short of astonishing. Virtual reality (VR) technology has revolutionized the gaming industry and has turned how we experience interactive entertainment upside down.

But, have you ever wondered exactly how VR headsets make all of this possible? From immersive visuals to responsive tracking, we will explore the fascinating technology that powers these portals into new dimensions.

Virtual reality headsets typically feature high-resolution displays for each eye, creating a stereoscopic 3D effect that helps immerse users in a virtual environment. Display technology contributes to this process with:

• Display type. Most VR headsets use liquid crystal display (LCD) or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for their screens. The best VR headsets usually use OLED displays due to their ability to produce deep blacks and high contrast ratios. However, LCD displays still deliver a great VR gaming session and are used in more affordable VR headsets.
• Resolution and refresh rate. High resolutions and refresh rates provide detailed and smooth VR experiences. Higher resolutions are made up of a higher pixel density that makes images more detailed while a high refresh rate (usually 90Hz or higher) reduces motion sickness and makes the virtual world feel more natural.See Disclosure ¹
• Low persistence. Low persistence creates a sharp image during head movements. In low persistence mode, each frame is displayed for a very short period of time followed by a black screen. Happening in milliseconds, this creates the illusion of crisp motion.

When choosing a VR headset, you should always consider the quality of the display technology along with other factors for a well-rounded VR experience.

Optics, typically in the form of lenses, are positioned between the displays and the user’s eyes to bend and focus the light to make it converge at a specific focal point, which is where you perceive the virtual world. This process mimics the way the human eye focuses on objects in the real world. In addition to focusing the display, optics also:

• Determine the field of view. The field of view (FOV) in VR headsets is how much of the virtual world a user can see at any given time. The optic’s curvature influences the FOV, with wider and more precisely designed lenses allowing for a more expansive view.
• Make up for poor vision. Vision issues like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism can affect the ability to focus on objects in VR. Most VR headsets allow you to adjust the lens distance to accommodate for your specific vision needs.
• Minimize distortions. Certain distortions, such as color fringing and warping, can occur when light passes through a VR gaming headset, which can take you out of the realism of VR. But, optics are designed to minimize these occurrences for more real virtual world.

The design and quality of these lenses are crucial factors when trying to find the best VR headset for gaming. And, it is important to protect the lenses with some VR accessories, such as carrying cases and cleaning kits.

Helping the VR headset understand the position and movement of your head and hands, tracking sensors and positional tracking work together to provide an interactive VR gaming session. Tracking sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, magnetometers, cameras and ultrasonic sensors detect movement and provide data to the VR system, updating the virtual surroundings in real-time.

Positional tracking goes beyond measuring the orientation of the headset and focuses on tracking its position in a 3D space.See Disclosure ² Both external and internal sensors can be used to track the position of the headset and controllers. This is essential for creating a truly immersive VR experience where you can move freely within the virtual environment.

Most VR setups, especially standalone VR headsets, include integrated or detachable headphones to provide spatial audio. Spatial audio means that sound comes from specific directions within the virtual environment, allowing you to pinpoint the location of objects, events or other players based on sound clues. This creates a sense of presence and enhances the realism of the VR game. Microphones are also typically included in VR gaming headsets that enable you to communicate with others in a multiplayer setting.

If your new VR headset doesn’t include integrated audio, you can always hook up your earbuds and in-ear headphones. If you go that route, be sure to check out what features to look for when buying headphones to find the best headphones for VR gaming.

1. Damjam. “The Importance of the VR Refresh Rate: Everything You Need to Know.” KommandoTech. December 16, 2022. https://kommandotech.com/guides/vr-refresh-rate/.

2. Heaney, David. “How VR Positional Tracking Systems Work.” UploadVR, UVR Media, LLC. April 29, 2019. https://www.uploadvr.com/how-vr-tracking-works/.