PTC v56+57 - Flashing white/colored pixel artifact problem (introduced around v53)

[Dave200S]

I just updated to PTC v56, and as per the instructions in the recent PTC v56 Un-Megathread request by the Community Manager, I am posting this to its own thread with the PTC Tags.

I can report that there has been no perceivable change in the ongoing problem identified as the "Flashing white/colored pixel" artifacts problem (which seems to manifest mostly on the right side of the lens display in a random vertical line position, seemingly made worse by head movement). I am currently using a Unity built VR 180 immersive player (with an exoplayer plugin) for a VR180 H265 video file,  and the issue still occurs for me as before with no change or improvement since updating to v56.

I hope others will be able to report on this known problem with their experiences in Virtual Desktop, Airlink, VR Chat, rec room, Skybox and a bunch of other games it was previously identified on (and for where this issue is being reported and discussed on the dedicated app forums/discords for those  apps also).

[TomCgcmfc]

deleted, same reply.

[TomCgcmfc]

@kibleznbitz  @AS1C  I just got a new update today on both my Q2 and QPro headsets, including an update on the oculus desktop app. 

Headset version 57.0.0.261.669

Oculus desktop app version 57.0.0.254.153

Maybe check these out and se if you got the same.  Seems to have fixed a lot of issues imho.

[kibleznbitz]

Unfortunately, v57 doesn't fix the issue. Specifically, my issue is with Virtual Desktop.

[TomCgcmfc]

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@kibleznbitz wrote:

Unfortunately, v57 doesn't fix the issue. Specifically, my issue is with Virtual Desktop.

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Too bad mate.  I'm not seeing this with Link or Air Link.  I currently prefer both of those over Virtual Desktop because I like the colors better and all my games are fully compatible (esp. VivePort games).  Probably still more of a personal preference thing imho.  Maybe have a look at the VD discord channel to see if there are any solutions or workarounds.  What refresh rate are you using?  Last time I looked on the VD discord channel it seemed that those using 120Hz with the Q2 were having more issues than those using 80/90Hz. 

Also, what cpu/gpu?  I have an intel i9 13900k cpu and nvidia rtx4090 and this has resulted in the best PCVR I've ever experienced.  Based on your many negative posts on this thread you don't seem to have any similar positive experiences.  Really too bad mate.  I feel very sorry for you.  Maybe time to try something else imho.

[kibleznbitz]

I have a Quest Pro so I use 80/90hz, but it happens on 72hz as well. I have an i9-13900HZ and a mobile RTX4090, so roughly a 4080 desktop GPU. I also use WiFi-6e with the router 5 feet away and a 2.4 Gbps data rate and Laptop wired with Ethernet. I don't like Air Link because I find it to be far too buggy. It also does not keep smooth gameplay. It will frequently drop from 80 FPS to 40 FPS for no reason, where virtual desktop will keep a locked 80 FPS. Even though Air Link has no artifacts, it's an inferior experience for that reason alone. 

[AS1C]

I deleted this trash app called oculus, because I have Pico 4 so I use Virtual Desktop. 6 months have already passed since I saw this bug. This is just a spit in the face of those who bought a headset from Meta. There is simply no desire to install, test, and format the helmet 10 times. Let the testers do it. Today try throw the AirLink.

my version 57.0.0.261.669

[BeerGear]

I can confirm the issue is still there on V57 in VirtualDeskrtop (Quest 2):

57.0.0.261.669.517337474

I did a fairly in-depth analysis using ALVR 

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Known-Issue-Quest-Airlink-lags-and-stutters-after-V54...

As far as I could tell, it is NOT a network issue.

It is also not an issue on the encoder side. It is likely somewhere between the video decoding hardware and the LCD. (Qualcomm GPU driver perhaps? There are some reported Adreno 600 GPU artifact related bugs, eg https://developer.qualcomm.com/forum/qdn-forums/software/adreno-gpu-sdk/70385 )

[AS1C]

The issue with artifacts/flashing pixels/glitch pixels on Airlink was gone but in Virtual Desktop is still there

[VRrandom.person]

So, as I posted on the first page of this thread on the 07-18-2023, I use the standalone Tripp app for my personal care routine. I am now on v57 of the Meta OS and not only has it not improved the problem introduced with V53 of the Meta OS with flickering pixels, it has made it slightly worse. I will, in the hope that the Meta engineers can actually do something about this, give you a very specific example of when this problem is at its worst in the Tripp app. If you go to the explore option on the Tripp main menu, then select calm from the options in the left column, then select composer. Scroll through the various environment options until you find celestial sphere. Make sure to select a calm topic, it doesn't matter which. You will then be asked to select the length of the meditation session etc... pick the shortest, the other options don't matter in this case. By default, this particular environment usually has flickering pixels on the far right of the right lens. What really makes the flickering pixel frequency and visibility worse is when the breathing exercises start a few minutes into the meditation session. When the breathing exercises start, a graphic of a wheel appears over the environment which shows you the breathing pattern to follow. This graphic always triggers an increase in the flickering pixels in almost every environment in Tripp, but in Celestial Sphere it causes the flickering pixels to spread almost the entire way across the right lens (right to left) and starts to appear on the far right of the left lens on my quest 2. If I pause the app when this is happening, the flickering pixels are still present, but if I then bring up the Quest home screen then they vanish. If I then close the Quest home screen and go back to the paused app, the flickering pixels return. The breathing exercise graphic is a major trigger for flickering pixels in Tripp in a lot of the meditation environments for some reason. I tried Star Wars Tales from galaxy's edge yesterday and the flickering pixels are present there as well, but to a lesser extent, particularly in dark areas of the screen.  I use the level 3 IPD setting on my Quest 2. Hopefully this info might help you narrow down the issue, at the very lest an update on the progress of fixing this issue would be good. As it has been about 3 months(V53 OS) at least, since this problem started. My subscription to Tripp is about to re-new and if this problem can't be fixed I don't want to continue using Tripp. This app is important to my personal care routine for my mental health. It's difficult to focus with flickering pixels all the time. Please fix this, or give me an update if you can't fix this. thanks