Summary

  • Valve may upgrade Steam Deck for better streaming with new tech for VR integration.
  • Issues with performance vs. Battery life could be sidestepped through desktop streaming.
  • Valve's recent patent hints at low latency and high fidelity images for potential VR upgrades.

According to a recent patent submitted by Valve, the Steam Deck could get a major upgrade with new technology that allows better streaming to the system and VR integration. Valve's Steam Deck first debuted in February 2022, being a handheld system that acts as a portable PC and allows gamers to play their Steam library on the go. It is a popular option for gamers who want to access their libraries on the go, with a few different models to choose from. The three main models of the Steam Deck are the 256 GB LCD, 512 OLED, and 1 TB OLED.

While the Steam Deck is an effective system that allows gamers to play PC games on the go and natively, it's a balancing act between performance and battery life. One option that gamers can use to sidestep this issue is streaming from their desktop PC to the Steam Deck, though the biggest hurdle to this approach is latency, such as the Moonlight application. Valve appears to be working on an upgrade to the Steam Deck that can support low latency, according to a recent patent, along with high fidelity over wireless transmissions.

The Valve logo in white set against a black background.
Unannounced Valve Game Already Has Over 10,000 Players

A new unannounced game from Valve looks to be ramping up testing ahead of its reveal, with the unconfirmed game already showing 10,000 players.

By 

Based on a recent post on the r/gamingleaksandrumors subreddit by user TareXmd, Valve submitted a patent for "dual detail encoding in a distributed system," which provides both low latency and high fidelity images from a host computer to another device. It specifically mentions a wireless foveated transmission and rendering between a console and a head-mounted device or handheld system. This means that not only would the Steam Deck get an upgrade that improves its streaming potential from a PC, but also a VR option.

What can this new Valve patent be used for?

Valve had commented on a standalone Steam Deck VR headset before, saying that the Steam Deck's custom AMD APU would work well in the environment and that the idea was relevant to Valve's future plans. Valve also has experience developing VR technology, as seen with the Valve Index VR wired headset. As such, this patent could also point to a major upgrade of the headset and make it a standalone system.

Seamless latency and wireless streaming are definitely things that would improve upon the Steam Deck, the possibility of this being used for an upgrade to the Valve Index headset also seems incredibly likely. The recent submission of this patent seems to suggest that gamers won't be hearing about how it will be used for quite a while, though. For the time being, gamers will just need to keep their ear to the ground until Valve provides more information.

Image
Steam Deck Tag Page Cover Art
Steam Deck
Display card main info widget
Brand
Steam (Valve)
Operating System
SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
Storage
64GB eMMC / 256GB NVMe SSD / 512GB NVMe SSD / 1TB NVMe SSD
VR Support
Technically possible, but not designed or optimized for it.
Div
Resolution
1200 x 800
App Store
Steam
Display card main info widget end

The Steam Deck is Valve's entry into the handheld PC market, using a custom Linux-based OS to bring your Steam library wherever you go. Launched in 2022 with an LCD screen, an updated model with an OLED screen followed in late 2023.

Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info
Wi-Fi
Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E radio, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
Ports
USB-C with Power Delivery/DisplayPort
HDR Support
No
Original Release Date
February 25, 2022
Original MSRP (USD)
$399–$649
Weight
Approx. 640 grams
Dimensions
298mm x 117mm x 49mm
Processor
Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)