Meta HDMI Link Turns Your Quest Into A Giant Monitor For Your Mobile, Console, And More!

Use a USB capture card to get the big-screen experience on Quest for a range of compatible devices

Published in

SideQuestVR

3 min readAug 15, 2024

Meta has just announced the Meta Quest HDMI Link app—transforming your Quest headset into an external monitor for compatible devices using a USB capture card, including handheld PCs or consoles, laptops, and more.

This means you can get a big-screen audio and video streaming experience at 1920x1080p resolution at 60fps from consoles, phones, laptops, and many other devices capable of HDMI or DisplayPort output. And it works for Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro headsets.

How to set it up

First, you’ll need to download the new Meta Quest HDMI Link app and purchase a USB Video Class (UVC) compatible capture card with the appropriate connection for the output device you want to use (this could be USB-C, Lightning, or HDMI). Meta recommends USB 3.0 cards for the best experience—and make sure you have the right cables for it.

Once you’ve got those sorted, just connect the device to the capture card, connect the other end to your Quest, accept the relevant permissions through the Link app, and enjoy the big-screen experience—similar to the new Theatre Mode released in update v67.

Here’s all of that in bullet form:

Install the HDMI Link app
Connect your chosen device to your capture card
Plug the capture card into your Quest
Accept permissions
Enjoy!

What can it do?

This new HDMI Link app gives you several options for enjoying audio and video content through your Quest, for example:

Enjoy videos saved to your mobile through your Quest on a long flight
Play handheld console games through an immersive Quest big-screen in VR while staying at a hotel
Get your important work done in VR by linking your PC or laptop screen directly
And more

One important point to note is this might have trouble playing video from streaming services like Netflix as they’re HDCP protected which can interfere with the link—you may end up with just the audio.

Get the full scoop from Meta’s blog if you need more info.

About SideQuest

SideQuest represents the ultimate community in standalone VR. A place where developers and players around the globe can create, share, and get excited about the virtual reality apps they love.

Developers (like us) are free to experiment with mechanics and modes on their journey to official stores, while players can safely explore thousands of apps across the wonderful world of VR — the biggest collection all in one place, actually.

Because who needs limits, right?

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