The display offers an impressive 120Hz refresh rate, which is also a step up from the 90Hz achieved on Oculus Rift and Vive Pro. Measuring in at 4,800 x 3,480 pixels per eye, these numbers indicate a serious jump in visual fidelity, but it's still nowhere near to matching human optics. In a research paper, Google's Staff Hardware Engineer Carlin Vieri said humans are capable of seeing 9,600 x 9,000 pixels per eye, and that our field of view can reach roughly 160 degrees horizontally and 150 degrees vertically. Google's prototype screen can manage 120 degrees.



To bridge that gap, Google researchers have implemented a technique called "foveated rendering." It processes whatever image the user is looking at in high resolution, and allows objects in a viewer's peripheral vision to lose focus. One benefit of this technique is that it shrinks the amount of data processing placed on the GPU.



At this stage, consumers will need to wait for Google and LG Display to eliminate issues such as lag, latency, and motion-blur before making their prototype available to everyone.