After releasing the rather substantial ‘2019 Update’ in February, Bigscreen Inc. has announced its next set of improvements, called ‘The Filters Update’. This sees both fun and useful additions for users to play with.

We’re all constantly looking at screens of some description, whether that’s a TV, mobile phone or virtual reality (VR) headset. A lot of research has gone into the effect looking at screens for long durations can have on people’s eyes and brains, finding that the reduction of blue light can reduce eye strain and improve quality of sleep, hence why Android phones, for example, have a ‘Blue Light Filter’ mode.

And that’s the reasoning behind Bigscreen Inc’s. new Night Mode for Bigscreen Beta. As Darshan Shankar, CEO of Bigscreen Inc explains in a Medium blog posting: “On average, users spend 1 hour in each Bigscreen VR session. Some people spend 20–30 hours each week in Bigscreen. Our new Night Mode filter reduces blue light emitted from the virtual screen, and it can make a significant impact on health and comfort during these long VR sessions.

And then there’s the fun stuff. Adding some special effects to Bigscreen Beta are the 8-Bit and CRT Filters. The 8-Bit Filter makes PC videogames look pixelated while the CRT Filter adds moire and barrel distortion. Plus there have been several presets added like Movies, Text, Sports, and Black & White. And for those users who like to fine tune things even further the Brightness slider has now been joined by Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation sliders.

As for the future of Bigscreen Beta? The studio is working on a Friends System, a Videoplayer, and new environments, plus the Oculus Quest version which has now been confirmed as a launch title. Bigscreen Inc. eventually hopes to leave the beta branch behind later this year, adding more polish and reliability.

Bigscreen Beta lets you use your PC desktop in VR. It is free for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, Oculus Go and Samsung GearVR. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Bigscreen Beta as the studio continues to roll out further improvements, updating you with the latest announcements.