Even if we may haven’t reached an optimum solution for every load-bearing surface worth noting some major differences that occurred with the comparison of Quest 3S and the Quest 3 that we did not manage to observe earlier. The Quest 3S, a cheaper headset with a lower-quality display and lenses, struggles with illumination. However, it performs well in head and hand tracking under low-light conditions compared to the Quest 3.Quest 3S vs Quest 3 Comparing Low-Light Tracking Performance.
Testing in Complete Darkness Quest 3S vs Quest 3
In total darkness the last model was not able to track movement of the heads and hands as the movements required head or hands evidenced other headsets such as the Initial model and the Initial 2 but had these models displayed a message indicating that tracking could not begin and recommended stopping tracking altogether. On the other hand, the Quest 3S did substantially better in this environment. Whenever the person was an arm’s distance from a wall or some other structure, the Quest 3S was able to track their head and arm but it was jittery at times.
Performance in Low-Light Conditions Quest 3S vs Quest 3
The advantage about this aspect enlarges even further when tested in less lit environments such as when a person is inside the room whose lighting is minimal, there is moonlight shining through the window, there is a source of light in the corner or anywhere in the room. These are normal circumstances under which a majority of the gamers would rather be playing during the evening.
In those described situations, the Quest 3S prempts bringing the virtual hands up much earlier and finally is able to cope with rapid hand movement tracking as well.
Impact on Controller Tracking
Both the Quest 3 and Quest 3S come with the same Touch Plus controllers, designed to expose the tracking cameras to the IR LEDs embedded in the headset. These infrared controllers are still able to operate in complete darkness. Still, both headset devices combine controller-tracking with hand-tracking using the device’s cameras.
When unusual situations occur where the infrared lights are blocked, the headsets track the location of the controller using the user’s hand. Low-light studies show that the Quest 3 S works better in improving the controller’s location than the Quest 3.
Although the Quest 3S does not offer the performance features like the more high-end Quest 3 but still cuts the cost of the headset aimed on budget consumers, the quest 3S still does a better job than QQ3’s in terms of lowest light-condition tracking environments.
