VirtualLink standard for virtual reality headsets is officially dead

The use of the VL connector required NVIDIA to set higher TDP values ​​for the cards since the connector itself could provide up to 27W of power to the headset. Soon after the announcement of the GeForce RTX 20 series graphics cards, NVIDIA partners released their graphics solutions. However, some of them lacked the same VL connector, since VR headset manufacturers were not massively interested in this standard.

Despite the fact that AMD was a part of the consortium, it has not released a single video card with this connector. As a result, only a few virtual reality headsets with support for VirtualLink technology from XTAL and StarVR appeared on the market.

Oculus headsets both used and use regular USB Type-C connectors without VirtualLink technology. Valve initially wanted to integrate support for the standard into its Index headset using a special adapter, but eventually abandoned these plans. Last year, she canceled pre-orders for the adapter for Valve Index, explaining that the device could not provide a reliable and efficient connection to the headset. In addition, Valve also indicated that the VirtualLink standard has not found interest among other VR headset manufacturers. Apparently, this was the turning point for VirtualLink.

As a result, the connector became useless and only added extra cost to the final products. But the risk was worth it. VirtualLink could immediately replace USB, power channel, and two video connectors with one single cable. At the moment, there is no alternative that can also effectively replace VirtualLink.

The recently introduced NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards lack the connector. VirtualLink official website is down. The Road to VR resource approached the consortium members for comments but never received a response. We can safely say that the standard is officially dead.