When You’re Looking at Oculus Rift DK2’s Virtual Reality, You’re Looking at A Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Oculus Rift DK2 teardown reveals Samsung smartphone display.

The Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 virtual reality headset uses a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for its display, iFixit’s teardown of the device finds.

The display, which strangely enough still has its touchscreen control capability intact, is a 5.7-inch super AMOLED display, with a 960 x 1080 resolution for each eye. Oculus says it’s capable of a 75 Hz refresh rate, meaning its overclocking it from the display’s original 60 Hz refresh rate.

Oculus using a Samsung display in its new development kit supports recent reports about a partnership between the two companies. According to the report, the partnership will give Samsung early access to Oculus’ mobile software development kit, while Oculus will get early access to Samsung’s next generation OLED screen with a resolution higher than 1080p.

Samsung is also said to be working on its own virtual reality device that will be announced later this year. Supposedly, it doesn’t use a dedicated display. Instead, you just slide your phone into a headset with built-in movements sensors, and use the phone’s screen as a display.

That seemed like a strange idea at the time, but seems far more likely given Oculus Rift DK2’s Samsung display, and Google’s Cardboard app, which can transform a smartphone into a virtual reality headset with a crude cardboard enclosure and lenses.