Steam Frame OLED already rumored after Valve shares kernel source code
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The Steam Frame has only been on the market for around a month, but we are already hearing about what could be its first major hardware refresh. New information found in kernel source code recently made public by Valve suggests the company has been experimenting with an upgraded Steam Frame featuring a much higher-resolution OLED display.
The information was uncovered by Steam Frame Hub, which found references to a device codenamed “Plano” in the Steam Frame’s Linux kernel source code. There was also an earlier branch called “deckard-oled.” Development work reportedly dates back to late 2025, while activity on the Plano branch continued until early October 2026.
The biggest upgrade appears to be the display. According to the information found in the code, Plano uses panels with a native resolution of 3552 x 3840 per eye, a major jump from the 2160 x 2160 LCD panels found in the current Steam Frame. The new panels are believed to be MicroOLED and support refresh rates of up to 90Hz, while Valve has reportedly also experimented with getting them to run at 120Hz.
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However, that doesn’t necessarily mean games would run at the full 3552 x 3840 resolution. The rumored OLED model apparently still uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip as the existing Steam Frame. Because of this, the default resolution is reportedly set to 1776 x 1920 per eye to maintain a similar performance target. There is also an experimental 2368 x 2560 mode for users willing to trade some performance for better image quality.
Valve may have another solution for getting more out of those displays. The code reportedly points to foveated scaling, which can increase pixel density around the specific area the user is looking at. This could make the image appear much sharper without requiring the hardware to drive the entire display at its full native resolution.
Still, anyone who recently bought or pre-ordered the standard Steam Frame probably shouldn’t worry about their headset becoming outdated anytime soon. The current model only launched in September, starting at $1,059 for the 256GB version and $1,299 for the 1TB version. The code for Plano also reportedly remains incomplete, suggesting there is still plenty of work to be done.Â
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