Which headset, which file, and how to tell before you pay whether a clip is really made for one.
The three things a product page should tell you
Projection: VR180 covers the half-sphere in front of you, VR360 covers everything. Stereo layout:
side-by-side or over-under, which is how two eye images are packed into a single file — a file with neither
has no depth and is flat video however it is sold. Resolution per eye: the headline number usually counts
both eyes together, so “8K” often means 4K each. If a page gives none of the three, assume flat.
Hardware
A standalone Quest or Pico plays these files through DeoVR, Skybox, Pigasus or HereSphere. A PC headset
runs the same players as desktop apps. A phone in a plastic holder will technically show something, and
throws away most of the resolution you paid for.
Download or stream
These files are large — several gigabytes for twenty minutes is normal, not a mistake. Streaming spares
the storage and needs a connection that holds up; a download plays reliably and takes the space. Worth
checking which a shop offers before buying, at this file size.
What a good VR scene does differently
The camera stops being a narrator. It cannot cut to a better angle, so it has to be in the right place from
the start, and the scene has to hold up when the viewer looks somewhere the director did not plan for.
That is why a converted flat clip never quite works, and why the good VR material in this niche tends to be
shot deliberately rather than adapted.