Valve now updating SteamOS to support popular DeckHD screen replacement— others may follow

In the time since the May 2023 announcement of the DeckHD screen replacement for Steam Deck LCD, Valve introduced a Steam Deck OLED in November 2023 that replaced all mid-range and high-end models of the Deck with a quite significant display improvement— but now, they’re also updating SteamOS with a patch to fully support the DeckHD screen. The DeckHD actually offered quite a nice upgrade of its own on the original Steam Deck before the OLED Deck overshadowed it, provided you had the tools or resources needed to get the $99 screen replacement installed.

Integrating these patches (originally made by balika011 on GitHub) is good to see from Valve developers and makes us hopeful that future display replacements for Steam Deck LCD, OLED, and the eventual Steam Deck 2 will also see the appropriate patches added to SteamOS for full support and configuration to those screens’ needs. The specific changes added were for DeckHD display timings (for smoother V-Sync, etc) and simply recognizing the DeckHD as a “known display” to begin with.

In our original coverage of the DeckHD, we noted that it claimed 95% sRGB color gamut coverage over the original Deck LCD screen, which most pegged at under 70%. This was one of the most noted weaknesses of the original model’s IPS panel—and why common soft mods included “VibrantDeck” to boost saturation and perceived vividness before a SteamOS update. 

DeckHD helped alleviate these color reproduction issues with or without the help of soft-modding, though its 1200p target resolution was less ideal for native resolution gaming in 3D titles— though realistically, you should be using resolution scaling on these handhelds in 3D titles, anyway. The higher PPI of these resolutions on handheld screens makes solutions like AMD FSR 3.1 shine and even the basic OS-level FSR 1 at least a little bit more tolerable.

These days, DeckHD’s estimate has been adjusted to 87% sRGB—which is still pretty good, particularly considering it only just got official support. Now, DeckHD users should be able to enjoy a truly ideal display experience (particularly with configuration to preference) on their Decks once the next batch of major SteamOS updates rolls around.