30W output PB is fine for Frame

Submitted ⁨⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Arkthos@pawb.social⁩ to ⁨steamdeck@sopuli.xyz⁩

I have seen a lot of people argue you must use a 45W output power bank, probably because it’s the charger output Valve recommends for continuous play.

I have yet to pass 30W during play (admittedly I play with 100℅ brightness, not 120%). It will charge at a miserably slow rate, but if I start a session at full battery, I also end the session with a full battery.

If you own a 30W power bank already, it is not some strict requirement to upgrade it for the frame, just make sure to use the right output port.

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Comments

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frank@sopuli.xyz ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Why does brightness go over 100%? That’s … Not how it works

Cool info!

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- methods286@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Well, it’s brighter, isn’t it? It’s not 100%. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 100%. You’re on 120% here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on 100% on your brightness. Where can you go from there? Where?
  
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  - bottleofchips@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I don’t know…
    
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- MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Both Index and Frame have a brightness setting that goes from IIRC 60% to 125%.
  
  100% is the default, because it is where white and black are most “balanced”. Going lower makes white seem kind of dim, and going higher, makes black seem even less black.
  
  Going up or down can look better depending on the game, but it being in VR is why going above and below 100% makes a bit of sense.
  
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  - Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Going above 100% is also good when you’re in bright light and you simply can’t see the shadow regions. Kinda like turning up a brightness in certain games.
    
    For the Deck, at least.
    
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MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Same experience.

I did get a 65W bank, but only because it’d be useful for charging my laptop and Deck as well as the frame. By my math, even 20W should be sufficient to keep playing, if not charge the Frame.

There is a caveat though, PD voltage profiles mean that any two devices may not transfer the maximum theoretically possible wattage, depending on how their modes line up.

For example, a PB that is rated to do 30W, may not do so on the Frame, if it lacks a 15V mode. You also need a suitable cable to use some of the modes at higher amperages.

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- iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Thanks. I’m glad I’m not the only one pissed at the lack of a standard PD sequence for the power negotiation.
  
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- Arkthos@pawb.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Fair point, I’m not really sure on the exact power profiles the Frame supports tbh. I’ll take a look a bit later.
  
  I have exceeded 20W during standalone play, and right now my game of choice is the vr mod for half life 2, which works fine in standalone.
  
  Even with a 20W supply and 5W from the onboard battery you will extend the lifetime by a lot.
  
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  - nous@programming.dev ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Even if you exceed 20W it doesn’t matter. The only real thing that matters is the average draw and the total duration of a session. If you spend most of the time drawing 10W and peek at 50W for a minute then you can run off a 20W powersupply forever.
    
    But a faster power supply does offer you more benefits. You can play unplugged until the battery is low, plug it in and continue. It will charge sooner letting you unplug it again sooner. If the wires bother you then that can be a big advantage.
    
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JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Same with the Steam Deck. I’ve actually been using an 18W charger as my travel one for ever since I got it, and as the highest power draw I’ve seen is 26 Watts (BG3 at Act 3 at full brightness), the difference is 8 Watts and the 40Wh LCD battery allows playing for over 5 hours straight before empty.
But most of the time you are playing something lighter, and it gets you enough life that you’d be able to play the entire day no problem, and have it charge back up during the night.

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