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Downsampling, a simple method for making your pc-games look better.

peronmls

Member
Question

I noticed a lot that SSAA and downsampling are the same thing but SSAA looks TOTALLY different from the other. It looks so much smoother but colors look a little washed out or dull. While downsampling also gets clear but you can still see edges while SSAA looks better. Any idea why that is. I think SSAA looks WAAAYYY better.
 

JoeLT

Member
When you're downsampling (from say 4K to 1080p) does the shimmering on fences and railings go away? Most import an part to me is just the shimmering, also when running at native 4K is it noticeable ? (On a 4K display of course)
 

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Is this why everyone's PC shots look better than mine?
 
LTTP but this looks fantastic with BF4 on a 24inch 1080p dell with a 4GB GTX 770. I only went to 1440 but I see no reason to go higher as my FPS are between 60-100 on Ultra settings. Thanks OP!
 

HTupolev

Member
When you're downsampling (from say 4K to 1080p) does the shimmering on fences and railings go away? Most import an part to me is just the shimmering, also when running at native 4K is it noticeable ? (On a 4K display of course)
It all depends on how bad the undersampling is. No matter how high you crank the sampling, you could construct a scene with high-frequency details that still shimmer badly.

Downsampling will generally reduce the severity of these sorts of problems, though. A 4K->1080p downsample should constitute a very noticeable improvement in most cases.
 

Arulan

Member
I haven't looked into downsampling too much because I have a 120hz monitor (1080p, DVI-D dual link), but I'm curious what the bandwidth limits would be while remaining at 120hz? If I had to go down to 60hz, is the windows setting what I'd ultimately have to change every time?
 

Parsifal

Neo Member
Uhm, I tried 2560x1440 and 3200x1800, and both resolutions make the image kind of blurry.
I had to move from 120hz to 60hz (got a BenQ 24" and a 770 4GB).
Is the blurry image supposed to happen? only@ desktop, though
 

Thorgal

Member
Uhm, I tried 2560x1440 and 3200x1800, and both resolutions make the image kind of blurry.
I had to move from 120hz to 60hz (got a BenQ 24" and a 770 4GB).
Is the blurry image supposed to happen? only@ desktop, though

It could be your monitor .

Some monitors handle higher resolutions then others .
For example , going up to 1800p on my monitor everything stays normal but at 4K it causes the image to darken or in some cases like someone put a green or red filter over it .

An easy test would be to run the game at either of those 2 res and take a screenshot .

If the blur is gone on that , it is your monitor that's causing it .
 

Parsifal

Neo Member
It could be your monitor .

Some monitors handle higher resolutions then others .
For example , going up to 1800p on my monitor everything stays normal but at 4K it causes the image to darken or in some cases like someone put a green or red filter over it .

An easy test would be to run the game at either of those 2 res and take a screenshot .

If the blur is gone on that , it is your monitor that's causing it .

Thanks for your reply. I changed to fullscreen, instead of the first scaling option, and now ingame looks fine (still blurry@desktop).
Maybe it's because I run 2 monitors?
 

AkuMifune

Banned
So there's no way to get downsampling to work on multiple displays that are cloned, correct? I can get it to downsample on my monitor and TV separately, but once clone mode is activated the option disappears and not available in-game either.

I guess it's worth it to change the display setting before I launch steam every time I want to downsample, just slightly annoying.
 

subwilde

Member
So there's no way to get downsampling to work on multiple displays that are cloned, correct? I can get it to downsample on my monitor and TV separately, but once clone mode is activated the option disappears and not available in-game either.

I guess it's worth it to change the display setting before I launch steam every time I want to downsample, just slightly annoying.

Don't worry man, I can't even downsample on this 1440p panel and I have to go into the settings every time to change the refresh rate.

I want them to fix it :(
 

Kydd BlaZe

Member
Does downsampling cause a bit of input lag? I tried 1440p and 1800p and while the image looks fantastic, I swear the controls feel less responsive than when I was running at 1080p.
 

riflen

Member
I haven't looked into downsampling too much because I have a 120hz monitor (1080p, DVI-D dual link), but I'm curious what the bandwidth limits would be while remaining at 120hz? If I had to go down to 60hz, is the windows setting what I'd ultimately have to change every time?

Well according to wikipedia, the bandwidth of Dual-Link DVI is limited only by the copper in the cable and the source device. In the real world, the electronics in the display will also have a limit of some kind. Basically, it varies.

I've found with my display the highest resolution and rate I can achieve with Dual-Link DVI is 1920x1200 @ 120Hz (I have an old Samsung 2233 which is a 1680x1050 panel).

I've been able to get it to down-sample these resolutions and rates:
1920x1200 @ 120Hz
2560x1600 @ 60Hz
3360x2100 @ 60Hz

Assuming you're using an nvidia GPU, there's no need to change a setting every time. You create your custom resolutions, they are saved and can be selected in game or Windows.
 

Levyne

Banned
I have a really elementary question about downsampling.

I was playing Bioshock infinite at 1900x1200 downsampled from I think 2850x1800. Everything looked good to me but the HUD and menus were just unusable so I just went back to playing it at the monitor resolution. Is that just something you have to deal with?
 

Thorgal

Member
I have a really elementary question about downsampling.

I was playing Bioshock infinite at 1900x1200 downsampled from I think 2850x1800. Everything looked good to me but the HUD and menus were just unusable so I just went back to playing it at the monitor resolution. Is that just something you have to deal with?

You mean the HUD and everything becomes smaller ?
Thats normal .

moqt games automatically scale your HUD correctly but for some . like Bioshock infinite . they don't .

Luckily , for Bioshock : infinite . there is a fix for that .

From the performance thread :


Scale HUD: Navigate to (My) Documents\my games\BioShock Infinite\XGame\Config and open XUI.ini. Find the MaxResolutionUpScale cvar and adjust it according to your resolution (e.g. 0.5 works well for 2560x1600).
 
Followed the directions in the OP and the "Create Custom Resolution" button is greyed out (gtx 670). I was able to downsample a while ago using my set up, so I'm not sure why. Is it because I'm on the 337.50 beta drivers?
 
Q

Queen of Hunting

Unconfirmed Member
my only problem with downsampling is it seems to change my brightness to resally dark ):
 
No expert but from my experience, whenever downsampling made everything too dark, I had to change from RGB to ycbcr, or if you can, try RGB limited.
 
pc monitor
Sorry, I should have asked if you were using HDMI or DVI. Nvidia drivers have had this issue for a while where they would output Limited RGB values when using standard TV resolutions over HDMI like 1080p, 720p, etc. As soon as you downsample using non standard resolutions, it reverts back to Full RGB range.

Solutions:

1. If using a PC monitor, switch to using a DVI cable, you should notice no difference when downsampling.

2. If you're sticking with HDMI then download the RGB Full/Limited Range Toggler, set it to Full Range and calibrate your monitor.
http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=83
 

UrbanRats

Member
Sorry, I should have asked if you were using HDMI or DVI. Nvidia drivers have had this issue for a while where they would output Limited RGB values when using standard TV resolutions over HDMI like 1080p, 720p, etc. As soon as you downsample using non standard resolutions, it reverts back to Full RGB range.

Solutions:

1. If using a PC monitor, switch to using a DVI cable, you should notice no difference when downsampling.

2. If you're sticking with HDMI then download the RGB Full/Limited Range Toggler, set it to Full Range and calibrate your monitor.
http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=83
Kind of unrelated, but could this possibly be why, since i've changed from an ATI 5850 to an EVGA 780, whenever i use my PlasmaTV as a screen, everything is much much darker? I thought the TV settings screwed up, but they were the exact same i had calibrated.
Made watching some VOD movies very hard, same with games (didn't downsample).

Unfortunately i haven't had time to test the TV with much else (ps3, brd player etc)..
 

Ultryx

Member
No expert but from my experience, whenever downsampling made everything too dark, I had to change from RGB to ycbcr, or if you can, try RGB limited.

I was going to do that, but I downloaded that program someone else posted and ran it to edit the file for the drivers. I run a second monitor to my HDTV sometimes, but usually have it set off so Windows is only displaying my main LED monitor. I unplugged that also. These may be unrelated, but the darkness seems to be gone now.

Onward and upwards!
 

Marceles

Member
Thanks for the tutorial, I was able to do 3840 x 2160p @ 60fps. I don't think I experienced the input lag mentioned but the mouse movement felt like it was slower. I guess because it has to travel further? I don't know

WzCdHdl.jpg
 

ecosse_011172

Junior Member
I have a GTX670 and use a Panasonic TX-P65VT50 and thought that I couldn't supersample but now get the impression that this is incorrect.
With DS2 now here I'm very tempted to give it a go...
 

industrian

will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
My thanks go out to the OP for this guide. I've been testing my 750 Ti at 1440p with some (relatively) older games. The image quality is fantastic with no noticeable framerate hiccups.
 
So I've been messing around with this and it works great on CS GO and Sir, You Are Being Hunted (sadly it doesn't seem to work with Dota 2 even though that's the only game I really play a lot anymore but oh well) the main problem is that the steam overlay is now super small and hard to use :(

But oh well thanks for the guide! CS GO has never looked better.
 

hitgirl

Member
Can someone help me out. In my Nvidia Control panel I cannot select "Perform Scaling" to GPU, it's only got Display. My TV is a panasonic plasma. I found some info on if I set up EDID Override on my PC it should change that, but I cannot find a tutorial on it.
 

molnizzle

Member
Can someone help me out. In my Nvidia Control panel I cannot select "Perform Scaling" to GPU, it's only got Display. My TV is a panasonic plasma. I found some info on if I set up EDID Override on my PC it should change that, but I cannot find a tutorial on it.

Same here. It seems as if this downsampling thing is really only viable on desktop monitors over DVI connection. I really wish that the OP had been clearer on that.

I also have a Panny plasma and I've even able to add custom resolutions of 2400x1350 (1.25x 1080p) and 2880x1620 (1.5x 1080p). Anything else gives me a black screen. Scaling is still set to "display" since that's the only option available.

I don't use either resolution though as my screen gets really dark on anything other than 1080p. I read about possibly using a different color profile but fuck that, my TV is immaculately calibrated and I use like 5 other devices on it besides the PC.

Too bad.
 

hitgirl

Member
Same here. It seems as if this downsampling thing is really only viable on desktop monitors over DVI connection. I really wish that the OP had been clearer on that.

I also have a Panny plasma and I've even able to add custom resolutions of 2400x1350 (1.25x 1080p) and 2880x1620 (1.5x 1080p). Anything else gives me a black screen. Scaling is still set to "display" since that's the only option available.

I don't use either resolution though as my screen gets really dark on anything other than 1080p. I read about possibly using a different color profile but fuck that, my TV is immaculately calibrated and I use like 5 other devices on it besides the PC.

Too bad.

Thank you for the information. That sure is interesting. Maybe we can use Durante's Dark Souls II tool on all games then. Because I've been using that tool and downsampling from 4k without the need of changing color profiles, works perfectly. I'm going to try it out now on Burnout Paradise.

Edit - It worked beautifully. Awesome :)
 

molnizzle

Member
Thank you for the information. That sure is interesting. Maybe we can use Durante's Dark Souls II tool on all games then. Because I've been using that tool and downsampling from 4k without the need of changing color profiles, works perfectly. I'm going to try it out now on Burnout Paradise.

Edit - It worked beautifully. Awesome :)

Yeah, I 'm currently playing Dark Souls I at 2880x1620 using DSfix and it's working great. I'm just waiting for GeDoSaTo to start supporting more games before I really dive into it. I really want it for The Witcher 2. =P

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EXPLAIN ��
 

Alo81

Low Poly Gynecologist
Yeah, I 'm currently playing Dark Souls I at 2880x1620 using DSfix and it's working great. I'm just waiting for GeDoSaTo to start supporting more games before I really dive into it. I really want it for The Witcher 2. =P



EXPLAIN ��

Have my PC connected to my TV through HDMI. It just works for me. 40" 60hz Samsung TV .
 

Hooks

Member
3840 x 2160 works fine but 3600 x 2025 goes black every 10 seconds? Why!
BenQ XL2411T dual link dvi.
 

Vinlaen

Member
Does anybody know if this method of downscaling would work for Steam In-Home Streaming?

For example, my desktop monitor is only 1080p, but my MacBook Retina is 2560x1600.

I'd love to test streaming this type of resolution from my PC to my MacBook using Steam In-Home Streaming.

The GPU is actually rendering 1600p (using the guide in the first post) and so Steam should be encoding/capturing the 1600p framebuffer, right? So... this should work? (aside from the hit on CPU usage for encoding and network bandwidth, etc)
 

Faith

Member
I bought a displayport cable because I thought that I could set higher resolutions with it, but it doesn't work. I have a LG 29EB73-P with a native resolution of 2560x1080. 3200x1350 @60Hz is as far as I can go, everything over it doesn't work.

I thought displayport supports 4K @60hz? I would like to set 3840x1620 @60hz.
 
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