[scitek]

Update: Black Zero over at Guru3D put together a more thorough guide that will likely be updated from here on. I recommend checking it out if you have any questions.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366244



Before I start, I use a base resolution of 1080p, so I've only tested it at that resolution, and in Windows 7. It should work with other resolutions, though.

I want to give all the credit to this motherfucker over here, Mr. Lolman. It's amazingly simple and it works. (It's in German, and I don't speak German, but I was able to figure it out pretty easily.)

First, make sure GPU scaling is OFF. (seems backwards, I know)



Basically, you download his little program, AMDdownsamplingGUI (aptly named) here, then open the .jar file, click "Erstellen," and you'll see:



Then change the following numbers to 2560x1440 (NOTE: In order to properly downsample the image, you have to first select 2560x1440. I'll explain a bit more below) then click "OK" to create the resolution.



Now, open up your display properties and you should have the new resolution in your list.



Clicked "Advanced settings" and uncheck this box:



or you'll get this message.

Now, select the new resolution and your desktop should scale properly. You can now start a game in 2560x1440 and it will be downsampled accordingly.

Now, if you're wanting a higher resolution, or a proper 16:9 resolution such as 2880x1620, you can repeat the steps above to create that resolution, but to get it to scale properly you must first choose 2560x1440, then from there selecting the 16:9 resolution will work.

The program was designed with 2560 in mind, from what I gather, so that's just how it works. If you choose 2880x1620 (for example) first, you'll only see a corner of your desktop as the image won't be properly scaled.

IMPORTANT: Before you shut down Windows, make sure your resolution's not higher than 2560x1440 or you'll get a black screen upon restart. If that happens, just hit F8 and boot into 640x480.

Try it out and share your experiences below. The more feedback the better.

I uploaded it to another place that doesn't have ads or shitty click throughs to get it: http://minus.com/mAcc3RHPQ/

Added new link, thanks Tess3ract

[that1dude24]

awesome, i've always wanted that feature on amd cards!

definitely will give this a try.

[Sykotik]

Awesome. Using 2560x1600 on my display, works great. Thanks a lot for sharing.

[Stallion Free]

One of the best things about modern PC gaming.

[dream]

So what's the benefit of this? Supersampled AA?

[MRORANGE]

is it possible to see some downsampling screenshots?

[Atilac]

Why is this a good thing?

[ultim8p00]

why should I care?

[Atilac]

So what's the benefit of this? Supersampled AA?

You can already force supersampling through the catalyst.

[Stallion Free]

So what's the benefit of this? Supersampled AA?

Yeah, pretty much, but without having to worry about compatibilities.

[Minamu]

Will this make games like Guild Wars 2 not look borked when I have a desktop resolution of 1080p but want 720p in the game?

[Perfect Cha0s]

This may be a dumb question, but how will this impact games? Can it basically make easy-to-run games look a lot better without noticeable performance hits, and make harder-to-run games impossible to play at the upscaled res?

[scitek]

You can already force supersampling through the catalyst.

AMD's supersampling is usually blurry as shit, and messing with the LOD settings in RadeonPro rarely helps. A lot of games don't allow forcing AA through drivers because rather than try to get them working, they simply disable the function altogether. So for those games, this is at least an option.

This may be a dumb question, but how will this impact games? Can it basically make easy-to-run games look a lot better without noticeable performance hits, and make harder-to-run games impossible to play at the upscaled res?

Yes to both. Downsampling from 2560x1440 drops Crysis 2 (DX11 w/tessellation off) from ~50fps to the high 30s for me, so it's not unplayable, but it's definitely a hit. Dead Space 2, however, I can maintain 60fps 90% of the time, and still get rid of a lot of jaggies.

[Stallion Free]

Why is this a good thing?

You can already force supersampling through the catalyst.

Super sampling is far from perfect, especially on ATI cards and the performance hit can be absurd in certain games. This approach has vastly superior compatibility and a much smaller performance hit by comparison.

why should I care?

Do you care about image quality?

[Elsolar]

This seems a bit extreme. Do you AMD guys not have anything equivalent to Nvidia Inspector you can use to force AA? Or do you just find joy in overkilling jaggies? And wouldn't this cause UI elements to become blurry and small?

[Easy_D]

Wait, so super sampling with higher comptability AND better performance? Thanks for posting this dude. I mean can't even run SSAA in Hitman Blood Money without the framerate going from way over 60 to about 30.

And Elsolar, GUI elements shouldn't really be affected. If you take an image, zoom it up (without doing anything else) then shrink it down to its original size, it ought to look the same.

So, rendering at whatever high ass resolution, then downscaling it to 720p, the GUI should look the same as it would if you just ran a native 720, if I understand my things correctly.

It's not like when you scale from a low resolution to a high resolution, that's when blurring occurs.

[Elsolar]

And Elsolar, GUI elements shouldn't really be affected. If you take an image, zoom it up (without doing anything else) then shrink it down to its original size, it ought to look the same.

But you're not "zooming it up", you're just shrinking it down. GUI elements usually don't scale with resolution, something that's 200px by 200px at 800x600 is still going to be 200px by 200px at 1920x1080. So by rendering the game in a higher resolution and filtering it down to a lower resolution, the GUI is going to look compressed and gross.

[intheinbetween]

well I did all the steps and it seems my display only admits 1920x1200 at max :\

[BigTnaples]

Nice.

Although CCC stopped working when I installed windows 8 the other day.


"No settings can currently be changed by CCC at this time"

[Durante]

Actually, real supersampling AA, when implemented correctly, is superior to downsampling. This is because downsampling is basically equivalent to ordered grid supersampling, while SGSSAA uses a sparse grid, which achieves superior anti-aliasing performance across all edge angles.

Downsampling is very useful for games where you can't force real SGSSAA though (which I understand to be even more common on AMD than NV).

But you're not "zooming it up", you're just shrinking it down. GUI elements usually don't scale with resolution, something that's 200px by 200px at 800x600 is still going to be 200px by 200px at 1920x1080.

I don't think that's the case for modern games. Lots of them do scale the UI.

[Easy_D]

But you're not "zooming it up", you're just shrinking it down. GUI elements usually don't scale with resolution, something that's 200px by 200px at 800x600 is still going to be 200px by 200px at 1920x1080. So by rendering the game in a higher resolution and filtering it down to a lower resolution, the GUI is going to look compressed and gross.

Right, so the GUI's scale stays the same, regardless, then shrinks down with the downsampling? That makes sense. I obviously didn't have my facts straight :p. I should look things up before posting next time. Or use the powerful tool known as logic. I feel like a dumbass :lol

[derFeef]

YES! Thank you good sir for bringing that up. So awesome.

edit: it's not working for me - the resolution shows up, but I can't change into it as it gives me an error message.

[scitek]

YES! Thank you good sir for bringing that up. So awesome. edit: it's not working for me - the resolution shows up, but I can't change into it as it gives me an error message.

Try going into Advanced Settings in the screen resolution box and uncheck "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display".

[SLV]

Whoa i did not know about this ! Did it with my Nvidia card, and older games that do not have windowed option, rather than stretching from 4:3 to 16:9, now have black bars ! BEST THING EVER !

[derFeef]

Try going into Advanced Settings in the screen resolution box and uncheck "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display".

that did it! thanks :)

it's so awesome.... without any compatibilities issues.

[Metalmurphy]

Hum, I can't find that GPU scaling option on my CCC?

Are there any prerequisites for this?

[The Janitor]

What program am I supposed to open the .jar file with? Cause I can only open it with Winrar and that only takes me to the files within

[Stop It]

Bah, mine just doesn't let me, and the checkbox for "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" is blanked out, help? Using a Radeon 7850 connected via HDMI (Possibly the issue here?) to a Sony 32" HDTV.

[derFeef]

What program am I supposed to open the .jar file with? Cause I can only open it with Winrar and that only takes me to the files within

Java ;)
http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

edit: also you do not need to have your desktop resolution run at the desired downsampled resolution it seems. Just set the games reolution higher. Works good so far.

[The Janitor]

Works great, but I made the mistake of al-tabbing out of a game with gave me BSOD. I get the black screen upon start but not sure how exactly to change the resolution?

[scitek]

is it possible to see some downsampling screenshots?

Here's a few quick ones I took. Downsampled from 1440p.

Crysis 2 benefits on the fences and smaller details the most. The difference in lighting is from pausing/unpausing. Sorry.

Original


Downsampled


Dead Space 2

Original


Downsampled


Original


Downsampled

Works great, but I made the mistake of al-tabbing out of a game with gave me BSOD. I get the black screen upon start but not sure how exactly to change the resolution?

Hit F8 during startup as if you were going into Safe Mode. There's an option there to start in 640x480.

[Metalmurphy]

Ok... how do I get this to reset to previous settings? lol


It didn't work and now windows doesn't let me change the resolution. It's stuck at 1280x1024.

[derFeef]

Ok... how do I get this to reset to previous settings? lol It didn't work and now windows doesn't let me change the resolution. It's stuck at 1280x1024.

You can delete the custom resolutions within the program. Just select them at the top and hit "Löschen"

@scitek - do you resample the pics with an image editing tool afterwards to get to the base reolution? It kinda defeats the purpose of it I think but I have no idea how to take screenshots of the downsampled shot.

[The Janitor]

Hit F8 during startup as if you were going into Safe Mode. There's an option there to start in 640x480.

Do you mean anytime or at a certain time? Cause I dont get that option, I just get the Start in safe mode options

[scitek]

@scitek - do you resample the pics with an image editing tool afterwards to get to the base reolution? It kinda defeats the purpose of it I think but I have no idea how to take screenshots of the downsampled shot.

Yeah. I'm not doing anything other than resizing them, though.

Do you mean anytime or at a certain time? Cause I dont get that option, I just get the Start in safe mode options

Oh, are you not using Win7?

[The Janitor]

Oh, are you not using Win7?

I am, never seen that option before. I'm able too start in safe mode but any resolution changes I make there wont stick. Probably cause the AMD drivers and settings aren't loaded in safe mode

[derFeef]

I am, never seen that option before. I'm able too start in safe mode but any resolution changes I make there wont stick. Probably cause the AMD drivers and settings aren't loaded in safe mode

Hmm, nah, there should be an option in the "F8" menu (sorry no idea how its called).
"Enable low resolution"

[Metalmurphy]

You can delete the custom resolutions within the program. Just select them at the top and hit "Löschen" @scitek - do you resample the pics with an image editing tool afterwards to get to the base reolution? It kinda defeats the purpose of it I think but I have no idea how to take screenshots of the downsampled shot.

lol, too late. Ended up reinstalling the drivers.


Does anyone know if this can work with a 16:10 resolution? Like 2560×1600 downsampled to 1440x900?

[The Janitor]

Okay I found that option now, but still get the black screen :/

[derFeef]

Does anyone know if this can work with a 16:10 resolution? Like 2560×1600 downsampled to 1440x900?

I do it with 16:10, but like scitek said you need to first set up the 2560x1440 resolution, and then add 2560x1600.

[The Janitor]

Nevermind fixed it, turns out somehow my HDTV had been set as the only display after selecting the lowres mode

[Metalmurphy]

I do it with 16:10, but like scitek said you need to first set up the 2560x1440 resolution, and then add 2560x1600.

I tried that but when I choose either of them I get some low 4:3 resolution instead with black borders.

Just to make sure I'm doing it right.

1) Add 2560x1440 with the java program
2) Add 2560x1600 with the java program
3) Go to screen resolution and switch to 2560x1600

Is that it?

[derFeef]

Yes, it should work like that. Do you have the GPU scaling still on?

[jett]

Here's a few quick ones I took. Downsampled from 1440p. Hit F8 during startup as if you were going into Safe Mode. There's an option there to start in 640x480.

Gotta say according your screenshots the difference is very slight.

[Sophia]

Trying to get it to go to 2880x1620 causes Windows to say it can't switch to that resolution. :\

2560x1440 works however.

[derFeef]

Gotta say according your screenshots the difference is very slight.

Oh it is. But the thing is, in games where FXAA is the only option and shit is still flickering like crazy, the downampled picture looks much cleaner and sharper on screen, especially in motion. You can't really capture that in screenshots. I wanted that option so much and now it's possible ... heaven! Thanks to the German duder :)

[Metalmurphy]

Yes, it should work like that. Do you have the GPU scaling still on?

Well I don't even have the option on my CCC so I "assumed" it's off by default and I can't turn it on.

[jett]

Oh it is. But the thing is, in games where FXAA is the only option and shit is still flickering like crazy, the downampled picture looks much cleaner and sharper on screen, especially in motion. You can't really capture that in screenshots. I wanted that option so much and now it's possible ... heaven! Thanks to the German duder :)

His Dead Space 2 screen looks blurrier actually...

[scitek]

Gotta say according your screenshots the difference is very slight.

It varies from game to game, and it's not worth the performance cost in most cases, to be perfectly honest. It's just an option for those games that don't allow AA at all (AMD has a bad habit of doing this). Dead Space 2 is one I use it for because, if you do manage to get proper AA working through drivers, things like dynamic shadows no longer work.

[The Janitor]

I get a BSOD everytime I exit a game, is it happening to anyone else or is it just me?