-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Downsampling, a simple method for making your pc-games look better.
- Thread starter Corky
- Start date
TheVampire
Banned
So I just bought myself a new HDTV for christmas.
Its a SONY 55" FULL HD 3D SMART LED-LCD TV - KDL55W900A
I have it connected to my pc using a HDMI cable and this tv also doesn't have that GPU option under Perform Scaling On
What gives?
Its a SONY 55" FULL HD 3D SMART LED-LCD TV - KDL55W900A
I have it connected to my pc using a HDMI cable and this tv also doesn't have that GPU option under Perform Scaling On
What gives?
Is it possible to downsample when using multi-monitor setups? For example, a secondary monitor with a different resolution than my primary (primary is 16:9, secondary is not) and have a web browser and other applications open on the secondary?
The OP states you must use an nVidia card, but I CTRL+F'd "ATI " on multiple pages and didn't really find a good tutorial for this. Is there a good way to do this on ATI cards or are you bust without nVidia?
Also, would people viewing a downsampled game on a videogame live stream website notice a difference? Most of these sites (IE; twitch) have people viewing in a small window that is not full screen - I'd imagine they wouldn't notice much, is this true?
The OP states you must use an nVidia card, but I CTRL+F'd "ATI " on multiple pages and didn't really find a good tutorial for this. Is there a good way to do this on ATI cards or are you bust without nVidia?
Also, would people viewing a downsampled game on a videogame live stream website notice a difference? Most of these sites (IE; twitch) have people viewing in a small window that is not full screen - I'd imagine they wouldn't notice much, is this true?
From what I've read, Nvidia control panel doesn't enable GPU scaling for HDMI connections, or if it does, it's very picky about it.
Anyways, I have the same TV and was able to get downsampling working. First I had to make the Sony the primary display (no clone mode), then I had to recreate the custom resolution for the TV. GPU scaling still won't appear as an option, but if I start a game in my custom resolution I can clearly see the downsampling working since the Steam UI and mouse cursor become tiny. I suspect the GPU is doing the scaling anyways since the TV reports a 1080p signal, and the TV manual doesn't mention support for any resolutions past 1080p.
Piercedveil
Member
Got a new monitor for Christmas and I just had Skyrim running at 3200 x 1800.
Looks insane. Thanks for the guide! Very simple to do.
Looks insane. Thanks for the guide! Very simple to do.
If I'm downsampling from 4k on a 1080p monitor, do I need to use DisplayPort in order to reach 60fps or is DVI-D fine? I assume the information being sent to the monitor is still 1080p, so DVI-D should still be capable of 60hz, no?
I'm currently debating picking up a second 780 specifically for 4k gaming. I currently get 25-30fps on most newish games at 4k. If I can pick up a second and run at 45-60, I'd be ecstatic.
I'm currently debating picking up a second 780 specifically for 4k gaming. I currently get 25-30fps on most newish games at 4k. If I can pick up a second and run at 45-60, I'd be ecstatic.
Very. You're running the game at a much higher resolution than you would otherwise.
demosthenes
Member
Nevermind I read the OP more. I don't think I was experiencing the 1/N rule though on the below:
I played Tomb Raider (2013) with everything maxed and running it at 1620 and was taking a bit of a hit on FPS in some cases.
I played Tomb Raider (2013) with everything maxed and running it at 1620 and was taking a bit of a hit on FPS in some cases.
It depends very much on what car you have and what game you are playing and of course at what resolution .
For example devil may cry 4 .
I can crank that game up to 3200x1800p and it will still run at 60 FPS with some minor dips on my 660.
Now if i where to do that whit Metro last light or Crysis 3 my FPS would plummet to 20 fps .
demosthenes
Member
Well that makes sense to me. DMC4 came out 6 years ago now? 5?
Basically the more graphic intensive the game is or how many modern effects it uses or how much crazy shit goes on on your screen .he harsher your drop will be .
Cizeta-Moroder
Banned
I'm eyeing the release notes of Nvidia 332.21 drivers while downloading, and there seems to be custom resolutions support for optimus systems. Is this new?
scottzorus
Neo Member
Wondering if the Asus VG248QE can downsample to 1440p and 4k without issue. Also can it do this with Lightboost? Anyone tried this, just want to make sure, was looking at a couple different monitors.
whitemex88
Member
Just a quick Question. I just got my first high end GPU (770) last week and just worked up the courage to downsample (1440p) this week, I was just wondering if there was a way to enlarge the HUD in games or even something like MSI Afterburner on screen monitor? or am I just destined to squint 3 inches from the screen?
Auto-Reply
Member
Why do my card passes the tests of higher resolutions but when i change the res in the game options i get a black screen and i have to reset my pc? I only tried this with Dear Esther lol.... maybe i should try some more but somehow i get the feeling that i will break something in the end.
I see. Might consider it for DOTA 2.
I bit the bullet and decided to splash the cash on a new GFX card upgrade (it was this or a PS4, I think I made the right choice given the PS4's fairly slim lineup of quality games this year), I am now the proud new owner of an EVGA GTX 780Ti SC... a nice upgrade from my GTX 580. Should arrive sometime today.
I bought it with the intention of doing some serious downsampling to improve IQ, my native monitor res is only 1080p, so I reckon I should be able to easily downsample most games from 1440p without too much of a performance hit.
Just a couple of questions for a downsampling noob:
a) Should I turn off all in game AA settings when using a custom resolution via the Nvidia CP to downsample?
b) Is it easy to setup downsampling via the GPU scaling method in Nvidia CP these days whilst using HDMI? I seem to recall some people saying the option is unavailable when your monitor/TV is connected via HDMI...
c) Lastly, most of the downsampling guides I have read suggest that some monitors/displays are incompatible with displaying custom resolutions higher than their native resolution (ie screen goes black etc). I do not understand why this is an issue. I thought downsampling essentially renders the game image at a much higher resolution internally on the GPU(eg. 1440p), then resizes it down to your monitors native resolution(eg 1080p) way before the monitor is even asked to display it? If this is the case... then the monitor surely still just thinks it is displaying a 1080p/native image, then what am I missing?
Thanks GAF.
I bought it with the intention of doing some serious downsampling to improve IQ, my native monitor res is only 1080p, so I reckon I should be able to easily downsample most games from 1440p without too much of a performance hit.
Just a couple of questions for a downsampling noob:
a) Should I turn off all in game AA settings when using a custom resolution via the Nvidia CP to downsample?
b) Is it easy to setup downsampling via the GPU scaling method in Nvidia CP these days whilst using HDMI? I seem to recall some people saying the option is unavailable when your monitor/TV is connected via HDMI...
c) Lastly, most of the downsampling guides I have read suggest that some monitors/displays are incompatible with displaying custom resolutions higher than their native resolution (ie screen goes black etc). I do not understand why this is an issue. I thought downsampling essentially renders the game image at a much higher resolution internally on the GPU(eg. 1440p), then resizes it down to your monitors native resolution(eg 1080p) way before the monitor is even asked to display it? If this is the case... then the monitor surely still just thinks it is displaying a 1080p/native image, then what am I missing?
Thanks GAF.
For some reason 3200x1800 works on my desktop with a weaker nvidia card, but does not on a better computer hooked up to the TV with a better nvidia card. No idea why not when the GPU is set to do all the scaling to 1080p. It just shows a blank screen after entering the custom resolution and hitting the "test" button. Disappointing since it's my main gaming setup.
Any ideas what i might be missing?
Any ideas what i might be missing?
Dictator93
Member
Ok, thanks. Yeah, I figured it was just my TV being quirky, but thought having the GPU scale everything to 1080p 60Hz alleviated any issues. Oh well.
Chance Hale
Member
My head isn't made for math so what would be 16:10 resolutions after 2880x1800 but before 4K? (3840x2400)
Edit: Another thread pointed me out to the formula one uses for it, I feel silly.
Edit: Another thread pointed me out to the formula one uses for it, I feel silly.
Well i have set up on my 16:10
1980x1200
2880x1800
3840x2400
but i did have 3200x2000 in between but that really played havoc with text and edges for me.
So I was hoping somebody could answer some downsampling questions for me.
Basically, I'm confused as to how SMAA/FXAA works in conjunction with it. Typically, I've been just downsampling and cranking everything I can to high. But I've heard that downsampling can negate the effects of SMAA/FXAA to the point where it looks better to just downsample and disable or lower SMAA/FXAA settings. Can someone explain this to me?
Also, if that's true. What are typically the best SMAA/FXAA settings for both 1440P and 1800P?
Basically, I'm confused as to how SMAA/FXAA works in conjunction with it. Typically, I've been just downsampling and cranking everything I can to high. But I've heard that downsampling can negate the effects of SMAA/FXAA to the point where it looks better to just downsample and disable or lower SMAA/FXAA settings. Can someone explain this to me?
Also, if that's true. What are typically the best SMAA/FXAA settings for both 1440P and 1800P?
Downsampling should happen just before image is sent to the screen, so resolve of in game AA methods happens before it in the large buffer and thus work properly.
Use best available method which you can run with decent framerate.
-
What is problematic is if games use MSAA and FXAA or MLAA, in this case the MSAA samples are resolved to screen resolution before post AA and hinder the effectiveness of post AA and even cause false positives. (wrong direction gradients etc.)
Chance Hale
Member
Any tips for adjusting the timing settings on a 16:10 monitor? The ones in the OP obviously don't do much good. Can run up to 4K at 30 hz without issues but can't get 60 hz to work over 2880x1800
What do you mean ?
Is there something you have trouble with to get downsampling working ?
Got a quick question. I just enabled downsampling last night for the first time and tried it out with Dead Space 2. Its lovely. But once I'm done playing, do I need to revert all my Nvidia Control Panel settings back to default? Or can I just leave it and then change the resolutions in-game as needed?
Barrow Roll
Member
Just leave it and change your resolutions in game. You'll have to re enable your custom resolutions if you perform a driver update though.
Cool, thanks.
One last thing, though - after taking a screenshot, is there any way(free, I don't have Photoshop) to resize the pictures to be 1920x1080 without any loss in quality?
PhilGPT
Member
Sanctuary
Member
This might seem like a ridiculously stupid question, but...
Once you setup your custom resolutions, and have the GPU doing the scaling, what happens when change the resolution of your desktop by right clicking, instead of simply leaving it at the native resolution and then downsampling via in game resolutions?
Same effect, but one is just more permanent until you switch it back? I just ended having to raise the resolution through the desktop before higher options were available in the Lords of Shadow 2 demo (it's the first game ever for me to require this). Until I know if there's any differences between the two methods, I'm just not going risk it for games that are wonky like that.
Once you setup your custom resolutions, and have the GPU doing the scaling, what happens when change the resolution of your desktop by right clicking, instead of simply leaving it at the native resolution and then downsampling via in game resolutions?
Same effect, but one is just more permanent until you switch it back? I just ended having to raise the resolution through the desktop before higher options were available in the Lords of Shadow 2 demo (it's the first game ever for me to require this). Until I know if there's any differences between the two methods, I'm just not going risk it for games that are wonky like that.
jediyoshi
Member
Nothing in particular, your desktop environment will just be running at that resolution instead. Just think of it like you running a resolution in Windows lower than what it is natively, in the opposite direction.
As soon as you run a game in fullscreen, anything on the desktop end gets thrown out the window.
Krusenstern
Banned
LoS 2 is an exception that you need to change your desktop resolution first for the game to enable more resolutions.
Usually you only need to set up the resolutions you want in the control panel and that's it. Then you can use them all ingame for the majority of games. No need to change your desktop resolution everytime. Same effect.
jim2point0
Banned
Reddit has so much to learn
After installing new drivers, I usually have all of my downsampling resolutions created within about 5 minutes. It's very simple.
After installing new drivers, I usually have all of my downsampling resolutions created within about 5 minutes. It's very simple.
Syphon Filter
Member
Can you do this for specific games? I don't see a program by program UI like you would in "manage by 3d settings".
Barrow Roll
Member
If you have everything setup properly then scaling is done on the GPU before being sent to the monitor (I assume) so it shouldn't damage your monitor in any way.