UltraHD or 3200p downscaled to 1600p?

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce' started by Pete J, Apr 11, 2015.

?

Which resolution should I use?

  1. UltraHD - fine pixel pitch FTW

    9 vote(s)
    81.8%
  2. 3200p downscaled to 1600p - aliasing can go screw itself

    2 vote(s)
    18.2%
  1. Pete J

    Pete J Master Guru

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    I'm having a true first world problem.

    I'm lucky enough to own a 32" UltraHD screen (Asus PQ321QE) and a 30" 1600p screen (Dell 3007 WFP-HC). As you are no doubt aware, Nvidia have brought out DSR, which can actually allow me to render at 5120x3200 and then downscale to 2560x1600. And I can't make up my mind which I prefer!

    UltraHD advantages:

    Less performance demanding* (never thought I'd write that!)
    Fine pixel pitch allows fine details to really come out
    Beautiful colours

    UltraHD disadvantages:

    Still can notice 'shimmering' antialiasing effect when in motion
    Very slight lag (not enough for me to care)
    Can get 'split' screen issues at low framerates

    3200p advantages:

    No 'shimmering' antialiasing effect
    Holy crap! I'm rendering at 3200p!
    More 'stable' than UltraHD
    Game doesn't support AA? Now it does!
    No lag

    3200p disadvantages:

    Lower pixel density means you can see individual pixels when concentrating
    Using it means my nice UltraHD monitor goes to waste
    Colours not quite as good as UltraHD monitor (though still damn good!)
    More performance demanding*
    Stupidly small writing / HUD scaling

    *For now, don't worry about performance issues - I have a solution to that.

    Of course, if Nvidia would just release 8K downscaling, this would be a much easier dilemma to solve.

    Let me know your thoughts peeps!
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2015
  2. Dorlor

    Dorlor Guest

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    Yeah, i love 4x downsampling aswell... having the game render 4 pixels pr actual pixel on your monitor completely removes aliasing.

    But id still go for the extra detail the 4k monitor provides :)
     
  3. Pete J

    Pete J Master Guru

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    I'm thinking I agree with you. I've taken some comparative images below but only those with an UltraHD screen or above will be able to tell the difference - click on them for the high res versions.

    4K Image 1
    [​IMG]

    3200p Image 1 (cropped to 2880p)
    [​IMG]

    4K Image 1
    [​IMG]

    3200p Image 2 (cropped to 2880p)
    [​IMG]

    The fencing is slightly better in the 3200p shots, but only the UltraHD monitor can show the difference (the signs are also ever so slightly sharper). The images appear the same on a 1600p screen. However, as mentioned, a moving image on the 1600p doesn't show antialiasing artifacts, presumably for the very reason that it is impossible to tell the static images apart on a 1600p screen.

    Grr!
     
  4. Dorlor

    Dorlor Guest

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    Yeah, the 4 pixels rendered pr 1 shown pixel is just amazing for AA, but its a very high performance cost, for not THAT big a visual difference imo.

    Anyways using nvidia's control panel fxaa should more or less completely eliminate the shimmering on the UHD monitor, without giving noticable blur :)

    But else you could still use the 4k monitor together with DSR 1.5 for instance - would give you close to the same rendering resolution as on the 1600p screen using dsr 4.0 , but with a screen that could better show the difference :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2015

  5. Pete J

    Pete J Master Guru

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    I would love to but I can't get DSR to activate when I have my UltraHD screen attached. I know there are other methods but they can only be used on DX9 games.

    Hmm, I shall activate FXAA on top of any AA applied and see if it makes things better.
     
  6. Dorlor

    Dorlor Guest

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    Really? Cause you can boost res above 4k with dsr, as you are doing yourself aswell with 5k on your 1600p screen.

    Applying the nvidia control panel fxaa SHOULD remove most if not all shimmering when using it on a native 4k screen :)
     
  7. Pete J

    Pete J Master Guru

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    Well, it's like this: I have one rig with the 1600p screen, which allows me to activate DSR. On my main rig with the UltraHD monitor attached, the DSR option is removed from the Nvidia control panel. However, this may be due to the fact that I also have a secondary screen attached - this is necessary as the UltraHD monitor uses Displayport 1.2 and therefore won't 'boot' until Windows is at the log in screen.

    Does anyone reading have a single UltraHD monitor or screen that uses Displayport 1.3 or HDMI 2.0? Does this solve the problem of having to have a secondary monitor attached?
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2015
  8. Dorlor

    Dorlor Guest

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    Well, the login screen to Windows is the first time you really need to use the monitor, unless youre doing bios setup, no?

    If so, id simply pull off that secondary screen, and see if you can make it Work with dsr on that 4k screen :)
     
  9. Pete J

    Pete J Master Guru

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    Unfortunately the PC won't even boot unless my secondary screen is attached, so that's a no go.
     
  10. Dorlor

    Dorlor Guest

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    Yeah, thats a tough one then :/

    Did you try forcing fxaa through nvidia control panel on the 4k screen ?
     

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