Nvidia and dithering controls..how to enable?

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce Drivers Section' started by jarablue, Feb 6, 2021.

  1. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    Yes, that's great too. Yet for SDR gaming, the gamut volume clamp via that driver API is more convenient, as it's set & forget, doesn't interfere with fullscreen/VRR etc. I also had a ~30% performance hit in games with DWM inject, whereas the novideo_srgb method is entirely without any costs. Achieving really fantastic (relatively spoken) results with own ICC profile here, why can't just every SDR display look that way out of the box...
     
    Robbo9999 likes this.
  2. Lurk

    Lurk Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    57
    GPU:
    PNY RTX4080 VertoOC
    Noob questions:
    are the settings applied automatically or do I have to restart?
    Does the exe need to run in the background?
    Also, how do I revert to default?

    thx in advance
     
  3. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    No restart required, change is persistent via registry (set via NVAPI, I suppose) and removed upon unticking the clamp checkbox in the program. Nothing needs to be running in background. When colors still look oversaturated with the clamp checkbox ticked, the chromaticity values provided by your display's EDID might be incorrect. The ones provided by my Lenovo G27q-20 are still a bit oversaturated, I get better results with own ICC profile via colorimeter (should generally always be true).
     
    Robbo9999 likes this.
  4. Lurk

    Lurk Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    57
    GPU:
    PNY RTX4080 VertoOC
    thx for your reply!
    On my monitor it's working pretty well, probably just a bit undersaturated in my case. Will give it a try with an ICC profile.
    Nice find!
     

  5. hemla

    hemla Master Guru

    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    27
    GPU:
    nvidia
    I'm not sure is it working properly here. Desktop colors are changing when using("clamp") and every mode is different. But when I am trying "Dithering" option there is zero effect when set to "enabled", "disabled", "default". Also tried all dithering combinations.
     
  6. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    I think like the other advanced options, the dithering setting is applied only upon closing the advanced config dialog. Though the only difference that you should notice is less/no banding in gradients. With 10 bit output selected in Nvidia control panel, it is enabled by default and there is also far less banding in the first place vs. color processing with 8 bit target and no dithering. A good gradient test picture is the AIDA 64 orange - black gradient. It is 8 bit and should only show the normal even 8 bit content banding, but no additional irregular banding. The latter is very easy to spot with that particular gradient.
     
  7. hemla

    hemla Master Guru

    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    27
    GPU:
    nvidia
    Could you link me to some picture that is worthy of being tested and on which dithering works for you? I have tried stuff from lagom.nl without success.
     
  8. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    Well, either install AIDA64, or e.g. use gradient test picture provided by rtings:
    https://www.rtings.com/images/test-materials/2016/gradient-16-bit.tif

    Note that dithering helps exactly zero against any banding when not doing color conversion like the gamut clamp of novideo_srgb. It doesn't fight banding, it only helps to avoid to create new one when doing color conversion. Really nothing more to say about it.
     
    fluidz likes this.
  9. janos666

    janos666 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    1,648
    Likes Received:
    405
    GPU:
    MSI RTX3080 10Gb
    Dithering is useful when you have a higher bit depth source than your display precision (which could be the result of some intermediate processing of a low bit depth image, including 1DLUT or 3DLUT processing). But it's deactivated for a reason when the source and the output are at the same precision and there is no intermediate processing (in that case, there is no benefit but there is additional dithering noise).

    If your display can't even handle 8bit sources then look for another one (or look into it's settings and try to find a "neutral" setting where no internal processing takes plae).
     
    fluidz likes this.
  10. CalinTM

    CalinTM Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    1,684
    Likes Received:
    18
    GPU:
    MSi GTX980 GAMING 1531mhz
    Im no expert, i have a 8 bit display with 10-bit frc. I could have color banding ?
     

  11. hemla

    hemla Master Guru

    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    27
    GPU:
    nvidia
    I don't think dithering works for me as I don't see any difference between it being enabled or disabled. I am on GTX1060 and Acer H233H monitor using Acer default *.icm profile which is normally set as default by Windows 10(but in my case I copied *.icm profile to novideo_srgb folder and renamed it). It seems that novideo_srgb works fine except for dithering option, as I can clearly see how colors change. Oddly, all I need is dithering force-enabled on everything as I like my current color settings, took me very long to adjust them so I got no color crushing/black isn't outright blue/all black-white square tests are visible and my colors are just bit washed but perfectly acceptable.

    I have also tried to run it in admin mode. Perhaps I should also restart driver/PC?
     
  12. Astyanax

    Astyanax Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    17,011
    Likes Received:
    7,352
    GPU:
    GTX 1080ti
    don't use acer icc profiles, they are configured badly.
     
    fluidz likes this.
  13. hemla

    hemla Master Guru

    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    27
    GPU:
    nvidia
    Very true, I've tried default sRGB2014.icc from ICC and it's totally superior. I've also tried *.icc profiles for different monitors and even CRTs and they look much better. But it still doesn't solve my dithering issue.
     
  14. Lurk

    Lurk Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    57
    GPU:
    PNY RTX4080 VertoOC
    Same here, I am using an icc profile created by windows native monitor calibration, and I can't see any difference at all, i.e. color separation remains equally visible regardless of bit depth or dithering method chosen (as per novideo_srgb available options).
     
  15. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    It is hard to guess what's the problem for you, especially since you two haven't mentioned banding once. Does the clamp introduce banding and the dithering options don't help? Or does the clamp not work at all? Also make sure you don't use Windows color management. It won't prevent novideo_srgb from working, but it would be counter-productive.
     

  16. Lurk

    Lurk Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    57
    GPU:
    PNY RTX4080 VertoOC
    I'll have to check w/out novideo_srgb clamp and see if the banding is less, equal or worse.
    In novideo_srgb I'm using an ICC profile I created through windows Color Calibration, which is also set as default color profile. Should I remove it from the Color Calibration interface?
    There are many variables involved to take into account.
    I should also mention that novideo_srgb calibration on my monitor has no discernible difference whether it's done based on EDID parameters or ICC profile, but this I recon is a consequence of my monitor having more than decent calibration out of the box, as per rtings' review.

    I also posted here:
    NoVideo sRGB: color calibration on drivers' level | guru3D Forums
     
  17. aufkrawall2

    aufkrawall2 Ancient Guru

    Messages:
    4,352
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    GPU:
    7800 XT Hellhound
    I don't think you should use an ICC profile that was created by Windows itself. It might not even contain the chromaticity values of your display's EDID (no idea) and the stuff you can change in Windows (gray balance and gamma) are likely done in abysmal precision/quality.

    Either use EDID chromaticity values or ICC profile shipped with your display. They can both be acceptable or garbage, there is no guarantee for anything.
    If you just want to adjust white point / gamma by yourself, use Calibration Tools instead of bad quality Windows options:
    https://bitbucket.org/CalibrationTools/calibration-tools/downloads/
    Ideally buy a colorimeter and do calibration with e.g. DisplayCal.

    Edit: Or download a proper calibration profile for your display that was provided by somebody else and see if it works well enough.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2022
  18. Lurk

    Lurk Master Guru

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    57
    GPU:
    PNY RTX4080 VertoOC
    thx, will eliminate the ICC profile I created through Windows Calibration, where I changed only gamma.
    My monitor came with an ICM profile, I guess it's interchangeable with ICC.
    Thx for your suggestions.
     
  19. Pinstripe

    Pinstripe Master Guru

    Messages:
    305
    Likes Received:
    62
    GPU:
    RX 7700 XT
    I also tried this tool and dithering changed nothing on my ViewSonic XG2402.
     
  20. EnthusiastX

    EnthusiastX Active Member

    Messages:
    53
    Likes Received:
    3
    GPU:
    EVGA RTX 3090
    That's nice! I got my 3DLUT files in madVR 3DLUT and ReShade PNG format, but not the ICM profiles. Is there any way to convert .3DLUT and .PNG formats to .CUBE or .TXT formats?
     

Share This Page