VR: DCS 2.1.1 U2 Gamma

[Cal.Iber]

After updating to DCS 2.1.1 Update 2 and using the new VR presets and adjusting the Gamma slider to 1.6, I decided to take the A-10C for a spin in the weapons practice and CAS missions.

 

Wow! What a difference!

 

Prior to gamma the HUD was almost completely washed out. Its much more readable now except against the bright sky (which may be realistic) and the gauges seem easier to read at a glance.

 

The biggest difference that hit me was in targeting. Part of it was simply being able to see the MFDs clearly, but subjectively both Mavericks and the Litening pod seem nicer/easier to pick out target contrast.

 

I think this change will really breathe some new life into VR pilots.

 

Three :thumbup: up!

[Bearfoot]

I tried it very briefly, going from 1.0 to 3.0, and could not say I noticed a difference with either the cockpit or landscape (Spit over Normandy). I do have deferred lighting off ... could that be the reason?

[Cal.Iber]

I tried it very briefly, going from 1.0 to 3.0, and could not say I noticed a difference with either the cockpit or landscape (Spit over Normandy). I do have deferred lighting off ... could that be the reason?

 

Very possible. The release notes mentioned that they updated the graphics presets, so the first thing I did was click the VR preset which sets deferred lighting on among other things. I didn't play with any other settings other than lowering gamma to 1.6 and setting VR pixel density to 1.5.

[hannibal]

FOR NVIDA USERS,

in previous threads, it was suggested to use AA and AF settings via the nivida control panel and turn off AA AF in game.. is this still the case in regards to performance?

[Jabbers_]

Deferred rendering is required for the Gamma slider to work.

 

As far as the AA AF settings in the nvidia control panel, from what I have seen and heard, this doesnt work.

[kunterbunt]

Deferred rendering is required for the Gamma slider to work.

 

As far as the AA AF settings in the nvidia control panel, from what I have seen and heard, this doesnt work.

 

 

 

That is also my verdict after several hours of testing with the oculus and NVIDIA card.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[aaron886]

I have the deferred shading on, but the gamma slider does nothing for HUD readability. I can make the world outside look marginally less like a nuclear blast, but the result is a cockpit too dark to read gauges. Seems to be unhelpful... I think the lightning of the Nevada map is the problem.

[kunterbunt]

I have the deferred shading on, but the gamma slider does nothing for HUD readability. I can make the world outside look marginally less like a nuclear blast, but the result is a cockpit too dark to read gauges. Seems to be unhelpful... I think the lightning of the Nevada map is the problem.

 

 

 

I currently fly m-2000 in Nevada map and can say that hud is much better than in 2.1. Yes, the cockpit is a bit dark and there is still a problem against the very light sky, but I believe that this is more realistic than before. It feels as if I wear sun glasses.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Frusheen]

The new slider with deferred lighting is definitely an improvement. Normandy looks very good. Unfortunately we still need to turn off MSAA to maintain at least 45fps so the jaggies and shimmering is pretty bad. Hopefully a fix for that will come sooner rather than later as the alpha progresses.

 

Overall it is definitely an improvement in VR.

[dburne]

The new slider with deferred lighting is definitely an improvement. Normandy looks very good. Unfortunately we still need to turn off MSAA to maintain at least 45fps so the jaggies and shimmering is pretty bad. Hopefully a fix for that will come sooner rather than later as the alpha progresses.

 

Overall it is definitely an improvement in VR.

 

I am hoping for an improvement here as well. I just can't deal with no AA or AF in VR, due to those jaggies and shimmering. So currently I can not even maintain 45 fps unless over nothing but water.

Interestingly, prior to this update, I easily maintained 45 fps for the most part with just occasional dip into upper 30's and even 90 fps over nothing but water.

 

I would rather deal with the minor stuttering than the jaggies/shimmering.

I am though loving the deferred shading with gamma at 1.3, Normandy is gorgeous.

Edited June 22, 2017 by dburne

[Scooternutz]

Give me smooth lines rather than weird lighting any day. The jaggies are so ugly. Hoping for fixes soon. :)

[Kayos]

I've only tried NTTR so far in the 2000C but when I turn the gamma down it makes everything in the cockpit dark. I can't even see the autopilot buttons. Outside looks much better though.

[Cal.Iber]

I ran some tests last night flying around Normandy with a couple different settings and I found that I could have acceptable framerates with MSAA on (4x) as long as pixel density was set to 1.0 (or vice-versa)

 

My (arguably very simplified) understanding with regards to pixel density is that its essentially brute-force rendering at a higher resolution (1.5 x 2160x1200 == 3240x1800, essentially the same as FSAA/SSAA) and then downsampling on the device, so I imagine adding MSAA to that is probably more than most modern video cards can handle well.

 

It seems strange in theory to try to run two separate anti-aliasing methods simultaneously (PD + MSAA). I only have a rudimentary understanding here though, so hopefully someone smarter than me can chime in and correct me if I'm misunderstanding.

[SkateZilla]

Dark Cockpit users, Try Turning off Global Cockpit Illumination.

 

might help a little bit.

[Kayos]

Dark Cockpit users, Try Turning off Global Cockpit Illumination.

 

might help a little bit.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a try tonight.

[Jamesp1]

Dark Cockpit users, Try Turning off Global Cockpit Illumination.

 

might help a little bit.

 

I tried that before: If you turn it off the cockpit no longer blocks light, so if you turn side-on to the sun, it will light up the side of your footwell for example.

 

I actually hated the new lighting until I worked out I needed this on, with shadows set to at least low.

 

With that cockpit lighting seems fine, it's just the overall lighting that is too strong. For example, in the Spitfire instant action Normandy landing mission, the pilot (and everything else) is far too brightly lit, but the lighting on the airframe and pilot at the start of the mission shows the issue well.

[aaron886]

I currently fly m-2000 in Nevada map and can say that hud is much better than in 2.1. Yes, the cockpit is a bit dark and there is still a problem against the very light sky, but I believe that this is more realistic than before. It feels as if I wear sun glasses.

 

Come on, you can't read the HUD against the horizon, can you? The horizon is just a hazy white.

[Jabbers_]

Come on, you can't read the HUD against the horizon, can you? The horizon is just a hazy white.

 

I do agree its overly bright, and probably wont be fixed till they can adapt the hud glass to be more realistic, tinted, or using the saphire glass like the F-18... however, IRL if its to bright, you cannot see the HUD, you can see in videos some pilots have to put their hand over top of the hud glass to read it. I get that we cant do that, but still if you are going for realism, this is part of realism. Now, having said that and the fact that we cannot do that, I would prefer functional realism ;)

[kunterbunt]

I do agree its overly bright, and probably wont be fixed till they can adapt the hud glass to be more realistic, tinted, or using the saphire glass like the F-18... however, IRL if its to bright, you cannot see the HUD, you can see in videos some pilots have to put their hand over top of the hud glass to read it. I get that we cant do that, but still if you are going for realism, this is part of realism. Now, having said that and the fact that we cannot do that, I would prefer functional realism ;)

 

Yes, oculus touch support. Who would have thought of that? We will use our hands to reduce sun blending.

[Boris]

I think they need a contrast slider in addition to the gamma...

 

To get something that looks acceptable outside of the cockpit you get black shadows in and outside of the cockpit.

 

The main problem is the huge contrast between light and dark areas.

 

Seeing the HUD against the horizon is also of prime importance. Yes, haze on the horizon looks white in real life, but it's not pure white, more of a light blue grey.

[aaron886]

I do agree its overly bright, and probably wont be fixed till they can adapt the hud glass to be more realistic, tinted, or using the saphire glass like the F-18... however, IRL if its to bright, you cannot see the HUD, you can see in videos some pilots have to put their hand over top of the hud glass to read it. I get that we cant do that, but still if you are going for realism, this is part of realism. Now, having said that and the fact that we cannot do that, I would prefer functional realism ;)

 

I'm sorry man, but you're trying too hard to justify the problem in the sim. That's not productive. A real HUD can produce an impressive range of brightness levels. My experience is that only looking directly toward the sun causes the kind of unreadability we get in DCS right now... against a distant horizon. Distant atmospheric haze should not be as bright as the sun. It's wrong and needs to be fixed, let's not confuse the issue by pretending it's realistic.

[tobaschi]

tbh. i use VR in DCS since the oculus dev kit 1 and since DCS 2.1 my VR experience in DCS is now on the bottom.

 

The lighting is awful, _MUCH_ to bright and the HUD in some planes realy hard to non readable now due to lightening.

 

I hope that will get fixed quick

[Jabbers_]

I'm sorry man, but you're trying too hard to justify the problem in the sim. That's not productive. A real HUD can produce an impressive range of brightness levels. My experience is that only looking directly toward the sun causes the kind of unreadability we get in DCS right now... against a distant horizon. Distant atmospheric haze should not be as bright as the sun. It's wrong and needs to be fixed, let's not confuse the issue by pretending it's realistic.

 

Not trying to hard, i do believe I said it was overly bright. But everything I said was still true, IRL pilots do have to put their hands on top of the hud glass on occasion. I dunno, everyone is taking this alpha as a final product, its being worked on. They know about it, they even said they know about it and said they are working on a fix.

 

:shrug:

[Baggy MacDouche]

Not very impressed with the effects of the new gamma slider either. If the hud was at least readable unless maybe pointed right into the sun, it would be one thing. I found the default setting of 1.5 to be the same as no gamma slider. God knows why anybody would select anything between 1.5 and 3.0! Between 1.0 and 1.5 the changes can be pretty dramatic...for the cockpit. I didn't find a huge change in the outside other than the blacks getting pretty crushed between 1.0-1.2. Seemed more of a contrast setting actually, rather than overall gamma. The horizon was consistently washed out.

 

I know it's alpha, but just putting in my two cents.

[Jabbers_]

Not very impressed with the effects of the new gamma slider either. If the hud was at least readable unless maybe pointed right into the sun, it would be one thing. I found the default setting of 1.5 to be the same as no gamma slider. God knows why anybody would select anything between 1.5 and 3.0! Between 1.0 and 1.5 the changes can be pretty dramatic...for the cockpit. I didn't find a huge change in the outside other than the blacks getting pretty crushed between 1.0-1.2. Seemed more of a contrast setting actually, rather than overall gamma. The horizon was consistently washed out.

 

I know it's alpha, but just putting in my two cents.

1. The setting is not just for VR, Monitors range a bit more so above 1.5 may be optimal in those cases.

2. This was not made to fix the HUD, it helps, but it was not a reason this change came about.

 

To the point of why this came about, there was some discussion about how dark was not dark enough in VR and for some people playing on a monitor. And because you cannot change the Gamma directly for VR (but can for a monitor) it was added in game.