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Nvidia Image Scaling NIS (Focus on 2D) (496.76)


Hiob

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Hey Guys,

there is already a thread to this topic - but it is in the VR-Section and I wanted to report about my experiences in Pancake, so I figured to open a new topic.

In short for those who are unaware of it:

With the latest GeForce-Driver update, Nvidia upped it's sharpening feature to an universal upscaling algorithm similar to AMD FSR.

It is pretty easy to use. Just activate the option in the 3D-Settings (you may also check the box for the overlay, with gives you an indicator when the feature is running), go to resolution and look for the scaled resolutions (85%, 77% and so on). Remember the odd resolutions, that comes with your desired upscaling tier (I went with 77%), but LET THE RESOLUTION SIT ON YOUR NATIVE ONE (Important!).

For me the native Resolution (4K) is 3840 by 2160. The NIS 77% Resolution is 2956 by 1662.

Now start DCS, go to the settings and change the resolution to the odd one from above. The option should appear in the drop down menu. Done. When you selected the overlay in the nvidia settings, you should see a green NIS in the upper left corner of the screen, when it's running.

The results for me were the following:
(GPU is RTX3080)

Baseline (native 4K with msaa 2x):
19-11-2021, 18:24:08 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 10911 frames rendered in 140.047 s
                     Average framerate  :   77.9 FPS
                     Minimum framerate  :   69.3 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   87.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   68.9 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   67.2 FPS

4K with NIS (77%) and msaa 2x:
19-11-2021, 18:05:01 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 13512 frames rendered in 139.797 s
                     Average framerate  :   96.6 FPS +24%
                     Minimum framerate  :   86.0 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :  107.7 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   85.7 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   84.3 FPS

4K with NIS (77%) and msaa 4x:
19-11-2021, 18:12:32 DCS.exe benchmark completed, 11569 frames rendered in 139.890 s
                     Average framerate  :   82.7 FPS +6%
                     Minimum framerate  :   73.0 FPS
                     Maximum framerate  :   92.2 FPS
                     1% low framerate   :   72.8 FPS
                     0.1% low framerate :   70.9 FPS

There are of course penalties in visual fidelity, but those are pretty small, given a 25% FPS-Increase. With msaa 4x and the sharpening factor tuned, your pretty close to the original quality. So if you struggle with FPS OR need some headroom to activate other options, NIS is a pretty solid option imho.

Have Fun!

EDIT: For those who use a TV instead of a Monitor (like me), it can be a bit tricky. There could be additonal hurdles to take. If you run into problems, let me know. I may be able to help.

EDIT2: Added the detailed FPS-Numbers (note that I changed the settings over the original test, therefore the numbers are a little lower, but the percentages are the same.


Edited by Hiob
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"Muß ich denn jedes Mal, wenn ich sauge oder saugblase den Schlauchstecker in die Schlauchnut schieben?"

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  • Hiob changed the title to Nvidia Image Scaling NIS (Focus on 2D) (496.76)

Just tried this myself.

Visual results good, but noticeable performance decrease.

Testing with UH1-Huey flying Persian Gulf instant mission City Tour.

 

Base line 2560x1440, MSAA 2x = 78 FPS

4K with NIS 67% (2560x1440 etc.) = 63 FPS  Visual result: Superb

4K with NIS 59% (2259x1271 etc.) = 76 FPS  Visual result: Acceptable

4K with NIS 50% (1920x1080 etc.) = 91 FPS Visual result: Poor  (Also note scaling off had near identical FPS, so scaling was effectively free)

4K native (No scaling) (3840x2160 etc. = 47 FPS (Too slow for normal use, here for comparison, image quality excellent)

 

The up-scaling from 1440p to 4K really does look great, noticeably better than monitor or naive scaling. But the performance cost is 15-20%

The unusual new resolution of 1271p is a strange compromise. Performance is now very similar but image quality at 4K is not greatly improved, just a little smoother. I was paying attention to reading steam gauges in the cockpit without zooming in. Didn't use the driver capture to compare but did take some snaps with phone.

The 1080p upscaling was not worthwhile in my opinion. The visual quality, while smoothed, was below that of 1440p, defeating my goal of reading gauges without zooming in.

 

One more observation: NIS can only be Disabled per game/app, not Enabled. That is, you must first enable Globally before enabling or disabling per game, which means it is on by default once enabled. This is not desirable to me due to potential performance issues but may be necessary due to implementation and cooperation with OS.

 

System:

Intel i9-10900KF

Geforce RTX 2080 Super


Edited by DimSim
Added 4K native test
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2 minutes ago, DimSim said:

Just tried this myself.

Visual results good, but noticeable performance decrease.

Do I understand correctly? Your Monitor is native 4K, but your baseline is 1440p?

That's a different approach than mine, but interesting nevertheless!

"Muß ich denn jedes Mal, wenn ich sauge oder saugblase den Schlauchstecker in die Schlauchnut schieben?"

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9 minutes ago, Hiob said:

Do I understand correctly? Your Monitor is native 4K, but your baseline is 1440p?

That's a different approach than mine, but interesting nevertheless!

That is correct. While having a 4K monitor, I run most games at 1440p except perhaps older ones that can handle 4K.

The same monitor is for work and play, so 4K does help with apps.  for games, 1440p scales very well, so non native 1440p is not missed.

As mentioned my goal was to improve image quality while minimizing performance impact. I do have a head tracker, but it isn't 6D, and even so, I don't want to have to 'lean in' to read gauges.

...And please share your system spec sometime, native 4K @ 80 FPS is very impressive.


Edited by DimSim
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15 minutes ago, DimSim said:

...And please share your system spec sometime, native 4K @ 80 FPS is very impressive.

I've added my GPU in the OP. I have a 5900X+RTX380+64GB RAM.

The Performance of course depends on scenery and settings. In this case a low level flight in Syria with F-16. Water set to medium, MSAA 2x, clouds ultra, SSAA, SSAO, SSLR off. Shadows and textures high.


Edited by Hiob

"Muß ich denn jedes Mal, wenn ich sauge oder saugblase den Schlauchstecker in die Schlauchnut schieben?"

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Its very much a tthing for 1440P and above. No doubt it does a good job there. 

At 1080P its not realy so great. Scaling to even the bare minimum 85% results in a pretty ugly image for 2 or 3 extra fps. 

Overall the driver actually knocks off 2 fps for me with the same settings as the previous with IS turned off..

YMMV but, for me, and at 1080P the negatives outweigh the posistives.  

MSI Tomahawk X570 Mobo, Ryzen 5600X undervolted on Artic Freezer E34 Cooler, RTX3080 FE, 32GB (2x16GB Dual Ranked) GSkil 3600 CL16 Trident Neo RAM, 2X 4th Gen M2 SSDs, Corsair RM850x PSU, Lancool 215 Case. 

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