OpenXR Toolkit Tuning Guide (updated 21/02/23)

[edmuss]

Ah yeah Marianas is still a bit crappy, lock it to 30 and see if the GPU can keep up?

[speed-of-heat]

Good thought, will give it a try! Ta

[speed-of-heat]

nope, complete scenery stutter fest

[edmuss]

Worth a shot

[speed-of-heat]

yep; it was a good suggestion!

[Sr.]

If you're using MR, do NOT mess with the shakiness slider in the toolkit UI.

[johnbowzer]

@edmuss, I am on a 3080 & G2 and just wondering about using the RTSS, as per your edit in main post regarding locking it, and your observations when you ran it that way. .. if setting framerate to 45, was that with also setting OXRDT to 100%, MR disabled, and OXRTK disabled? Or was that also with OXRTK with NIS 100%, frames unlocked? And your references to resolution.. in game or ? Apologies, but I get bogged down in details sometimes.

[fargo007]

On 4/8/2022 at 2:56 PM, mtd2811 said:

Anyone has the issue of major stuttering since the last OB update?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the same issue.  Was all excited and then I was like WTF? 

[speed-of-heat]

3 hours ago, johnbowzer said:

@edmuss, I am on a 3080 & G2 and just wondering about using the RTSS, as per your edit in main post regarding locking it, and your observations when you ran it that way. .. if setting framerate to 45, was that with also setting OXRDT to 100%, MR disabled, and OXRTK disabled? Or was that also with OXRTK with NIS 100%, frames unlocked? And your references to resolution.. in game or ? Apologies, but I get bogged down in details sometimes.

I have used rtss, and it works sorta, the global setting seems to work OK, but the game level setting doesn't seem to...but as I play other games I don't really want to limit everything to 45fps... Again ymmv

[edmuss]

4 hours ago, johnbowzer said:

@edmuss, I am on a 3080 & G2 and just wondering about using the RTSS, as per your edit in main post regarding locking it, and your observations when you ran it that way. .. if setting framerate to 45, was that with also setting OXRDT to 100%, MR disabled, and OXRTK disabled? Or was that also with OXRTK with NIS 100%, frames unlocked? And your references to resolution.. in game or ? Apologies, but I get bogged down in details sometimes.

My preferences are for image clarity and quality, running 100-125% resolution in OXRDT with MR disabled. I have got OXRTK enabled but in reality the only pays of it in using are the colour saturations so all of the performance bits (FSR/NIS/FFV) are disabled.

1 hour ago, speed-of-heat said:

I have used rtss, and it works sorta, the global setting seems to work OK, but the game level setting doesn't seem to...but as I play other games I don't really want to limit everything to 45fps... Again ymmv

I added DCS.exe to the list and it seems to work fine, that said I've not tested against any other games yet. I'll give a run with half-life alyx to see what happens.

One thing I did notice last night what that with the RTSS frame limit in place, my CPU time was a good 4-5ms higher.

Now I don't know if that's linked to the much higher resolution I'm currently testing (125%) or the or the increased 3D effect mod or a combination of a billion things all at once.

[lefuneste01]

19 minutes ago, edmuss said:

My preferences are for image clarity and quality, running 100-125% resolution in OXRDT with MR disabled

Did you check  the real image résolution by a screencopy ?

I discovered that 100% in WMR is more 200% of HMD resol., that's why image is crispier...

Edited April 10, 2022 by lefuneste01

[edmuss]

The resolution at 100% in OpenXR is the same as with steamvr, on the G2 it's around 3100x3100 - I think it's 140% increase off the top of my head.

[exil]

4 hours ago, fargo007 said:

I have the same issue.  Was all excited and then I was like WTF? 

Just copy and paste the three files over to your bin again and you should be fine. 

[Rosebud47]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb speed-of-heat:

I have used rtss, and it works sorta, the global setting seems to work OK, but the game level setting doesn't seem to...but as I play other games I don't really want to limit everything to 45fps... Again ymmv

 

vor 5 Stunden schrieb johnbowzer:

@edmuss, I am on a 3080 & G2 and just wondering about using the RTSS, as per your edit in main post regarding locking it, and your observations when you ran it that way. .. if setting framerate to 45, was that with also setting OXRDT to 100%, MR disabled, and OXRTK disabled? Or was that also with OXRTK with NIS 100%, frames unlocked? And your references to resolution.. in game or ? Apologies, but I get bogged down in details sometimes.

The feature to lock 45Hz ( hertz not FPS ) in the Tookit affects only how OpenXR repojection works. If Reprojection is set to off in OXR development tool, the feature in the toolkit shouldn´t affect anything at all.

SteamVR Asynchroneous Reprojection ( it´s always mixed up with motion reprojection, which smoothes the head movement, but not the scenery movement, what Asynchroneous Reprojection does ) works only in one step: If asynchroneous Reprojection in SteamVR is activated, it kicks in when the FPS drops from 90 ( the optimum for 90Hz headsets ) down to around 80FPS, when at 80 instead of 90FPS it instantly reduces the FPS to 45 and interpolates on image to put between a real each really processed images ( 45 real processed images + 45 interpolated images = 90 FPS to meet the 90 Hz of the displays for a smooth visual effect of movements in the scenery ). To got this work perfectly, it needs to maintain 45 real FPS constantly, if the system can´t hold up to real 45 FPS and dips below, it results in ghosting effects ( the interpolated image is just a copy of the before real processed image ). The ghosting effect is pronounced to very fast changing object in the scenery, like very close buildings or other close flying aircrafts, just because the movement, respectively the change in position of ots place in the scenery of far away objects is not as fast as the change in position of close by objects.

Now OpenXR comes with its own reprojection technique, which works in more steps, than only cut in half the real FPS like OpenVR ( SteamVR ) Asynchroneus Reprojection does.  
OpenXR Reprojection adds more steps with reducing to 30FPS and interpolating 2 copies to meet the 90Hz. If reprojection in OpenXR is activated and the system can´t maintain 90FPS it reduces the FPS to 45 and adds one interpolated/copied image. I assume it kicks in, when the real processed images are dipping below 90 at around 80 FPS. The next step in reprojecting a copy of a formerly real rendered  image kicks in, when the FPS goes down below 45FPS ( I assume at 44FPS the 2nd step in OpenXR reprojection already kicks in ) and reduces the rendered FPS to 30 and interpolates two images to reach the 90Hz dispaly frequency ( to get a smooth , stutterfree image in VR ).

That´s where the toolkit feature get´s active, where the 2nd step in reprojectio could be avoided by locking to 45Hz in the toolkit. OpenXR reprojection then works the same as OpenVR asynchroneous reprojection in only one step reducing to 45FPS.

In my observation OpenXR Reprojection works much better with the Reverb G2 than OpenVR ( SteamVR ) reprojection by creating a butter smooth movement in the scenery, but for that it needs to be forced more to maintain the 45FPS rendered images, than OpenVR ... but that´s only an impression, maybe by noticing any stutter more pronounced in a buttery smooth image than in a scenery which got tiny stutters anyway. Of this it could be concluded that OpenVR handles significant dips below 45FPS better by AsynchroneousReprojection than OpenXR does, as OpenXR reprojection results in a stutterfest if it significantly dips below 45FPS when locked in the toolkit at 45Hz or when unlocked in the toolkit switches to the next step and reduces to 30FPS by interpolating 2 frames. Maybe that´s exactly the reason, why it got those additional reprojection with 30FPS and two interpolated images, because it´s more sensitive in the area of acceptable image quality off the exact calculated 90, 45 and 30 FPS.

TIn my observation the visible advantage of OpenXR in comparison to OpenVR in DCS World with a Reverb G2 ( probably other WMR headsets too ) is a much smoother and better image quality at 45FPS with reprojection - but the 45 FPS needs to be maintained at any cost to get the advantage.

I have explained to myself the issues I got with helicopters and locked 45Hz reprojection in the way, that the animation of the rotorblades is such fast by changing the places of objects ( the rotorblades ) in the image scenery, that reprojection is not fast enough to fill in the gaps with interpolated images and get somehow stuck, which results in a stutterfest then. Same maybe could be assumed to a general stutterfest at locked 45Hz in the toolkit, if the targeted 45FPS could not be maintained and permanently drops below 40FPS, where the OpenXR reprojection gets stuck somehow ( if unlocked it would instead reduce to 30FPS permanently ). The KA-50 seems to have a different rotorblade animation from the Apache or Hind, what makes the KA-50 maintaining 45FPS easily and not get "stuck" in reprojection.  

    

[speed-of-heat]

having played more with RTSS, i find that yes it works but introduces "double vision" on the scenery.. MR remains, at least for me the better choice and has the advantage of making the channel and marianas usable 

[Rosebud47]

What does RTSS do and where could I find this setting?

I´m actually considering to check FixedFoveated Rendering to fre up some more FPS to keep up with 45FPS at every scenery.

Damn, looks like getting down in that rabbit hole again ...

[edmuss]

It externally caps the FPS. At 90hz I find that capping to 45fps gives a much smoother image than uncapped (60fps). There is still some minor ghosting, moreso if you can't hold the 45fps; however I don't see it within the forwards visible arc so doesn't bother me.

It's not as smooth as running 60hz but I don't have the horsepower to do so at 100%, locking to the 45fps is a pretty good trade off for myself.

[DeltaMike]

On 4/8/2022 at 3:56 PM, mtd2811 said:

Anyone has the issue of major stuttering since the last OB update?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's a certain rigmarole involved in updates.  I'm not saying this is a best practice or anything, I've only been doing DCS about four years or so.  That said, here's what I do:

• Read release notes and get all excited.  Especially for the most obscure aircraft in my collection.  Which is most of them. 
• Double check that I have the current .ini files in my mod manager library, and then un-check all my mods
• Download and install update through Skatezilla
• Clean the install, delete whatever random trash has accumulated.  
• Check for updates for my mods and take care of that
• Re-install mods
• Delete my shader files
• Pull up Adrenaline and make sure my GPU is still tuned. (Half the time it isn't, ymmv)
• Get cup of coffee
• Drink coffee while DCS is starting up.  Expect a bunch of stuttering and fiddle-farting around the first couple of times you fly while DCS is shaking off the willies.  
• Log on the forum and praise the developers for their hard work.

The latter is optional of course.  As is the cup of coffee, just realize, this goes a lot smoother if your team-mates aren't sitting there idling on the ramp while you're doing all this stuff

On 4/7/2022 at 7:10 PM, TZeer said:

Ok, did some testing and have some stutter I need to get rid off.

Switched off MR to do some benchmarking. Good results all that jazz.
But then I decided to check out this Radeon Chill feature, locking my FPS @ 45 with MR OFF.

It was smooth, but the ghosting on trees and buildings was a bit to much in a fast mover. But in the Apache, I was surprised how good it looked.
Was some "smearing/ghosting" on trees when looking out to the side. But head on it was quite good.

So here comes the kicker. Like a clockwork I get stutters at set intervals. I have had it from before, but I have thought it was due to bad MR (OpenVR) together with the apache's rotorblades.

- If I set my camera so I can move it freely (F11), and starts going across the map, every 8th second or so I get it. It's constant, and lasts roughly a second where the picture stutter, but FPS is locked @ 45 FPS. 
- If I turn of my manual overclock of the GPU it's constant. 
- If I turn of Radeon Chill I have 60-70 FPS, but still get stutters, but harder to detect due to inconsistent frames.

It seems to happen at the same time as my GPU usage drops. Hard to be 100% sure, as monitoring the GPU usage and stutter in the VR set at same time is a challenge 

AMD 5800X
AMD 6900XT (Overclocked, and with only 100MHz difference on min/max freq)
32GB RAM with XMP profile activated
M.2 SSD Gen 4

Power Plan is set to High Performance and PCI Express Link State Power Management is set to OFF.

 

Set your minimum GPU clock 100-200 below your maximum.  

I found this helpful

Edited April 10, 2022 by DeltaMike

[speed-of-heat]

42 minutes ago, Rosebud47 said:

What does RTSS do and where could I find this setting?

I´m actually considering to check FixedFoveated Rendering to fre up some more FPS to keep up with 45FPS at every scenery.

Damn, looks like getting down in that rabbit hole again ...

RTSS is part of the MSI aftreburner app, that people use to overclock graphics cards, but RTSS is also available separately Guru3D RTSS Rivatuner Statistics Server Download 7.3.3 build 26004

[Rosebud47]

vor 35 Minuten schrieb edmuss:

It externally caps the FPS. At 90hz I find that capping to 45fps gives a much smoother image than uncapped (60fps). There is still some minor ghosting, moreso if you can't hold the 45fps; however I don't see it within the forwards visible arc so doesn't bother me.

It's not as smooth as running 60hz but I don't have the horsepower to do so at 100%, locking to the 45fps is a pretty good trade off for myself.

 

Ah, I see. If then, I would limit the GPU to at least 90 FPS or above for VR, but it couldn´t reach it anyway in DCS. That´s true, that the little downsides don´t get noticable within the forward visible arc. I have to say, that never experienced such smooth flying in DCS before OpenXR at 45 reprojection.  

@speed-of-heat understood. I guess generally limiting the GPU applies more for 3d shooter on the monitor. Now I understand, what you were posting before.  

Edited April 10, 2022 by Rosebud47

[edmuss]

Obviously above 90hz it is capped to refresh rate and will be smooth, the same at 60hz. But locking the 45fps allows the OXR vsync to run half rate and I can run higher resolution and settings with the spare GPU overhead when compared to trying to achieve >60 FPS @60Hz.

For perfect scenery smoothness, MR all the way. But there are the current issues with the OXR implementation that doesn't handle rotor blades and their shadows at all. Also I get cockpit edge ghosting which I find far more distracting that the very slight ghosting of the scenery at the worst case scenario.

To me it's like the scenery is blurring rather than the cockpit in my face which is how it should be imho. For now MR is firmly off.

[Rosebud47]

Did you experienced the same stutterfest with the Apache or Hind as me? Well, I could only observe and make some guessing ... The OpenXR Toolkit is still in beta, I think, so maybe we´ll see some improvements on this with some ongoing releases of the Toolkit.

If you´re refering with 60Hz to 60Hz mode in Windows Mixed Reality settings, it is meant to set up the headset for VR movies/films. The 90Hz mode should be preferable for VR games, afaik.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Rosebud47

[edmuss]

I've not got the apache or hind modules I'm afraid, the MR is buttery smooth across the board for me but it artifacts terribly with rotor blades and their shadows and in general I prefer the more static cockpit with MR off (rotor blades or not).

I've been running 60Hz in vr for the last 3-4 years, it frees up a good lot of GPU overhead (allowing SVR MR to run down to 30fps without an issue); the only downside of 60Hz is the refresh rate flicker which fortunately doesn't bother me at all but really affects some.

However with OX_ACC, because it can reproject at the refresh rate fractions (90/45/30/22.5) it's better to run 90Hz if running MR because the 60/30/20/15 fractions mean that there's less space between the refresh rate brackets and you'll very quickly get dropped down to the lowest bracket with the associated increase in artifacts and it will generally look like hairy arse

In theory running 60Hz and locking it down to 30fps would give absolutely masses of GPU overhead, something to test further

[Gunfreak]

Tried to get OpenXR to work on DCS, just had trouble, I got it to work, mostly, the G2s go black after a few minutes(not related to sound overload, they are black even when I got out of the game) I might have fixed that. But OpenXR tool kit, breaks DCS, I got the menu working, selected FSR 80 ressolution and 60 sharpness, but when I went out of the game and in again DCS, crashed, every single time, and only after I uninstalled tool kit would it work again. And while the headmovment are smoother, the general preformance is exactly the same as in steam VR, and I get doublevison/vibrating enemy planes, something I never had with steamVr, so now I'm trying to get the game to work with steam VR again.

[fargo007]

6 hours ago, exil said:

Just copy and paste the three files over to your bin again and you should be fine. 

I've done that several times, and updated it also to the 0.6.3 version.

Also done a skatezilla repair and clean and regenerated fxo and metashaders in between.

It works, but the performance is bad compared to pre-DCS update. 

Frames are in the 20's and it's very stuttery. This is with much lower settings than I used to run with.

Running out of things to try.