Reducing GPU load in VR.

[Thinder]

I noticed in another game an improvement in clarity when the on-screen display size was reduced, in DCS we only have resolutions to play with.

In VR, the usefulness of having the view repeated in our screen is more than doubtful, the GPU has to render the headset visuals but also what we don't see when we play which is a complete waste of system resource.

Usually I don't like to fiddle with DCS files (like adding lines to force VR to OpenBeta for example), but I wouldn't hesitate very long if I could change the on-screen resolution and size to the quarter of the minimum available in DCS setting options or even turn it off completely.

Does anyone knows how to do this? Thanks in advance for your insights.

[SkateZilla]

Set the Resolution in the / Saved Games / DCS / Config/ Options.lua,
then change line: 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = false,

to
 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = true,

 

[Thinder]

On 3/5/2023 at 10:25 AM, SkateZilla said:

Set the Resolution in the / Saved Games / DCS / Config/ Options.lua,
then change line: 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = false,

to
 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = true,

 

Excellent! Thanks for your reply. I'll try this.

This is for the mirrors. I tried on ["graphics"] 800 to 200 and 10280 to 320, original file is backed up, we never know.

= It works, You have to change the option cursor confined to game windows or it still limits its movements, so I have a very small 800 x 320 screen repeater telling me DCS has started but not such a large area for the GPU to fill with pixels...

I've done a very low level test sortie from Nellis, the F1 is a b!tch to trim but I noticed a very slight improvement in image clarity (particularly cockpit view where instruments are much sharper), I still can't see the electric lines until I got my nose on them but overall, terrain looks better and side view a little less jerky.

Work in progress.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Thinder

[Dragon1-1]

You can do this in the game, I think there's a checkbox in VR options that unlocks the VR mirror resolution. I have it done that way. It helps performance a little, mirror set to the smallest resolution that I could put there. Not as tiny as yours, but it helps. The only problem is that screenshots come out dinky, but I can live with that.

[Thinder]

1 hour ago, Dragon1-1 said:

You can do this in the game, I think there's a checkbox in VR options that unlocks the VR mirror resolution. I have it done that way. It helps performance a little, mirror set to the smallest resolution that I could put there. Not as tiny as yours, but it helps. The only problem is that screenshots come out dinky, but I can live with that.

Thanks for your insight, I chose not to reduce the mirror if I can find other solutions, in any case this is a stop gap set of solutions while I wait for AMD to release better drivers and DCS support for multi-core processors which hopefully will give a noticeable performance boost.

Your solution is valid for people with slower PCs wanting to gain some extra FPS, in my case, I try to recover the image quality and FPS I had in January, before the update, but when it comes to raw GPU performances, I also have to deal with AMD drivers issues, so every little help is appreciated.

[Nuggetz]

19 hours ago, SkateZilla said:

Set the Resolution in the / Saved Games / DCS / Config/ Options.lua,
then change line: 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = false,

to
 

["mirror_use_DCS_resolution"] = true,

 

Thank you for this I don’t know how or why. But this change restored my border less full screen mode and improved my VR quality/clarity. I can’t say I have notice any significant change either way with FPS. 

 

So far a very positive tweak many thanks indeed. 

[SkateZilla]

12 hours ago, Dragon1-1 said:

You can do this in the game, I think there's a checkbox in VR options that unlocks the VR mirror resolution. I have it done that way. It helps performance a little, mirror set to the smallest resolution that I could put there. Not as tiny as yours, but it helps. The only problem is that screenshots come out dinky, but I can live with that.

You can tick the checkbox,

But you can't set a resolution as low as the user would like to in the UI, hence editing the LUA directly, and setting the true value, at the same time just to avoid a second restart of the sim for that change to take affect.