Downsampling with AMD: Guide and Demonstration (Antialiasing Substitute)

[Proto]

All credit goes to the original author.

Mr. Lolman
http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=9282115&postcount=5099

A regularly updated list of maximum resolutions possible according to display model.
http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=457358
http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=529285

English language sources and originators of some material used in this guide.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472941
http://www.overclock.net/t/1261203/amd-downsampling-guide

A similar guide for Nvidia users.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=346325


Downsampling with AMD: Guide and Demonstration

This guide will demonstrate how to use downsampling with AMD graphics cards to attain a higher quality image in games and other applications without the need for high levels of antialiasing. This will be accomplished by using a java based utility called AMDDownsamplingGui.


Links to current version:

DownSamplingGui_0.6

Rapidshare:
https://rapidshare.com/files/2911242606/DownSamplingGui0.6.zip

Netload:
http://netload.in/dateiQJPAL10qEI.htm

MediaFire:
http://www.mediafire.com/?exmsqbt2sji5abj

Usage of this utility is at your own risk.


1.

Download the AMDDownsamplingGui utility from any of the links above. Create a system restore point.


2.

Extract the downloaded archive to any location and find the contained file called Downsample.exe, run this file and click 'Erstellen' from the bottom right to bring up the following:

Use the drop-down tab at the top to bring up a list of resolutions based on your display's aspect ratio. Click 'OK' to install the chosen resolution. Alternatively, click 'Benutzerdefiniert' to enter a custom resolution.

Open display properties from Catalyst Control Centre or screen resolution settings for your operating system to confirm the new display resolutions are now available.

3.

Ensure GPU Scaling is not enabled.

You may also need to ensure 'hide modes that this monitor can not display' is unticked from your monitor's advanced settings.

Otherwise you may get the following error message.

If the tick box 'Hide modes that this monitor can not display' is greyed out you could try creating your own custom monitor driver by clicking 'INF erstellen' from the 'Extras' tab at the very top of the GUI.



A selection of new maximum resolutions is already included and is based on display aspect ratio. Custom maximum resolutions can also be used by clicking 'Benutzerdefiniert', these should ideally also be based on your display's aspect ratio. The new custom INF file can be saved to a location of choice by clicking 'Speichern'. Instructions on how to install the custom monitor driver can be found by clicking 'Anleitung'. However, the instructions are in German.

Monitor driver installation instructions in English.
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/monitor/0000/Acer/AC501/AC501faq10.shtml

Alternatively, you could try one of the custom monitor drivers posted at the original thread.

http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42708&d=1336212261
http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42742&d=1336501568
http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42700&d=1336078034

All custom monitor drivers from above packed as a single download.
https://rapidshare.com/files/4278425148/Custom Monitor Drivers.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/?bgemty565l1bv6a


4.

To remove a custom resolution, choose the resolution from the drop-down list and click 'Löschen'.

http://s5.postimage.org/q43jm4l1z/image.jpg[/img


[B]5.[/B]

Watch the following video demonstration that includes in-game footage of Battlefield 3 with downsampling enabled.

[B]Click on video to view (External Site)[/B]

[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m52Z053qdpU][IMG]http://u.cubeupload.com/blackzero1891/7.jpg[/URL]


Click on the following thumbnails for a side-by-side comparison. To view at original resolution, right click and save to your desktop.

1920x1200



2560x1600




6.

Enjoy better quality gaming


FAQ

I can't get the AMDDownsamplingGui utility to run.
You need 'Java'. Download it from here: http://java.com/en/

I can't get my display to work with anything higher than 2560x1440 or 2560x1600.
For most display devices this may not be possible. A list containing display devices that can go higher with confirmed maximum resolutions can be found at the top of this page. (Thanks to WhiteLighting [Guru3D] for spotting these.)

I can not change the tick box 'hide modes that this monitor can not display' as it is greyed out in advanced display properties.
You can try one of the custom monitor inf files posted in the guide. This has worked for most. (Thanks to teleguy [Guru3D] for spotting these.)

After changing the display resolution for my HDMI display most colours are darker or otherwise not correct.
The display may have switched to RGB limited when using a custom resolution. Changing to 'non standard' in the HDMI options should make the display run at full RGB. (Thanks to Derko1 [Guru3D] for pointing this out.)

For some reason this is only allowing me to add the new resolution to the right monitor, not my middle (primary) one. Any ideas?
Apply it for each monitor by making the one you are using the primary and disabling the second; then apply the new settings from the single enabled display. This is what I had to do to get it to wok for my HDTV while my LCD was connected. There might be another way to do this by altering the display Index number at the top of the utility, I did not however try this.

Does the downsampling still work if I choose the custom resolution in windows and in-game?
It should work fine whether you use the custom resolution from windows and games or only in games. I would recommend just using it in games as the much higher resolution will probably make it difficult to navigate the desktop.

Will using this utility result in increased cpu usage for heavily cpu bound games like Skyrim?
Actually, running at a higher 'display' resolution should have very little effect on cpu usage or, more likely, reduce it slightly. Display resolution is not directly linked to CPU usage. Instead, a higher or lower display resolution increases or reduces GPU usage, respectively. All other things being equal, a higher GPU load means less data required from the CPU and therefore lower CPU usage.

In the specific case of Skyrim, the shadows, A.I, water and other physics are CPU based so the CPU is indeed quite important, however running the game at a higher resolution will not change the number of calculations for any of these as the CPU based (internal) shadow resolution does not change, neither will the water/physics calculations increase with resolution. What will change is that the GPU will be busier rendering everything at a higher resolution and therefore will refer to the CPU for data less often. This can be observed in the following screenshots displaying comparative CPU usage.

1920x1200



2560x1600



How much performance will I lose when using downsampling?
This will depend entirely on the game in question. In most cases the performance impact will be proportional to the increase in resolution or total number of pixels, however, graphics card memory may also need to be considered. Overall, this method should provide image quality comparable to full screen antialiasing but with far less compatibility issues and in many cases higher performance. The downside is that in some cases game menus may become harder to read. Fortunately, many games (for e.g. Arma 2) allow you to increase the size of the UI and in some it auto-adjusts (for e.g. Need for Speed: The Run).

Here's a performance comparison for 'Dirt 2' posted by Derko1 [Guru3D].

I am using UltraVeryHigh settings for shadows, water, and reflections... maybe something else, don't remember this second. Basically they are extended beyond ultra settings that came with the game. Everything else is Ultra... with 4xSSAA.

Without downsampling [1920x1080]:
av_fps="140.337753
min_fps="118.141998
samples="12187

With downsampling [2560x1440]:
av_fps="117.256813"
min_fps="95.632637"
samples="10141

As you can see. I lost 23fps from average... which when comparing to how well it runs as it is, is minimal.

I can't use the utility in windows 8 due to a missing digital signature error.
A possible workaround was posted by nitroin [Guru3D].

There is a way to have this tool working on Windows 8?

I'm getting INF digital signature (I think WHQL) error.

EDIT: to install a driver without a digital signature do the following:
- press WIN + I;
- go in Change PC settings;
- General -> Advanced Reboot -> Reboot;
- Restore -> Advanced Options -> Reboot.

The names can be a little different, I've done a literal translation from Italian.

 

[Proto]

Wow this sounds amazing, is it basically AA at absolutely zero processing cost?

There is processing cost but it should be easier to predict based on the increase in resolution and this should work with most games. There's a detailed answer in the FAQ.

 

[Proto]

So this essentially renders the games at much higher resolutions then shrunk to fit the monitors resolution?
Clever!

Yes, you could vaguely compare it to full screen anti-aliasing methods like supersampling.

 

[Proto]

I've tried going from 1440x900 to 1920x1200, but I cannot find the part from the CCC anywhere.

What part do you mean?

 

[Proto]

It should be present in the tab to the left labeled 'My Digital Flat-Panels' and then 'properties' at the top. At default settings this is un-ticked I believe, as that's how it is at default settings in CCC for me. So you may be good to go assuming you can follow the rest of the guide. Worst case scenario it simply will not work.

Alternatively you could Google for the registry entry for that option.


edit.

Oh good you got it working!

 

[Proto]

I have thanks mate, how do I make it less blurry though? Text and whatnot outside of games is kind of weird to look at, it isnt sharp at all, is that because its downscaled?

Don't use it outside of games. Keep using your normal resolution for your desktop and when in-game choose the higher resolution from it's display options.

 

[Proto]

Didn't realise I could do that, thank you, you beautiful human being.

 

[Proto]

This technique is better known as super sampling and is exactly how most traditional AA methods work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersampling

Modern GPUs are designed to work very well with specific AA methods. Bypassing these methods with your own super sampling will most likely result in a similar quality but poorer performance, stick with the optimised AA methods for best performance.

Not every AA method works for every game and many do not provide as good quality or performance as this method. I suggest you read the guide.

Also, this method is only vaguely similar to SSAA, but should be compatible with more games and likely provide similar or better performance. This method is widely being used by Nvidia users and has it's own specific advantages. It's only recently become available with a simple GUI for AMD users, as such, many AMD users may not be aware of how this method works.

I suggest you research the above, and if you have any further negative comments to make, back them up with valid reasons and performance numbers/ quality comparisons.

You can force SS via CC.

Not in every game. Not even in dx10/dx11 with anything less than a 7 series card.

 

[Proto]

This seemed to make my game look worse. If you check the GTA4 mods and tweaks thread my first screenshot of the yellow mini is on my normal 1920x1080 res and the second of the black golf gti is using 2560x1440 downsampling and there's more jaggies.

Not according to this article at pcgameshardware.
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,684782/GTA-4-Higher-visual-quality-with-Downsampling/News/

You probably had other issues, as it should not increase jaggies when a higher resolution is downsampled.

I've tried that before, and it gave me some crazy results in game, no textures, square tree's etc. This just flatout changes your resolution to something way higher than native. This won't mess up your games and will simply give you higher quality for the same impact on performance as actually having a larger resolution monitor. It also works outside of games.

Super sampling can create all sorts of incompatibilities as the driver is actively 'sampling' texture edges. With downsampling this is not the case and therefore there should be far less compatibility issues. I do not suggest this as complete substitute to supersampling as when SSAA works it works great, however this method does provide a useful alternative to the many AA methods as a whole.

 

[Proto]

Those comparison shots are really dodgy. You can clearly see some reduction in jaggies but the fact that the shots are at slightly different points in the games (and the GTA lighting difference is laughable) makes it a really unfair comparison for everything else.

PCGamesHardware have no reason to post unfair comparisons. They saw a reasonable method of improving image quality and wrote an article about it. It's a well respected site and I can't see what they would gain from making it up.

 

[Proto]

for some reason this is only allowing me to add the new res to the right monitor, not my middle (primary) one... any ideas?

apply it for each monitor by making the one you are using the primary and disabling the second; then apply the new settings from the single primary display.

This is what I had to do to get it to wok for my HDTV while my LCD was connected. There might be another way to do this by altering the device ID number at the top of the utility, I did not however try this.


I will add this to the FAQ.

 

[Proto]

for some reason this is only allowing me to add the new res to the right monitor, not my middle (primary) one... any ideas?

apply it for each monitor by making the one you are using the primary and disabling the second; then apply the new settings from the single enabled display.

This is what I had to do to get it to wok for my HDTV while my LCD was connected. There might be another way to do this by altering the device ID number at the top of the utility, I did not however try this.


I will add this to the FAQ.

 

[Proto]

It doesn't actually let you do that.
Look at the two screenshots.

The posted screenshots are at different resolutions. The linked site simply allows you to view both at the same viewable resolution. Right click on each image and check image information for actual resolution or save to desktop.

Not a bad thing at all and clearly some people like it. I probably won't use it for the same reasons I won't use MLAA but if it works for some then it's a great resource and once this thread is cleaned up I'm sure it'll be helpful to many.

This method is clearly not comparable to FXAA in any shape or form. The only method it is vaguely comparable to is supersampling AA. In any case, if you prefer to use FXAA/NO AA for games games where SSAA is not available then that's your choice.

To each their own.

 

[Proto]

I would say that it's comparable to MLAA. Not in terms of methodology but in terms of end result - slight blurring and reduction in jaggies.

There is more than enough evidence scattered around the internet to show this is completely false.

But like I said, to each their own.

The exact same information is in both screens.
There's no more being rendered.
When you play in Eyefinity or whatnot, you get that extra peripheral vision, even with the "extra resolution" in those screenshots, there's nothing extra.

Sure, I won't argue its ability to remove jaggies improve IQ, but it's certainly from my point of view not adding any extra details/fov that would be associated with a higher resolution.

That's why it's called downsampling. Also high resolutions with the same FOV aren't meant to add more detail.

 

[Proto]

I'm sorry, which part are you saying is false? The comparison articles/screenshots on here are showing blur, along with the personal experiences of Omaeka showing blur on desktop.

I'm not saying that this is an awful technique or should never be used....what I'm saying is that there are tradeoffs.

The part where you compared it to a post processing technique. I know you are adamant on not even trying this but otherwise you will never really be able to make a meaningful judgement, either.

You see, the problem with those images is that they're the same physical size. Meaning that they had been super-sampled for comparison. If you took a screenshot from a downsampled render, it would come at full resolution.



You can force SSAA in most games. He's right to say that downsampling with lower scaling won't provide the same quality. It's certainly not comparable to post-processing methods, you're spot on with that.

They are not the same physical size. You need to save to desktop to see the actual size. That's just how that particular image hosting site operates, which in many ways is useful for the purpose of a simple side-by-side comparison that was required for the guide.

Also you are correct in that SSAA downsampling are not entirely similar, this I have also stated throughout, however they are the most convenient to compare.

In fact supersampling can also at times introduce blur even though it has a much higher overhead due to the extra calculations. In the end downsampling is certainly not a complete substitute for supersampling and the fact that we are even discussing that shows the level of quality this method can provide. Though it is as good, and in many cases better than, any other method of antialiasing.

 

[Proto]

I just see them in 2 different sizes when I click on them. Maybe it's due to my monitor resolution being a bit higher?

Tried on 1080p and and yeah show as same size but surely the downsizing I see is being done by that website and not necessarily indicative of what you will see in game. Or I can right click and view images and let firefox do the downsampling. Either way the effect does looks underwhelming in the given pictures.

I saw a method for doing the same thing on Nvidia cards on a different forum and comparison shots there were using GTA IV (a particularly 'jaggy' game) and it did looks a little better but not by much.

Personally I'm not sold so I'll take the blur hit from FXAA myself

You need to save them to your desktop to do a proper comparison yourself. As explained in a previous post in this thread.

 

[Proto]

Added more links and images. Updated FAQ.

 

[Proto]

Guide updated to latest version. Updated FAQ.

 

[Proto]

You know what they say about great minds

 

[Proto]

I don't downsample I don't think, my monitors capped at 900p and this lets me take it to 1920x1200. a lot of people would say that it's just 900p upscaled that way, which it is to a degree, but a lot of games like GTA IV and Crysis lock graphical features based on your resolution, so jumping to the top resolution makes a very bloody big difference, much more so than any other graphical feature. Can't thank you enough for finding this!

It's the display doing the downscaling/downsampling, the graphics card just outputs at the new (higher) resolution.

And you're welcome