HTC VIVE imagae improvment - Supersampling

JackCarver · 27 Jun 2016 at 14:46

Hi guys, noticed this earlier - not tired it myself as in work but looks very promising..

Ok guys, after the latest patch failed to assist I had a look and discovered we can actually increase pixel density.

I've tested and... THE A-10C HUD IS READABLE.

How to:

go to your steam install path for me this is C:\Games\Steam for many it will be C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam
Enter the config directory
Open steamvr.vrsettings in notepad or your preferred text editor(sublime etc not word)
Under "steamvr" add "renderTargetMultiplier": 2.5 (with a multiplier of your choice)
IMPORTANT: between each item there should be a , EXCEPT for the last one(so Python programmers beware)

Mine looks like this for example:

Code:
"steamvr" : {
"allowReprojection" : true,
"background" : "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\ViveSetup\\Updater\\viveNight.png",
"renderTargetMultiplier": 2.5
},Notice my renderTargetMutliplier has no trailing ,

Beware this will affect all games so you may want to adjust or remove it between games. You may also need to tweak your graphics settings again.

Found it on reedit - are we allowed to link to other forums?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4q2zvl/pixel_density_setting_for_htc_vive_its_here/

ZeroG · 27 Jun 2016 at 19:38

What sort of effect would this have on other games?

sgavan · 27 Jun 2016 at 20:09

Just tried it and it makes a great improvement some ghosting though, project cars looks amazing

JackCarver · 28 Jun 2016 at 09:54

Yea tested last night to on theblue looks a lot sharper!

bluntslide · 28 Jun 2016 at 14:06

Wow great find! Just tried 1.5 and looks a lot sharper. Will play and a bit more and then try the big one....project cars!
Thanks for sharing.

darkgen · 28 Jun 2016 at 17:36

Sorts out ED too; although 2.5 canes my system. Left it at 1.5 and SS set to 1.0 within ED. Certainly looks "clearer".

Firestar_3x · 28 Jun 2016 at 19:33

Wow thanks for this, image looks a so much better, just been testing in New Retro Arcade.

Nismo · 28 Jun 2016 at 20:03

Definitely makes it much sharper, however I am now getting horrid instability and SteamVR crashes :/

Edit - starting low and working up seems better. Currently at 1.3 and it's still noticeably sharper. Will keep incrementing.

Richard-h2 · 29 Jun 2016 at 22:49

Ok
So how much extra does this put on the GPU ?

better to start with 1 and work up ?

Richard

hyperseven · 30 Jun 2016 at 06:36

or use this tool

Nismo · 30 Jun 2016 at 14:53

hyperseven said:
or use this tool

I tried that, it screwed my SteamVR up completely and woudl keep resetting things like custom backgrounds, environments etc.

It's easy enough to do manually.

Richard-h2 said:
Ok
So how much extra does this put on the GPU ?

better to start with 1 and work up ?

Richard

Same sort of stress as DSR etc when something is rendered higher internally.

1 is the default, so start at 1.1. Will probably be 1.3 before you start noticing any difference.

millermilla · 30 Jun 2016 at 15:25

Any idea what the performance hit is like. My system scores 8.5 on the steam VR test at it's current OC settings, does that give some headroom for tweaking?

Nismo · 30 Jun 2016 at 15:39

millermilla said:
Any idea what the performance hit is like. My system scores 8.5 on the steam VR test at it's current OC settings, does that give some headroom for tweaking?

It varies from game to game, I've not has any issues yet running at 1.3 with an overclocked 980Ti.

Going all out at 2.5 gave me frame occasional stuttering even in the VR dashboard though

millermilla · 30 Jun 2016 at 17:43

Wow thanks, it certainly makes text much more visible. On 2.5 it's very clear but too much of a hit on performance for me. I'm trying at 1.5 for the moment which seems to work well enough. Just when I though I had a decent enough GPU for VR I'm now wanting more!

dirtybeatfreak · 1 Jul 2016 at 11:27

Hrrmmm

I tried this, but I can't seem to notice a difference?? I wacked it up to 3.0 to confirm I had done it correctly, fps dropped completely so pretty sure I have. Triple checked I have changed the text 100% right and formatting etc is correct (for example , after the line of text)

Need to have another play I think.

darkgen said:
Sorts out ED too; although 2.5 canes my system. Left it at 1.5 and SS set to 1.0 within ED. Certainly looks "clearer".

Do you still have the horrible marching lines though? That is what is spoiling ED for me, not the text readability

darkgen · 1 Jul 2016 at 11:41

I only seem to notice those on the spinning ship loading graphic.

sunshinewelly · 5 Jul 2016 at 13:24

how do you test the frame rate to see if it is working.

tried using the app and changed it to 1.5 but the steam dashboard looked the same to me.

can you do this on the fly so you can see the changes whilst you have the headset on or do you need to restart steam vr each time.

also would it make everything better or just when gaming ie would the desktop also be improved

darkgen · 5 Jul 2016 at 17:29

I had to restart steamVR on each change.

millermilla · 5 Jul 2016 at 18:38

After a fair bit of playing around my system really struggles when I use Supersampling. I have a GTX970 and my system score on the Steam VR test is 8.5 with my standard OC setting.

When playing things like project cars it's fine for a bit at 1.3 but as soon as it rains or you get lots of traffic the frame rate drops and it judders which spoils the experience. Things like Fantastic contraption and Space pirate work at 1.3 and I've had The Blu at 1.5 but it gets a bit of a pain keep changing the settings.

Just when I thought a GTX970 would be enough I'm now wanting more, it's much clearer if you have a GPU powerful enough..... I wonder if I can sneak a 1080 without the Mrs finding out.

Richard-h2 · 5 Jul 2016 at 19:11

Just powered up the Pc and Vive has done an update ..

This "renderTargetMultiplier": 1.5 Part was missing after it ..

Added again.

No idea what the update is or has done ...

Richard