I’ve seen a lot of people lately saying that upscaling (fsr, dlss, etc.) is a bad thing, including some calling it ‘fake frames’, which is probably due to them confusing it with frame generation.
What upscaling does is take an input (a frame rendered at 1080p, for example) and attempt to improve it by generating more information (bringing that 1080p frame to 1440p). this does make things a little fuzzy, but it also frees up resources to allow stuff like improved lighting to be rendered which makes games like cyberpunk able to be rendered at a decent framerate without a $5,000 gpu.
Frame generation is different. It takes an input as well (same 1080p frame, for example), but it doesn’t improve the frame. It makes a new one based on that frame, sometimes several. These actually are ‘fake frames’, and this is what the people who called upscaling fake frames were really talking about.
I won’t lie, upscaling is definitely a crutch and the goal should be to be able to render that cool stuff at native resolution. however, the tech that can render that stuff is too expensive to be worth buying unless you have money to throw away, which real people typically don’t. it’s up to you whether a little fuzziness in the graphics is worth it to you, but the fact is it’ll give you the leeway to choose between higher framerate and prettier lighting. without it most people are stuck just setting their graphics to ‘no’, because they can’t afford the kind of processing power making things look good at native resolution takes.
Part of why I am making this post is that I wanted to see what other people think of this take, and more importantly get feedback so I can improve the take later. I’m currently running a laptop with a 1650, and I’ve had it for years. I’m used to balancing frames and quality and making compromises, and upscaling tends to be one of them that’s worth making.
Upscaling an old game on fixed hardware that can’t output at high resolutions is good.
Upscaling a new game as part of the graphics pipeline instead of optimizing it is terrible and shouldn’t be accepted by gamers that have to spend $1000+ on a GPU
Upscaling is great for older games that don’t support modern resolutions. I’m not really a fan of using it in modern games because of the blurryness you mentioned.
Regarding frame gen… Optimise your damn games! Game optimisation is becoming a lost art and now people think they should spend thousands on new hardware too keep up :(
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone say that upscaling OPTIONS are bad but I’m worried about games like monster hunter where upscaling and frame gen is used to make the game playable in most cases.
I agree in principle, but it’s a crutch that shouldn’t substitute good code. It’s like having a powerful car that runs sluggish, and then someone suggests that removing a couple seats could improve things.
Totally agree though would say it’s more along the lines of needing premium gas and newer performance air filters and tires when you’re thinking it should be capable out of the box
It’s actually good when the output is above 1080p
I’m fine with the concept of upscaling tech. DLSS 4 with the transformer model looks excellent. And FSR 4 is looking pretty damn decent as well. The earlier attempts weren’t as good. Ideally it would be acting more like DLAA, but 8.3 million pixels is a lot to render (4K). And if 8K is going to be a thing one day, it makes even more sense there.
I think too many people focus on the now and can’t imagine what things will be in the future as they progress.
Now frame generation, that one I feel less optimistic about. Especially when I see people using it for 60fps or less. It should really only ever be used at 80fps or higher, where the lag is less of a problem. But one day inferred frames, where it only looks at the prior frames and does not wait for the next frame, might make it a better experience.
Lastly, it’s NVidia and AMD’s marketing departments fault for having them all conflated. DLFG & FFG is what the frame gen tools should have been called, rather than shoehorning them under their super sampling and super resolution branding.
Don’t pay attention to idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about. Lemmy and Reddit are full of tech misinformation. It’s not even worth replying to.
Okay, you convinced me to give it a shot with some future games
If I really need upscaling, I just let my monitor do it with bilinear scaling or whatever. No fancy hardware required.
That upsampling, which doesn’t fill in the details.
I think upscaling is a good idea. Most of the time I’m running around while dodging bullets, arrows or fireballs, so I don’t really have time to examine the details of the foliage around me at the pixel level. I also will not buy an overpowered space heater so that the grass in my game looks more realistic. I don’t want a triple fan monster sounding like a turbojet near me.
Yeah, taht is more or less where I come down. “AI” upscaling is spectacular. Frame gen is much more hit or miss
The main problem is that, as with most things, people are stupid. They don’t understand that an outlet like Digital Foundry or even Gamers Nexus are going to be harsh on upscaling/frame gen because it actively makes it hard for them to give you guidance on what performance you can expect. So “This is horrible for benchmarking” becomes “This is horrible”
I’m confused. Digital foundry clearly spells out the performance you will get with both FG and without. They’re not harsh on it at all?
