IL2 BOX dynamic resolution and FIXED foveated rendering

[Nibbio]

As it's been discussed in other threads, foveated rendering consists in higher-resolution rendering in a rather narrow "fixation point", and allows for high performance optimization, since the rest of the image is rendered at much lower res.

So far it's been discussed only in connection with some eye-tracking device, necessary for determining the location of the "fixation point", corresponding to the center of the eye's retina, the fovea.

This of course would prevent its application to the HMDs currently available on the market, lacking eye tracking devices.

 

However, what if a FIXED foveated rendering was implemented in IL2-BOX, corresponding to the center of the HMD field of view?

 

This could be advantageously associated with the current dynamic resolution available in IL2-BOX. This way, when performance becomes critical and dynamic resolution kicks in to avoid fps drop, the degradation of the image would only impact the margins of the field of view, leaving intact the critical "fixation point", typically the gunsight with the smoking bandit behind...

 

As far as I know, fixed foveated rendering is already being used in at least one VR game, so it isn't so far fetched.

Maybe it wouldn't even be so expensive to implement, and I think it would be a great improvement for IL2 BOX VR.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nibbio

[AndyJWest]

Edit: never mind, misread.

Edited May 4, 2017 by AndyJWest

[Brizzly]

Another problem would be if you try to move your head to be able to just glance down at your instruments while tracking an outside object.  One or both of your objects of focus would be blurry.  You would have to move your head to look at everything, which would be kind of like what you have to do when you wear night vision goggles.

[Nibbio]

Another problem would be if you try to move your head to be able to just glance down at your instruments while tracking an outside object.  One or both of your objects of focus would be blurry.  You would have to move your head to look at everything, which would be kind of like what you have to do when you wear night vision goggles.

 

True, and this seems to be a complaint raised by some players of Batman Arkham VR, just released for PC a few days ago, which also employs fixed foveated rendering

 

check this http://support.wbgames.com/link/portal/24022/24028/Article/1487/Batman-Arkham-VR-PC-Graphics-Options

 

Fixed Foveated

 

In order to achieve the high resolutions needed for VR, we take advantage of part of the human eye’s physiology, the fovea. This part of the eye is responsible for the sharp central vision we see and so we can focus our pixel density in a fixed central area of the screen, allowing the rest of the screen to be rendered at a lower resolution. The fixed foveated option of multi-resolution rendering does this by dividing the screen into two parts: a central circular high resolution region, and an outer lower resolution region. By doing this, we can achieve 90fps at foveated ‘virtual resolutions’ above the native resolution of the headset’s LCD screen as described in Pixel Density section above.

 

However in this case we would use it only when dynamic resolution kicks in, as an alternative to the current system, in which the whole screen goes blurry. So there's nothing to lose. Only a net performance gain, and only if you enable dynamic resolution, which is an option already present.

 

Anyway I posted a suggestion, if it's feasible I'm sure someone will look into it:

 

Type of improvement: Graphics

 

Explanation of proposals: Modify dynamic resolution so the resolution is degraded only at the margins of the screen, leaving a small center view area at the normal resolution (fixed foveated rendering)

 

Benefits: Improved performance, especially relevant to VR implementation. Also "foveated rendering" is a huge selling point

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nibbio

[Nibbio]

Apparently there is also a simpler option:

 

NVIDIA Multi-Res

This option enables NVIDIA’s Multi-Res Shading, part of the NVIDIA Gameworks platform. Similar to fixed-foveated rendering, it divides the frame into areas of low-resolution and high-resolution. The frame is divided into a 3x3 grid, as shown in the image below. The central cell is rendered at full resolution, whilst the remaining cells are rendered at 30% of the full resolution.

Unlike fixed-foveated rendering, this method only needs to draw geometry once per eye, with the hardware relaying it to each of the Multi-Res viewports. It may offer better performance than fixed-foveated rendering in cases where the title is draw-call bound.
 

see also https://developer.nvidia.com/vrworks/graphics/multiresshading

 

Hardware: Compatible with: Maxwell and Pascal based GPUs. (GeForce GTX 900 series and Quadro M5000 and higher) Software: Compatible with the following APIs: DX11, DX12, OpenGL.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nibbio

[BazzaLB]

Having played Batman Arkham VR, the game looked awesome and its performance was stellar. I think fixed foveated rendering is a great option and plainly it works. The current lenses are blurry in the medium periphery anyway so I seriously doubt anyone is checking their guages this way.

[Nibbio]

Having played Batman Arkham VR, the game looked awesome and its performance was stellar. I think fixed foveated rendering is a great option and plainly it works. The current lenses are blurry in the medium periphery anyway so I seriously doubt anyone is checking their guages this way.

 

Yes, I really think this is a way to maintain the highest possible resolution together with the highest performance. Hope the devs take the suggestion into consideration.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Nibbio

[Jade_Monkey]

Is is this something the devs have to implement or it can be done by the users through the drivers?

[Nibbio]

AFAIK only devs can implement it

[Jade_Monkey]

Too bad. I know they are already busy, idk how much room they have for this sort of improvements. However, they have been very good at improving the engine and the tech in every release, i still have hope.

[Toxin1]

My hope is their investment into VR has been rewarded to allow for more optimization work like this new rendering method to get into the plan! Future looks bright

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

I hope so too. I bought BoK/BoM including the Collector Planes because of the VR introduction.