[Feature Request] Nonblurry Upscaling at Integer Ratios

(LOL, a dead link at the end of the video.)

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I just had a brief opportunity to test IS on a Ryzen 3 3200G. I switched Windows 10 to run in 800x600 with a 2560x1440-monitor over HDMI. The HDMI port was on the main-board of the PC. Everything appeared to look correctly.

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Proton 4.11-10 supports integer scaling that can be enabled with the `WINE_FULLSCREEN_INTEGER_SCALING=1` environment variable. Steam Play should get the new Proton version soon. https://www.reddit.com/r/integer_scaling/comments/ea82yi/

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Just ordered myself a used "Radeon R5 240" for a dirt cheap price. Eager to find out if everything will work as expected or not.

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Interestingly, the “GPU Integer Scaling Support” option in the AMD poll keeps being upvoted and is now over 30,000 — 30,475 at the time of this writing. https://feedback.amd.com/se/5A1E27D203B57D32

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The list of the hardware supported by the newest AMD graphics driver can be found here (the link was mentioned before): https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-19-12-2 I also found it strange than for some of the devices on that list the newest driver is not being displayed when you select the device in the AMD's "drivers&support" section. So I ordered an R5 240 instead of an R5 230 in order to be on a safer side.

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EDIT2: After updating Windows 10 to version 1903, the integer scaling option appeared, but it doesn't change ANYTHING when activated. Updating the driver to 19.12.3 also didn't help. My Radeon R5 240 just arrived. The driver 19.12.2 installed successfully, but I can't find an option for integer scaling anywhere. Maybe it's just not supported after all. How the card looks like: https://tpucdn.com/gpu-specs/images/b/5452-front.small.jpg (It would be interesting to find a reliable list of AMD's products that actually support IS.)

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AMD has released a new version of Radeon Software 2020 — 20.1.1. An interesting detail is that the “Known Issues” section of release notes contains the following item: > Integer Scaling option is not showing up or available on **SOME** Windows®7 system configurations. …that implies that integer scaling is generally implemented for Windows 7 and is meant to work under W7 right now in most cases. https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-20-1-1

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Seems like intel is planning the next big talk between the engineers and people who want to talk to them on 16th January. (On reddit).

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I guess I'll try to ask intel if they could add scanlines for their dGPUs.

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Here is the answer I got on the AMD's discord regarding IS not working on the cheap AMD-card I bought: "It's been pointed out to the Radeon team and they investigated - GCN 1.0 doesn't support integer scaling. A correction is likely to be made to documentation and the website soon."

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Just ordered myself the cheapest GCN2-card I could find (Radeon R7 260).

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I confirm that all my basic tests of integer scaling with Radeon R7 260 over DisplayPort were successful. Tested following resolutions with a 2560x1440 monitor: 640x480, 800x600, 1280x720 (The first two include Direct3D apps in full screen mode.) Picture of the card I used: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41rHA4RkhuL._AC_.jpg P.S.: The AMD's naming of cards is weird. Doublecheck and tripplecheck that a card has GCN2 or newer and that it is supported by the newest drivers before actually buying the card for IS.

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EDIT: Seems like something is messed up about the AMD's new GUI. IS started working after I turned some of the stuff related to "GPU scaling" off and on again. Strange... I just built the Radeon R7 260 into a different PC and now integer scaling is once again not doing anything. I have zero ideas what's going on.

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I wonder how many people are now failing to understand IS, because it doesn't do anything when they try to turn it on. :)))

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This recently appeared on AMD's description of IS: "Integer Scaling is compatible with Windows 10. Hardware compatibility includes Radeon R7 360 series, Radeon R7 260 series, Radeon HD 7790, Radeon HD 8770, Radeon R9 390 series, Radeon R9 290 series, Radeon R9 380 series, Radeon R9 285, Radeon RX 400 series, Radeon RX 500 series, Radeon RX Vega series, Radeon VII, Radeon RX 5000 series, Radeon Pro Duo, Radeon R9 Fury series and Radeon R9 Nano consumer dGPUs, Ryzen 2000 and newer APUs, including hybrid and detachable graphics configurations. GD-154" I wonder whether they also count those new cheap "Athlon CPUs" for 50$ with integrated Vega GPUs. Does someone own one of those? (I mean: Sure, I got that Radeon R7 260 for 25$ on ebay, but for making a NEW retro gaming PC an "Athlon" might actually be a better choice.)

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W10 note was there previously, iirc, and probably does not match reality. They only provided an updated list of supported GPUs now. At the same time, the “Fixed Issues” section of the release notes for the newest driver 20.1.4 [1] now contains this: > “Integer Scaling option is not showing up or available on some Windows®7 system configurations.” So integer scaling is apparently supported by AMD driver under Windows 7, and should now be available with all the supported GPUs. [1] https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-20-1-4

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Regarding W7: Release notes for AMD driver 20.1.4 section "Fixed Issues" says: "Integer Scaling option is not showing up or available on some Windows®7 system configurations." If IS is always compatible with W7 now, then I'm surprised that they didn't manage to make it W10-compatible without making the update to version 1903 mandatory. Maybe they just wanted to save some development effort though.

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W7 graphics-driver model is constant and does not change for a while, while W10 one does change on a regular basis according to Manuel and Sora, if I understand them correctly.

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Integer scaling does work in AMD driver for Windows 7, confirmed: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/eut0i0/-/ffvcq03/

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For those who are interested in getting both nvidia RTX and IS: Buying an RTX 2060 might be worth reconsidering. The prices for it dropped recently by a little bit. Some are as cheap as 300$. Allthough I doubt that it has a decent RTX performace. The benchmarks might be worth looking at. I guess I'll wait until the next generation instead.

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I would also wait until nVidia fixes incompatibility with HDR, custom resolutions, and other issues. Though I wouldn’t expect any integer-scaling-related changes from nVidia for another 5 years, so nVidia is basically not an option for those interested not just in _retro_gaming. And Afaict, incompatibility with custom resolutions is quite a serious limitation even in terms of retrogaming.

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I might be wrong, but I don't see any big problems with the lack of custom resolutions in context of retro gaming. Games that are designed to run below 640x480 usually need to run in DosBox anyway, which means that you can upscale them from the windowed mode.

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The Eve Spectrum series of crowd-developed computer monitors is now extended with a 27″ 4K monitor with built-in integer scaling support. The monitor is available for preorder for $620 and is planned to ship in Q4 2020. https://www.reddit.com/r/integer_scaling/comments/fav2jq/ IPS, VRR (FreeSync Premium Pro, G-Sync Compatible) 48–144 Hz, variable overdrive, HDR600, HDMI 2.0a, DP 1.4, USB 3.1 Gen 2. Looks like I know what my next monitor will be.

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I was considering getting an OLED monitor next time due to their supposedly very low latency, but after so many years they are still damn expensive.

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The today’s Radeon Software 2020 20.3.1 contains important fixes for integer-scaling issues related to performance on RX Vega and older GPUs and APUs, and to (un)availability of the option on some GCN-based GPUs. https://www.reddit.com/r/integer_scaling/comments/flf5n1/

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It doesn't seem like they managed to extend support to GCN1. With my cheap GCN1 card from ebay the problem wasn't that the option wasn't shown. The problem was that the option didn't do anything.

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I wonder whether the prices for display adapters will rise again, since people all over the world are forced to stay at home.

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A real-world case when GPU scaling is not a solution because it wastes bandwidth and, in this case, limits the maximum available refresh rate to 60 Hz instead of 120 Hz supported by the display (Samsung Q60-series 65-inch TV) at true FHD not prescaled to 4K: https://www.reddit.com/r/htpc/comments/fv4qik/

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And so is the case with all scenarios where latency is critical. If the signal is already up-scaled then it contains more data and more data needs more time to be transmitted. So basically a solution integrated into a monitor is always closer to perfection (if done well). But try convincing ALL the monitor devs to do this. It's nearly impossible. What matters is: Now the idea is out there and everyone (who isn't afraid to tinker with the options of the display adapter) can see it. So now the people themselves will decide whether they want to pressure the monitor devs into implementing IS or not.

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ks74892

i think they should first fix up-scaling > https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/354299/gpu-up-scaling-color-format/ the issue in my post hasn't always been around. sadly, i don't know which driver version it first started happening in. personally? i need GPU up-scaling because this stupid Scamsung TV has some stupid scam feature called global dimming. and it can only be disabled by setting the input mode to PC, but then display up-scaling isn't used and i need the PC to upscale. but is recently broken like 3 months ago, or so :( anyone have any ideas?

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Offtopic unless specific to integer scaling.

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Intel is releasing a new generation of desktop CPUs. Most of them seem to have "UHD 630" iGPUs and they don't seem to support IS. (AMD's recent CPUs do.) Some sources call them "Gen10 graphics". I'm not sure what that means.

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