Lossless Scaling News

Resolution Scale, SGSR v1, and Windows 11 24H2 Compatibility

Introduced a new "Resolution Scale" option for LSFG. This feature allows input frames to be processed at a reduced resolution while generating output at the original resolution. For example, when playing at 1440p, setting the scale to 50% enables LSFG to generate 1440p output from a 720p input. This provides a performance boost with only a minor quality trade-off (depending on the game). Note that this is not related to image scaling; rather, it reduces the amount of information available to LSFG for motion estimation.
LSFG 1.1 has been fully replaced by LSFG 2.3 and is no longer available. For instance, at a resolution scale of 90%, LSFG 2.3 Performance is both faster and of higher quality.
If you still wish to use LSFG 1.1, LS 2.11 remains available in the Betas section on Steam.
Introduced SGSR v1, a highly lightweight spatial upscaler. For more details, visit the official page: https://github.com/SnapdragonStudios/snapdragon-gsr.
With the latest Windows 11 24H2 update, Microsoft changed how the Desktop Duplication API (DXGI) functions, making it heavily reliant on MPO (Multiplane Overlay) support. Without MPO, DXGI cannot reliably distinguish between updates from game window and the LS window when both are displayed on the same monitor. This prevents it from capturing only new frames, thereby breaking the existing framepacing algorithm.

MPO support varies between systems, and there is no definitive way to determine why it is supported on some setups and not on others. You can use dxdiag to check if your system has MPO support. In some cases, you might be able to work around the issue. For instance, if you have two monitors connected, disconnecting one may force the remaining monitor to support MPO.

As of the 24H2 update, DXGI is no longer a reliable capture method unless Microsoft changes its approach or Nvidia and AMD improve MPO support in their drivers.

On the other hand, Microsoft has addressed a five-year-old bug in the Windows Graphics Capture (WGC) API, which previously prevented it from capturing only new frame updates. Starting with version 24H2, WGC now works as expected for the most part. Essentially, DXGI and WGC have switched roles in this update. WGC capture in LS has been updated with a new framepacing algorithm to replace DXGI on newer systems while maintaining the same behavior as before on older systems. DXGI continues to function normally up to version 23H2, but beyond that, it depends on MPO support.

While WGC generally offers some advantages over DXGI, such as allowing LS to be recordable by most tools, it also has drawbacks without MPO support. Specifically, in games where a hardware cursor is displayed and VRR is enabled, WGC disables independent flip mode globally. This can lead to issues with LS and VRR functionality.

Starting with Windows 11 24H2, MPO support becomes highly desirable. We can hope that future updates from Microsoft, Nvidia, and AMD will address these challenges. Notably, there have been reports that DXGI is functioning correctly again on the Windows 11 Dev branch.

X4 Frame Generation & G-Sync Support

- LSFG 2.3 introduces X4 frame generation mode, generating three intermediate frames. The recommended usage scenario starts with the game's base framerate of 60 frames and for monitors with a high refresh rate of 240 and above, but can also be used with lower framerates (where the base mode is expected to give better results compared to "performance").

- X3 mode has been updated to further reduce artifacts on patterned textures and in dark scenes.

- Increased UI detection rate from every 4th frame to 1 for "performance" mode, as it was found that this could cause some artifacts. This led to a slight decrease in performance, so this parameter can now be changed in the config.ini file located in the installation folder.

- Initial support for G-Sync. It is recommended to enable it for full screen mode in the driver settings.

Special thanks to the Reddit user That_Committee9145 who first found a way to enable G-Sync for LS, as well as DerGefallene who brought the information to my attention. A huge thanks to the team of alpha testers who help me a lot every day. Thanks to each user for being here, without you this software would not be possible.

You may also be interested in the contest started recently for the best video tutorial for LS.

Quality fixes

- Reduction of LSFG artifacts on patterned textures and in dark scenes, especially noticeable when HDR is enabled.

- LS1 sharpening correction, now the value 0 should match the original. Improved colors with HDR.

- Added Portuguese and Serbian translations

Framepacing and LSFG updates

This version aims to improve smoothness, framerate stability and latency for a wide range of GPUs.

- LSFG 2.2 updates the UI detection part by reducing the level of over-detection, which eliminates some artifacts caused by UI detection and has a positive effect on the overall smoothness of the image.

- Cursor rendering at the target framerate.

- Return to the previous behavior when rendering over refresh rate is allowed.

- The new "Max Frame Latency" option acts as a balance between latency and performance. There is no best value, as all systems are different. Most likely, the optimal value will be 1 for Nvidia GPUs and 3 for AMD. It should be at least 2 (3 for AMD) if you want LS to be able to render over refresh rate.

- Merged the "Vsync" and "Allow tearing" options into one menu, where "Default" means that both of them are disabled.

- Improved Freesync support (works only on AMD GPUs).

-Lithuanian and Vietnamese localizations added.

Previous version is available in Steam betas.

X3 Frame Generation

- Introducing the X3 frame generation mode. LSFG 2.1 can now generate two intermediate frames, effectively tripling the framerate.

X3 has increased GPU load by approximately 1.7 times compared to X2 mode. At the same time, LSFG 2.1 Performance and LSFG 1.1 have been optimized to be 20% faster in X2 mode compared to the previous version.

It has been tested that X3 mode does not cause any additional latency compared to X2. Latency is affected by the base framerate and when the GPU is fully utilized. For the best experience in both image smoothness and latency, it is recommended to lock the game framerate at 1/3 of the monitor's refresh rate in X3 mode.

The minimum recommended base frame rate remains the same as for X2 mode at 30 FPS for 1080p and 40 FPS for 1440p, respectively.

- New behavior when the final framerate should exceed the monitor refresh rate:

Previously, LS rendered all necessary frames, some of which were later discarded when displayed on the monitor. LS will now skip rendering extra frames while accounting for correct frame pacing, so the result should be very similar to the old behavior but much more resource efficient.
While a higher base framerate is better for latency purposes, forcing LS to skip frames may not result in the best smoothness.

Given that the LS framerate will never exceed the refresh rate now, for convenience and also for identifying issues, the 'Draw FPS' option also outputs captured frames when using DXGI capture.

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