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To HDR or not to HDR
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RPGDot Forums > Oblivion - General

Author Thread
JDR13
Magister of the Light
Magister of the Light




Joined: 16 Apr 2002
Posts: 376
Location: Michigan, United States
   

quote:
Originally posted by ToddMcF2002
That 2xAA comparison seems off. I noticed a huge difference with 2xAA on in the capital but in those shots its barely effectual (x850XT).

I really don't like the HDR effect - it looks like white crush. A loss of detail in exchange for extreme contrast. I haven't seen it in person though - just screenshots.


Yes, I agree. The 'jaggies' in the 2xAA shot look just as bad as the shot with no AA. Maybe he forgot to turn it on. Or it could be that the Oblivion graphic engine needs 4xAA to really smooth out the jaggies.
Post Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:24 pm
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ToddMcF2002
Leader of the Senate
Leader of the Senate




Joined: 10 Jan 2005
Posts: 317
Location: Boston MA
   

I ended up turning off 2xAA because it was killing performance during combat outdoors. In dungeons it was fine. But when I did I was shocked at how aweful the Capital looked - jaggies everywhere. I've since adjusted to it but the difference was really jarring. Those screens look like its simply not activated.
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Post Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:35 pm
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Tjvelcro
Village Dweller
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Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 16
   

Hmm I can't really see a difference between no AA and AAx2 :/ Oh well.

Tjvelcro
Post Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:43 pm
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Stranger In A Strange Land




Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia
   

More or less the same as Moriendor for me. - no HDR but 2xAA and Bloom instead.
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Post Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:27 pm
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JDR13
Magister of the Light
Magister of the Light




Joined: 16 Apr 2002
Posts: 376
Location: Michigan, United States
   

This is why I'm going to wait a while before I start Oblivion. I have a decent system now. 3400+, 1 gig ram, Geforce 6800GT. But I want to be able to run this game with all the graphic options on high along with 4xAA and 16xAF.
I'm waiting on my new Athlon 64 4000+ and Geforce 7900GT. Damn video card is on back order across the country.
Post Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:24 am
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Parmenion
Village Dweller
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Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Bristol, UK
   

Pardon my ignorance but what is HDR and bloom?

I am running Oblivion using an Athlon 1900+, 6600GT and 512 MB Ram - it runs at 1024 x 780 fine - currently in Imperial city - not too worried about eye candy more interested in gameplay - so far I am really enjoying it. I can see I will be playing this game for a very long time - well until gothic 3 comes out
Post Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:52 am
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Danicek
The Old One
The Old One




Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic
   

quote:
Originally posted by Parmenion
Pardon my ignorance but what is HDR and bloom?


HDR is quite new graphic "effect" (abbrevation of High Dynamic Range). It allows quite new approach in working with lights and other effects such as reflection. The most visible use of HDR is that it allows you to be nearly blind for a while when you come into dark room from sunshine and so on.

Bloom is also graphical "effect" that is sometimes called "fake HDR".
Post Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:10 am
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Black Ring Leader




Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany
   

To answer the questions...

1) The shots were taken with a GeForce 7800GS and the 81.98 ForceWare drivers (haven't upgraded drivers yet because I've heard of a bug with game profiles not being saved in the newer ones... can anyone confirm that?).

2) 2x AA was definitely on in that one screenshot. You always have to restart the game when changing AA or HDR setting so I'm 100% sure . It's true that there is no real noticeable difference except maybe for the shop sign... it seems to be looking a tad bit smoother with 2x AA turned on *shrug*.
Post Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:33 am
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Father of Lies
Eager Tradesman
Eager Tradesman




Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 42
Location: Montreal, Canada
   

I've upgraded to ForceWare 84.21 driver and I haven't had any problems with saving.
Post Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:12 pm
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Blade Runner




Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix
Re: To HDR or not to HDR
   

quote:
Originally posted by Danicek
The game finally arrived yesterday. I have seen only the initial dungeon so far. I was playing with my character's face and with video setting.

And I simply cannot decide if I like the game more with HDR or with AA 4x. The HDR version looks more "nice" but in few moments it starts to seem rather artificial, too shining (I don't know how to express my feelings). On the other hand the AA 4x version looks more generic, not so stunning but probably more realistically.

What do you think of this?

I think you should give the X360 version a try. The game runs smooth at 1280x720 with 4X AA & HDR on ALL the time.

I am suprised with the "superior" PC version that you would have to sacrifice one over the other.

*runs for life...


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Post Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:36 pm
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Black Ring Leader




Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany
   

Well, aside from the *fact* that HDR looks like crap, it should technically be possible to run Oblivion with HDR and AA enabled as long as you have an ATI X1xxx graphics card. I have no idea why they didn't give PC users with an ATI card the option to turn on AA and HDR at the same time (or did they?). If not, maybe it's a "political" decision (driven by MS) or maybe there's just technical reasons like compatibility concerns...? Who knows? Well, and maybe there'll be a hack or mod soon to enable both features on newer ATI cards (if it isn't already possible... I don't know or care as a non-ATI gamer and non-HDR fan ).
Post Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:22 pm
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Majnun
Village Leader
Village Leader




Joined: 02 Jun 2004
Posts: 89
   

Outdoors HDR is horrible to me (in some places). Entirely too bright snow and light building surfaces (mainly in Imp City).

But in dungeons HDR is absolutely essential for me. The fog/mist looks like crap with HDR off. With HDR on it is a tad too bright (especially if you use Night Eye) but still looks much better than with it off.

I'm running at 1600x1200 and turning on AAx4 has no noticable effect *at all*. So that's really not an issue.

I chose to leave HDR on and Bloom off. I can try to ignore/avoid the brightness in the few places its bad. But I can't live without that beautiful fog in the dungeons.

If anybody that tweaks the .ini file finds out how to tone down that brightness in outdoors (but still keep HDR on) please let us know.
Post Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:13 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
The Old One




Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic
Re: To HDR or not to HDR
   

quote:
Originally posted by RPG Frog
I think you should give the X360 version a try. The game runs smooth at 1280x720 with 4X AA & HDR on ALL the time.


The problem with giving X360 version a try is that I don't own X360 :]. So it would be quite expensive "try".
Post Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:20 am
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