Application Resolution Adjustment not adjusting anything.

[Wesleypipes77]

So SteamVR is supposed to automatically set resolution based on your GPU performance. But it doesn't seem to be working. I have an RTX 2080 which is capable of doing well over 100% for many if not most games, yet the resolution setting in SteamVR remains at 100% for every single program I run all the time, no adjustments ever .

The point of the auto setting is to get better performance form a lesser GPU or to make sure a more powerful GPU is being properly utilized but that clearly isn't the case on my PC. For example when I'm playing Skyrim SteamVR has the resolution at 100% as always yet I can manually crank that setting up to 500% and it still runs buttery smooth.

So obviously my GPU is not being fully utilized by the auto resolution setting and it does not seem to be functioning properly. Leaving me having to fiddle with the settings myself until I get an optimum resolution as well as adequate performance.

[--ranXerox--]

I used 320% on a vive with a 1080ti with great difficulty. Loved every minute of it.

[Wesleypipes77]

Yeah it makes a big difference in the look of the game. 100% looks fine but turning it up makes a noticeable difference especially in VR 300 - 500% is a big difference

[robs2010mazda6s]

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

Leaving me having to fiddle with the settings myself until I get an optimum resolution as well as adequate performance.

Welcome to pc gaming/pc vr.... If you cant be bothered to fiddle in order to find the best balance between image quality and performance then sadly this hobby isnt for you.

[aaron.leiby]

Where are you looking at what resolution is being used?

When you go to the SteamVR desktop settings Video section, under Application Resolution and click Enable custom resolution, what does the text under the slider say?

[Wesleypipes77]

Originally posted by robs2010mazda6s:

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

Leaving me having to fiddle with the settings myself until I get an optimum resolution as well as adequate performance.

Welcome to pc gaming/pc vr.... If you cant be bothered to fiddle in order to find the best balance between image quality and performance then sadly this hobby isnt for you.

It's not that I have a problem playing with settings it's that if you look up how it's supposed to function you're not supposed to have to, it should set optimal settings for you.

I have to fiddle enough as it is with buggy SteamVR and buggy Vive software, always reinstalling drivers, resetting, repairing controllers, trying to get my base stations detected, bluetooth connection not functioning etc.. etc... on and on it goes. So this is just one extra thing that I'm not supposed to have to do and that's why it bothers me.

I spend as much time fiddling with settings, fixing bugs & troubleshooting as I do actually playing VR as it is so having the things that are supposed to save me that hassle function properly makes a big difference, it all adds up.

[robs2010mazda6s]

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

Originally posted by robs2010mazda6s:

Welcome to pc gaming/pc vr.... If you cant be bothered to fiddle in order to find the best balance between image quality and performance then sadly this hobby isnt for you.

It's not that I have a problem playing with settings it's that if you look up how it's supposed to function you're not supposed to have to, it should set optimal settings for you.

I have to fiddle enough as it is with buggy SteamVR and buggy Vive software, always reinstalling drivers, resetting, repairing controllers, trying to get my base stations detected, bluetooth connection not functioning etc.. etc... on and on it goes. So this is just one extra thing that I'm not supposed to have to do and that's why it bothers me.

I spend as much time fiddling with settings, fixing bugs & troubleshooting as I do actually playing VR as it is so having the things that are supposed to save me that hassle function properly makes a big difference, it all adds up.

Yeah I hear of these cases from time to time, thats a shame.... I started with a vive back in 2016 when it first came out and the software I found to be a little buggy at first but quickly got much better... I eventually sold it while it was still worth a lot and later on bought a rift which I have had since july 2017 and its been nothing but smooth sailing even with steam vr.. cant remember the last time I had to trouble shoot anything tbh.

[Wesleypipes77]

Originally posted by aaron.leiby:

Where are you looking at what resolution is being used?

When you go to the SteamVR desktop settings Video section, under Application Resolution and click Enable custom resolution, what does the text under the slider say?

I'm not sure what you mean, I'm looking under the applications heading under the Application Resolution Adjustment subheading. As far as I understand this is supposed to be auto set by SteamVR to the optimal setting for your hardware but it's just always at 100% for everything all the time and I have to manually adjust to improve image quality.

Under the Video section that you mention under the Application Resolution subheading there is only a box to check manual override ( I'm guessing that's probably the same thing as enable custom resolution ) which I had been leaving unchecked as to not interfere with the automatic resolution setting if it was functioning properly. It does say 160% so what did I have it backwards, the auto setting is a global setting for all applications that you activate by checking the manual override, but you still have to fiddle with the resolution settings past that for every individual application you run?

[Wesleypipes77]

Originally posted by robs2010mazda6s:

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

It's not that I have a problem playing with settings it's that if you look up how it's supposed to function you're not supposed to have to, it should set optimal settings for you.

I have to fiddle enough as it is with buggy SteamVR and buggy Vive software, always reinstalling drivers, resetting, repairing controllers, trying to get my base stations detected, bluetooth connection not functioning etc.. etc... on and on it goes. So this is just one extra thing that I'm not supposed to have to do and that's why it bothers me.

I spend as much time fiddling with settings, fixing bugs & troubleshooting as I do actually playing VR as it is so having the things that are supposed to save me that hassle function properly makes a big difference, it all adds up.

Yeah I hear of these cases from time to time, thats a shame.... I started with a vive back in 2016 when it first came out and the software I found to be a little buggy at first but quickly got much better... I eventually sold it while it was still worth a lot and later on bought a rift which I have had since july 2017 and its been nothing but smooth sailing even with steam vr.. cant remember the last time I had to trouble shoot anything tbh.

Yeah, I've definitely noticed myself from using revive and shopping the Oculus store etc... that having an Oculus seems to be a much more polished and user friendly experience compared to VIve. Viveport is horrible, I don't use it for anything except to access my subscription games. Other than that I avoid that program like the plague lol. I have bought more games on the Oculus store than Viveport and yet I own a Vive Pro, something is off with that whole scenario.

[robs2010mazda6s]

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

Originally posted by robs2010mazda6s:

Yeah I hear of these cases from time to time, thats a shame.... I started with a vive back in 2016 when it first came out and the software I found to be a little buggy at first but quickly got much better... I eventually sold it while it was still worth a lot and later on bought a rift which I have had since july 2017 and its been nothing but smooth sailing even with steam vr.. cant remember the last time I had to trouble shoot anything tbh.

Yeah, I've definitely noticed myself from using revive and shopping the Oculus store etc... that having an Oculus seems to be a much more polished and user friendly experience compared to VIve. Viveport is horrible, I don't use it for anything except to access my subscription games. Other than that I avoid that program like the plague lol. I have bought more games on the Oculus store than Viveport and yet I own a Vive Pro, something is off with that whole scenario.

Viveport is atrocious.

[aaron.leiby]

Originally posted by Wesleypipes77:

I'm not sure what you mean, I'm looking under the applications heading under the Application Resolution Adjustment subheading. As far as I understand this is supposed to be auto set by SteamVR to the optimal setting for your hardware but it's just always at 100% for everything all the time and I have to manually adjust to improve image quality.

Under the Video section that you mention under the Application Resolution subheading there is only a box to check manual override ( I'm guessing that's probably the same thing as enable custom resolution ) which I had been leaving unchecked as to not interfere with the automatic resolution setting if it was functioning properly. It does say 160% so what did I have it backwards, the auto setting is a global setting for all applications that you activate by checking the manual override, but you still have to fiddle with the resolution settings past that for every individual application you run?

Mostly correct. SteamVR performs a quick benchmark on startup to determine a conservative recommended render resolution based on your connected headset and gpu. This applies globally and by default. If you check the override checkbox under Video, this will display the automatic setting, which you can then change as desired to affect all applications, or uncheck to allow SteamVR to continue refining this for you.

Then, under Applications you can tweak each game relative to that base resolution setting. This is left as a percentage to make it easier for people to share their settings. So a less graphically intensive game like Job Simulator might be able to run at 150% on either a 1060 or a 2080 ti, while a game like Fallout 4 might need to be scaled down to 80% of the base resolution calculated for your gpu and headset.

The wrinkle here is that these values are subjective. Some people would rather crank up the resolution and deal with reprojection or motion smoothing artifacts, while others would prefer thing be a bit blurrier but run rock solid at 90hz.

Another wrinkle is that these are only the recommended resolution for applications to render to. Applications are free to ignore these recommendations, although most use them directly, or at least indirectly in the case of an adaptive fidelity renderer like The Lab uses.
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023522/Advanced-VR-Rendering

Finally, there is an upper bound on the calculated resolution. This defaults to 4096. You can override this by manually editing your steamvr.vrsettings file by adding the following key to the "steamvr" section and changing the value:

"maxRecommendedResolution" : 4096

[Wesleypipes77]

Ok, thank you for the explanation.