Variable Rate Supersampling (VRSS) is a new technique to improve image quality in VR games. It uses NVIDIA Variable Rate Shading (VRS), a key feature in NVIDIA’s Turing architecture, to dynamically apply up to 8x supersampling to the center of the VR headset display, where the eye is generally focused. It intelligently applies supersampling only when GPU headroom is available in order to maintain the VR headset’s fixed FPS and ensure a smooth VR experience.
Compared to alternative techniques that supersample the entire screen with large hits to frame rate, VRSS’s adaptive use of Variable Rate Shading boosts image quality while staying about the typical 90Hz fixed refresh rate of the VR headset. In the VR game Boneworks, VRSS keeps FPS above 90, whereas a fullscreen 4x supersample drops frame rates to unplayable levels.
To enable VRSS, open the NVIDIA Control Panel and select Manage 3D Settings -> click on the Program Settings tab -> select a program to customize -> scroll down to Virtual Reality – Variable Rate Supersampling and change the setting to “Adaptive”.
For advanced users, the Control Panel also offers an ‘Always On’ setting that applies up to 8x supersampling regardless of performance. Note, this may bring your frame rate below the VR headset’s refresh rate and impact your experience.
VRSS is supported by the driver--no game integration required--and can be applied to DX11 VR games or application that have forward renderers and support MSAA, and have been tested by NVIDIA. At the time of publishing, over 30 games meet this criteria, including:
| VRSS Enabled Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pavlov VR Robo Recall Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope Talos Principle VR Battlewake Job Simulator Spiderman Homecoming VR In Death Killing Floor: Incursion Space Pirate Trainer The Soulkeeper VR |
L.A. Noire VR Eternity Warriors VR Hot Dogs Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Boneworks Lone Echo Rec Room Rick & Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality Skeet: VR Target Shooting SpiderMan far from home Sairento VR Raw Data
|
Mercenary 2: Silicon Rising Special Force VR: Infinity War Doctor Who: The Edge of time-VR VRChat PokerStars VR Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Onward VR Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Sniper Elite VR |
We’ll continue to test more VR games and add them to future driver releases. Variable Rate Supersampling is supported with Turing and higher GPUs only and requires NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 441.87 or higher.