AMD APU-based laptops and VSR

[VirtualLarry]

Having just experienced VSR on the desktop for the first time, and thinking how awesome this really is... are AMD APU-based laptops capable of this? I think that that would be a "killer app" for AMD laptops.

Imagine a cheap 720P (physical) screen, running at 1080P (to software). 1080P screens on all of the low-end laptops for cheap!

 

[BSim500]

Last time I tried VSR / DSR, the effect was less than impressive. Desktop was blurry as hell vs native, whilst several games I tested looked no better at all. Plus you get all the "benefits" of bad UI scaling in many games (where already small enough UI elements on laptop screens are made 1/2 to 1/4 the size). Example:-
http://techreport.com/r.x/dsr-capture/gw2-interface-normal.jpg (native)
http://techreport.com/r.x/dsr-capture/gw2-interface-scaled.jpg (DSR/VSR)

And for an "alternative to MSAA" on horsepower limited laptops, many are far more likely to use a more efficient form of AA like SMAA / FXAA than try and brute force it via glorified super-sampling. The AMD APU's you mentioned are still barely capable of getting 60fps at 720p on even 2007-2012 games. Stuff like Bioshock Infinite, Dishonored, etc, already averages below 30fps at 1080p, so the only thing a "fake 1920x1080 to 2732x1536" (1366x768 x1.4-2.0) resolution will provide is like 5-25fps gaming (on the games that aren't completely broken by an unusably small downscaled HUD / UI, that is).

 

[VirtualLarry]

I wasn't talking about using VSR for gaming purposes on APU laptops, but rather just to provide the benefit of a 1080P desktop resolution on a budget 720P (all too common) laptop.

If AMD could provide a "poor man's 1080P" on their budget APU laptops, while still allowing their (cheap-azz) OEMs to use 720P screens, then that might stimulate a demand for true 1080P screens (once the general user population gets used to that resolution).

I think that it would be a win to provide this capability to APUs.

Sadly, I tried it on my A8-6310 Beema laptop, VSR unsupported.

C'mon, AMD, make it work! It would sell laptops.

 

[BSim500]

I wasn't talking about using VSR for gaming purposes on APU laptops, but rather just to provide the benefit of a 1080P desktop resolution on a budget 720P (all too common) laptop.

Honestly, it's way too blurry for desktop use. The effect doesn't make anything sharper or "physically" fit the equivalent of 1080p pixels into 720p, it just gives the "effective" desktop real estate at the expense of readability (because the screen size remains the same vs buying a bigger 900p/1080p 17" notebook). It's like buying a 1080p 24" monitor that "presents itself" as a 2688x1512 screen to the OS, resulting in everything being scaled smaller where the blur of the scaling far outweighs any perceived "higher res better-ness". It is nowhere near being a "free" substitute or comfortable to use vs buying a 27-32" 1440p native monitor. HD Video doesn't look any better either because the scaling of the GFX driver for real 1080p video on fake 1080p (real 720p/768p) monitor is no better than the higher quality scalers used in any half-decent media player (MPC-BE / VLC) doing internal 1080p -> 720p/768p conversion.

If AMD could provide a "poor man's 1080P" on their budget APU laptops, while still allowing their (cheap-azz) OEMs to use 720P screens, then that might stimulate a demand for true 1080P screens (once the general user population gets used to that resolution).

Part of the reason for that trend though is that small screen 1080p notebooks get a higher rate of returns precisely because people complain the text is hard to read on 11-15" screens. It's why 27" 1080p screens are still popular despite the availability of 27" 1440p's - higher res is only easier to read if the actual physical size of the text remains the same from same viewing distance and people with less than optimum eyesight or those sitting in front of a wall of text for 8hrs day after day often prefer lower dpi screens due to the way Windows scales things (even Windows 10 is no magic solution). There should indeed be an option for 1080p laptop screens in addition to standard ones, but creating a "fake 1080p" scaled VSR/DSR from a real 720p/768p screen only to have to further adjust OS scaling from 100% to 125% / 133% when everything becomes too small to read, just ends up with two lots of scaling which is probably the worst of both worlds when it results in "smear your monitor in Vaseline" simulator.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yea, my wife has a 768p 15 inch laptop, and for surfing and light use, that resolution in fine. Only problem I find with the display is the really poor viewing angles.

 

[AtenRa]

I dont use VSR for desktop, it gets very blurred, i wouldnt recommended it for Laptops. For games its fine but only if the game support it and you dont have issues like the ones described above by BSim500. For example im using it in BF4 MP but not in Civilization V.