Question Is Nvidia Integer Scaling really able to render 1080p/1440p games with excellent sharpness on 4k monitors?

[devetimon]

Hi, I'am asking this question to know if someone among you ever tried the Nvidia Integer Scaling method explained in this article https://www.anandtech.com/show/14765/nvidia-releases-geforce-436-02-driver-integer-scaling-and-more (scroll down the article until you find ""Integer Image Upscaling At Last").

In a nutshell, by this method it should be possible to play 1080p/1440p games on 4k monitors having a native image quality as you were playing on native 1080p/1440p monitors. You should not be experiencing blurred images, aliasing nor other issues. The only thing you should do is access Nvidia Control Panel > Adjust desktop size and position > scaling > integer scaling > perform scaling on GPU and then select the scaling resolution.

Please note: according to the article above and other infos on the internet, this method only works with Turing cards (not Pascal nor older cards). Plus, please note, this is a different method than the Image Sharpening GPU scaling present in Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3d settings. Nvidia Integer Scaling is a complete different thing and should be used alone.

I would like to know if someone among you tried it and can really confirm the native sharpness of 1080p/1440p games on 4k monitors or if you did experience any issues

 

[amenx]

Not working for me. Seems a buggy feature that others complained about since it was introduced over a year ago. Apparently it will work only under the 'right conditions'.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/311573/interger-scaling-not-sticking-a-4k-tv/?topicPage=3

Not that I care about this feature as I only infrequently play one game that doesnt go above 1440p on my 40" 4k TV, which even at 1440p still looks good enough for me.

 

[BFG10K]

In a nutshell, by this method it should be possible to play 1080p/1440p games on 4k monitors having a native image quality as you were playing on native 1080p/1440p monitors.

No, that's not how it works. The scaling applies only to an integer division of both resolution dimensions. Anything else like 1440p on 4K will have black borders exactly like 1:1 scaling.

As for trying it, it seems to work fine at 720p on a 1440p display, though I don't exactly have a native 27" 720p display lying around to compare it to.

 

[VirtualLarry]

As for trying it, it seems to work fine at 720p on a 1440p display, though I don't exactly have a native 27" 720p display lying around to compare it to.

Hmm, good to know. I might hold off on hooking my friend up with this GTX 1660 ti that I got him to go with the 1440P 144Hz monitor that I got him, until he can pay me for the card. Until then, I might tell him to use that NV driver trick, and use the 'integer scaling' feature, to play @ 720P / 144Hz, until he can come up with the money for the card. (That PC currently has a GTX 1650 4GB D5 in it.)

Is there anything game-specific to set up? Or just set "Integer Scaling" to "Enabled" in the NV settings, and then select 720P resolution in-game?

Edit: Oh, does 'integer scaling' work alongside FreeSync / G-Sync Compat.? Or am I out of luck there?

 

[Stuka87]

Hmm, good to know. I might hold off on hooking my friend up with this GTX 1660 ti that I got him to go with the 1440P 144Hz monitor that I got him, until he can pay me for the card. Until then, I might tell him to use that NV driver trick, and use the 'integer scaling' feature, to play @ 720P / 144Hz, until he can come up with the money for the card. (That PC currently has a GTX 1650 4GB D5 in it.)

Is there anything game-specific to set up? Or just set "Integer Scaling" to "Enabled" in the NV settings, and then select 720P resolution in-game?

Edit: Oh, does 'integer scaling' work alongside FreeSync / G-Sync Compat.? Or am I out of luck there?

You can in theory do it for any game.

And it should not prevent it from working with adaptive sync.

 

[BFG10K]

Is there anything game-specific to set up?

No, it's just a resolution.

Edit: Oh, does 'integer scaling' work alongside FreeSync / G-Sync Compat.? Or am I out of luck there?

Again, it's just a resolution so I can't see any reason why these wouldn't work.

 

[devetimon]

No, that's not how it works. The scaling applies only to an integer division of both resolution dimensions. Anything else like 1440p on 4K will have black borders exactly like 1:1 scaling.

As for trying it, it seems to work fine at 720p on a 1440p display, though I don't exactly have a native 27" 720p display lying around to compare it to.

Yeah sorry, you're right, I meant 1080p for 4k monitor integer scaling and 720p for 1440p monitor.

I'm glad to know that it worked fine at 720p with your 1440p display. May I ask you if you were able to play via integer fullscreen or only with a smaller picture centered in the middle of the screen (with black pixels around)?

Did you test it on a TV display or on a PC monitor?

Lastly, if you tested this: how was your general desktop experience with integer scaling? (I mean OS navigation, folders' scaling, icons' scaling, pics' scaling, videos, web browsing and so on)