This page was generated programmatically; to view the article in its original spot, you can follow the link below:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/lossless-scaling-favorite-tech-2024/
and if you wish to eliminate this article from our site, please reach out to us
One of the significant advantages of PC gaming is the liberty to take control of your settings. Is your preferred feature unsupported by many games? Displeased with the frame rate your computer is achieving? A plethora of applications exist that can aid you in adjusting and enhancing your PC gaming experience.
While many of these tools are quite specialized, there’s one that I recommend virtually every PC gamer should install. It’s named Lossless Scaling, and if it’s new to you, I’m about to make your day brighter.
How Lossless Scaling evolved
Six years prior, a basic upscaling tool named Lossless Scaling appeared on Steam. For most of its duration, it maintained a daily user base of fewer than 100 individuals. You could execute a game at a diminished resolution, and Lossless Scaling would implement an upscaling algorithm to enhance your performance. Consider AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) or Nvidia Image Scaling (NIS). The upscaling quality wasn’t outstanding, but it provided a slight improvement for older systems.
Get your weekly breakdown of the technology driving PC gaming
Now, as we approach the end of 2024, you’ll discover 3,000 to 4,000 users with Lossless Scaling engaged at any given moment. That marks an increase of 560%. What transpired? On January 10 of this year, Lossless Scaling unveiled a feature named LSFG 1.0. It’s a frame generation algorithm developed through machine learning that can introduce frame generation to any game. Now that is appealing.
Nvidia provides DLSS 3 and AMD has FSR 3, both delivering higher-quality frame generation, but Lossless Scaling was now making the feature accessible to any game and compatible with any graphics card.
This is when I decided to join the crowd, acquiring Lossless Scaling to enhance my second journey through Elden Ring in readiness for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. I was astonished by the level of efficiency it provided.
And indeed, LSFG 1.0 was merely the beginning for Lossless Scaling this year. The application has been on a roll since its inaugural model was launched. In June, it incorporated 3X frame generation, providing a performance boost exceeding what DLSS 3 and FSR 3 can furnish. In August, it escalated to 4X frame generation. And just last month, Lossless Scaling was updated with resolution scaling for generated frames, adding a capability that FSR and DLSS notably lack.
Lossless Scaling has transitioned from a specialized Steam app into a tool that every PC gamer ought to have installed. It’s been so impactful that AMD essentially appropriated the app’s functionalities for its notable AFMF 2 update, which delivers frame generation to any game but solely with AMD GPUs. Even if Lossless Scaling never receives another enhancement — and I genuinely doubt that will happen — it has already made a significant difference.
Frame doubling all around
All this expansion for Lossless Scaling throughout 2024 was no coincidence. The application is genuinely useful, and beneficial to nearly every PC gamer. I’ve kept it active on a secondary monitor for virtually every moment I’ve spent gaming on my PC this year, and there are several critical reasons for that.
For me, Lossless Scaling aids in bridging the performance gaps. I play on a PC equipped with an RTX 4090, and thankfully, I’m typically not struggling in terms of performance. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered numerous advantages of Lossless Scaling throughout the year. One of the most notable enhancements has been in games like Elden Ring that are traditionally limited to 60 frames per second (fps). Lossless Scaling can enable 120 fps, 180 fps, or even 240 fps with just a click of a button.
There are still numerous games lacking frame generation as well. For example, I’ve been immersed in Path of Exile 2 recently, and although the game supports DLSS and FSR upscaling, it doesn’t come equipped with frame generation. With Lossless Scaling, I set my frame rate to 60 fps, activate frame generation, and achieve a steady, locked 120 fps.
This is easily my preferred method of utilizing Lossless Scaling. Even with substantial PC power, titles such as Path of Exile 2 reveal considerable performance reductions, particularly as you advance towards the endgame. Upscaling aids, but it still doesn’t avoid some rough frame rate declines when the screen explodes with elemental effects. Games with significant performance variability like Path of Exile 2 or Destiny 2 greatly profit from Lossless Scaling.
In one of these titles, you might hover around a frame rate of 100 fps, yet experience drops to 60 fps when intense action occurs. That variability is perceptible. It doesn’t matter if 60 fps feels “smooth.” If you’re swinging between a high frame rate and a low one, you will notice the difference. Lossless Scaling enables you to essentially fall to the lowest point of your performance spectrum and employ frame generation to compensate.
boost you back up, offering a stable experience with minimal to no frame reductions.
The less apparent applications
Those are two clear instances. Introduce frame generation to titles that lack it, and circumvent fps limitations in games without dealing with mods or being concerned about affecting anti-cheat systems — as seen with Elden Ring.However, Lossless Scaling indeed extends beyond that. Keep in mind, it operates with any game and any graphics card.
If you’re emulating a game, for instance, Lossless Scaling can be applied freely. Especially when emulating older consoles, numerous games are restricted to 30 fps, and Lossless Scaling can smooth their performance. As an individual who regularly employs EmuDeck for emulating games on PC and my Steam Deck, I’ve utilized Lossless Scaling for emulated games countless times.
Actually, you don’t even need to be actively running a game on your PC for Lossless Scaling to be effective. If you possess a capture card and a preview window, you can implement Lossless Scaling on the gameplay preview. I wouldn’t suggest this arrangement — the latency between frame generation and displaying on the preview window accumulates rapidly — but it does function.
Regarding the graphics card specifications, Lossless Scaling doesn’t necessitate any specific hardware. You can utilize it on a Windows handheld device like the Lenovo Legion Go or Asus ROG Ally — though, regrettably, it doesn’t work on the Linux-based Steam Deck. Alternatively, you can employ it on older integrated graphics in a desktop or laptop.
This year, I indeed used Lossless Scaling to play Lords of the Fallen and System Shock on an Asus ZenBook S 16 utilizing the integrated graphics. Despite the robust CPU in this laptop, the iGPU couldn’t manage to run a game like Lords of the Fallen at an acceptable frame rate. Yet Lossless Scaling, in these scenarios, truly renders the impossible achievable.
Indispensable for every PC gamer
There isn’t another application that springs to mind for PC that I’d suggest to nearly every PC gamer. Even exceptionally valuable tools like Special K aren’t suitable for all PC gamers. Lossless Scaling is an application I would — and have — recommended to every PC gamer, however. It truly doesn’t matter if you’re indulging in older games with inadequate hardware or you possess the top-tier gear for the most demanding titles available today. There’s a substantial likelihood you can find a role for the utility.
At the time of this publication, Lossless Scaling is included in the Steam winter sale, allowing you to acquire it for 20% off. Even after the sale concludes, however, the utility is priced at just $7, and it’s received numerous complimentary updates throughout this year alone. Hopefully, that level of support persists into 2025.
This page was generated programmatically, to view the article in its original location you can follow the link below:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/lossless-scaling-favorite-tech-2024/
and if you wish to have this article removed from our site please reach out to us
