DirectX 12 now supports VRS to increase GPU performance

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microsoft directX 12 VRS

The Redmond giant has recently announced the Variable Rate Shading feature for DirectX 12. This new feature helps developers to increase graphics quality, enhance performance and reduce system requirements for gaming

VRS improves performance, increases graphics quality and lowers the system requirements for games.

How does VRS Work?

One of the sides in the picture below is 14% faster when rendered on the same hardware, thanks to a new graphics feature available only on DirectX 12.

Those who are not aware of VRS (Variable Rate Shading), the developers are able to take advantage of this powerful and latest API so that they can efficiently use the GPU.

The shading rate actually determines the color of every pixel on your screen.

Game developers are now able to prioritize shading quality for some specific parts of the images where it is required the most. The prioritization process allows us to be able to save resources.

The resolution at which shaders in an image are called is basically determined by the shading rate. The quality of the shader will be high with a higher shading rate. However, more system resources will be consumed in this way.

In VRS various shading rates are applied to different areas of a specific image. So, reducing the shading rate on areas where the visual fidelity is not affected can simply enhance PC performance and save resources. 

Big names are interested in VRS

Most of the big names are now interested to take the most benefit out of it, keeping in mind the features offered by the VRS technology.

Some of those names are Playground Games, 343 Industries, Activision, Massive Entertainment, Epic Games, and Unity. 

Furthermore, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 that is scheduled this week, Microsoft plans to conduct sponsored sessions on VRS.

The tech giant will upload a getting started guide along with a sample for the developers, in case you do not plan to attend the Conference. 

If you are interested to find out more about the variable rate shading in DirectX 12, you can check out Microsoft’s official blog

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