37 replies to this topic

[gStAv]

I don't think you can free scale any more, and this is why you gain a bit of performance.
I've got 2cm black space on my DMD monitor now.



Filled the blanks blue so you could see the area clearer.

[settingsons]

I can't test this out now because my setup is not usable at the moment because I have been decasing the playfield, etc. however on the 5 tables I tested out I did resize it fully to show it in my DMD display area (4:3 18" monitor not rotated) - maybe I was lucky.

If you really need the extra frames (like I do) then maybe you could try to create a custom resolution in the nVidia control panel to 'make it fit'. Not sure if Chriz got the same issue - maybe there is another workaround.

Edited by settingsons, 27 March 2011 - 05:02 PM.

[chriz]

yes, I use 570x460 custom resolution (via powerstrip) for my 19" lcd dmd screen, so everything is filled out nicely.
tested more tables so far, even on the new (alpha ramp) tables I get +100fps now (had to restart vp/system to see the fps effect )

[settingsons]

yes, I use 570x460 custom resolution (via powerstrip) for my 19" lcd dmd screen, so everything is filled out nicely.
tested more tables so far, even on the new (alpha ramp) tables I get +100fps now (had to restart vp/system to see the fps effect )

Thanks for the info Chriz. Hopefully that will work for you gStav.

I just found more details of Chriz's full DMD '1:1 mapping' settings in his Hyperpin thread as follows:
DMD 1:1 Custom Resolution

[destruk]

Using the Visual Pinball F11 key I get about 120-150 better FPS (I know these are not actually frames per second but I think are an indicator of how much draws VP manages).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/FREEWARE/VISUAL PINMAME/ <your-table-name>
and change ddraw from 1 to zero.

Is there a way to get this to be applied to all tables, rather than going through each table?

Yes you can set it as the default key for the game name, then the first time you run any romset it will use the default key setting. - this requires clearing out the other keys first.

[mwong168]

Wow, just tried this for TOTAN and TOM. I definitely noticed the performance gain by having direct draw off for each of these tables and TOM finally plays smooth but I tried Monopoly and still laggy I have the same problem with my DMD being smaller and not filling my screen now so I might try chriz' solution and debating if I should disable it on other tables that play fine or just leave it alone.

[lettuce]

Is it just me or does using this method make the dmd's look more authentic also??

[chriz]

when you resize a dmd (manually) it looks crappy, because the dots of the dmd are not proportional anymore. disabling ddraw = 1:1 size (or doublesize), which looks best.

[gwjrabbit]

I can confirm that this change made a 100-200 magical non fps counter (whatever f11 measures) for me in Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars and Circus Voltaire. I seem to still be able to resize the dmd pretty easily. Sometimes it doesn't "take", but I can get it eventually.

[gear323]

Are you guys just using the F11 thing to get the FPS or something else? I have a fast computer but my F11 FPS seem to be much faster than what you guys are seeing. If I hold the ball in the flipper, I get 5200 FPS on the F11 thing. when shooting the ball around I get about 3500 FPS. Even with 6 balls on the tabe at once I get over 1200 FPS on that F11 thing

I have all 3 Monitors hooked up to one display adapter. The third monitor is at 640x480 and pinmame is set to double size. The second monitor is just a static backglass. Both are set to 16bit. My main monitor is at 1920x1080 and 32 bit.

Specs:
Windows 7 X64 ULT SP1
Core i7 Extreme at 4.5 GHZ
6GB DDR3 x2000
ATI 5870 HD
ASUS Rampage 3 Extreme MB

Maybe there is a better way we can compare FPS that this F11 thing? While I kmow my computer is pretty fast, I don't think I should be getting FPS that are this much faster than you guys?

Thoughts?


Oh amd Chriz, When I set my pinmame monotor to 570x460 my DMD does not look good. The colors are off and has lines in it just like when I try to manually strech it rather than just sticking with the double size. hmm.

Also have you guys tried to set pinmame or VP to above normal priority or set the processor affinity so that each app as there own cores? I have not tried any of that since I don't seem to get any lag but maybe that will help you guys.


Well I just tried a bunch of diffetent tables. I get that super fast FPS in JPs STTNG but my FPS (F11) is much slower on some other tables.

Edited by gear323, 09 May 2011 - 05:18 AM.

[settingsons]

Are you guys just using the F11 thing to get the FPS or something else? I have a fast computer but my F11 FPS seem to be much faster than what you guys are seeing. If I hold the ball in the flipper, I get 5200 FPS on the F11 thing. when shooting the ball around I get about 3500 FPS. Even with 6 balls on the tabe at once I get over 1200 FPS on that F11 thing

I have all 3 Monitors hooked up to one display adapter. The third monitor is at 640x480 and pinmame is set to double size. The second monitor is just a static backglass. Both are set to 16bit. My main monitor is at 1920x1080 and 32 bit.

Specs:
Windows 7 X64 ULT SP1
Core i7 Extreme at 4.5 GHZ
6GB DDR3 x2000
ATI 5870 HD
ASUS Rampage 3 Extreme MB

Maybe there is a better way we can compare FPS that this F11 thing? While I kmow my computer is pretty fast, I don't think I should be getting FPS that are this much faster than you guys?

Thoughts?


Oh amd Chriz, When I set my pinmame monotor to 570x460 my DMD does not look good. The colors are off and has lines in it just like when I try to manually strech it rather than just sticking with the double size. hmm.

Also have you guys tried to set pinmame or VP to above normal priority or set the processor affinity so that each app as there own cores? I have not tried any of that since I don't seem to get any lag but maybe that will help you guys.


Well I just tried a bunch of diffetent tables. I get that super fast FPS in JPs STTNG but my FPS (F11) is much slower on some other tables.

Thanks for your info. F11 is how we check the FPS scores (by the way it isn't Frames Per Second but the redraws VP does in the main game loop I think). Your FPS's are very interesting - makes you wonder if it is the ATI card or CPU. A lot of us do set the affinity for processes and for me that is how I achieve the FPSs that I get. You may want to read and post your specs and FPSs over at the Hyperpin forums. It shows PC specs, resolutions, affinity settings, etc.
FPS scores with Configs

[maceman]

@gear- I get the same FPS for that game. You need to try ones using UVP.

I would compare apples to apples, if you get a chance- with Chriz' FPS template from the hyperpin forum...

Also, best to test within the same author tables to really see what is going on. For example, JP uses dropwalls, which may be a factor....

cheers,
Maceman

[lettuce]

So do you have to change the ddraw value for each table, or is there a way to have it so its added to all tables in the reg?

[guruguys]

So do you have to change the ddraw value for each table, or is there a way to have it so its added to all tables in the reg?

If you add the REG_DWORD ddraw to the "default" key (its listed as 'default' folder with the other games. right click on default, then choose new dword_32bit and name it ddraw) then future tables will be set to ddraw=0 when installed.

[russdx]

you should use a REAL dmd save those fps for the game

[vidmouse]

OP:
Thanks so much for this! This helped push my FPS over the top on a few
favorite tables so that they're playable now.

I'm going to try to set the backglass to 16 too, and see if that makes a
difference for my setup.

[Rincewind]

I decided not to open a new thread but bump this one instead.

 

When I run the position the DMD on the playfield, the table plays smooth, but when I move the dmd to my second screen instantly the fps drops drastically making the table unplayable - ball strutter, lag etc...  moving the DMD back to the playfield the table runs smooth again. I did some research and when I set ddraw to 0, I have no issues with the dmd being on the second monitor.

I've got 2 ATI 5770 cards, one for the playfield and one for the second monitor. The lcd playfield is connected via HDMI and the monitor uses a CRT connection. The OS running is XP 64bit

 

For testing purposes, I tried to recreate the issue on Windows 7 but haven't been able to, everthing runs smooth even with ddraw set to 1 and the DMD on the second monitor. Just for the record, I'd use Windows 7 over XP, but the startup time of hyperpin on W7 is 2 minutes, and the tables need an eternaty to load.

 

Could it be the drivers or the directx? btw. using latest catalyst on both OS

thanks in advance

[evilantal]

@Rincewind, regarding the long load times

I had this as well on Windows 7 64-bit using an ATI card. What fixed it for me was going into the videocard settings (Vision Engine) and changing the scaling options

 

√ Enable GPU scaling
• fit image to panel size