Nvidia released a VRWorks SDK that features support for two new features based on the Simultaneous Multi-Projection (SMP) engine. Developers can now start implementing Lens Matched Shading and Single Pass Stereo in their VR applications.
The new Pascal-exclusive features (first mentioned in Nvidia’s launch) have the potential to significantly increase graphics fidelity in VR, with Single Pass stereo essentially cutting the graphics workload in half by drawing the geometry only once. In previous GPU architectures, VR applications had to draw the geometry twice. This effectively allows developers to double the geometric complexity of the application for increased detail, without sacrificing the target 90 fps framerate (the widely-perceived minimum to alleviate nausea in VR).
Lens Matched Shading improves upon the previously available feature known as Multi-res Shading, which renders each part of an image at a resolution that better matches the pixel density of the lens-corrected image, with multiple scaled viewports rendered in a single pass. The new feature takes it a step further by rendering to a surface that more closely approximates the lens-corrected image that is output to the HMD, circumventing the need to render pixels that would otherwise be discarded before the image is output to the headset.
The new VRWorks SDK 2.0 is available now from Nvidia’s website.
Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Derek Forrest on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
