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In the Forums... |
Posted: December 14th, 2004
Another noteworthy Nvidia technology introduced within its Geforce 6 series GPU is Ultra Shadow II. As the realism of games increases year on year one of the crucial features commonly used to enhance the environments are shadows and as graphics chase reality so do they. Unfortunately a complex scene with shadows can become a large burden on any GPU and so this is where Ultra Shadow II offers some relief. As for any consumer striving to enhance their gaming experience will agree frame rates can at large determine the playability factor and even to some extent the expertise one can showcase within a game. Ultra Shadow II is a form of shadow accelerator that internally within the GPU calculates the level of depth in a current scene and only enables drawing its shadows within such boundaries. The outcome is reduced GPU overhead (by as much as 400%) rendering only those shadow effects a player visibly may observe, any saved resources can be used boost frame rates thus the playability aspect discussed above. Some current games such as DOOM III extensively use shadows to create the ultimate environment atmosphere - Ultra Shadow II however can benefit all games as it does not require specific coding by developers.
Shadow calculations in DOOM III
Shadow calculations in DOOM III with Ultra Shadow II
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