2008-08-03, 06:05
I believe that the texturing tool now supports loading of dxtc-dds files for skin textures, but I believe it would be a boon to extend this support for dxtc compressed dds files to the picture browser and backdrop support.
Current backdrop memory usage at:
By allowing dxtc compressed images to be directly loaded, this changes drastically:
*- I included 540 raw bitmap as his has been suggested as a Xbox friendly resolution with minimal image quality tradeoff.
Some arguments regarding reduced image quality may be presented, but I would like to put most to bed. So here are some examples based on a 720 viewing resolution, cropped (but not resized past the 720 point) to a 640x480 window. All the uncropped and original format versions can be found here.
First, a 1080p bitmap viewed at 720p.
Then, a 1080p dxtc dds viewed at 720p.
The quality reduction is surprisingly small, and obscenely small compared to the saved memory.
Onto a 720p bitmap viewed at 720p.
And, a 720p dxtc dds viewed at 720p.
Now we can see a small sharpening effect due to the reduction of available colors in the dxtc sample, however, the image quality is still superb.
If an image is to be upscaled, dxtc compression would probably result ugly artifacts, however if the resolutions is pre-selected or downward only, dxtc gives incredible memory reductions.
Why is this important? Not only does this reduce the memory usage, which especially for the xbox is very important, but it also saves disk space for backdrops, reduces i/o, reduces lag on loading, and provides a smoother experience.
Current backdrop memory usage at:
- 1080p - 5.93MB
- 720p - 2.63MB
- 540P - 1.48MB *
- 480p - 0.98MB
By allowing dxtc compressed images to be directly loaded, this changes drastically:
- 1080p - 0.98MB
- 720p - 451KB
- 480p - 199KB
*- I included 540 raw bitmap as his has been suggested as a Xbox friendly resolution with minimal image quality tradeoff.
Some arguments regarding reduced image quality may be presented, but I would like to put most to bed. So here are some examples based on a 720 viewing resolution, cropped (but not resized past the 720 point) to a 640x480 window. All the uncropped and original format versions can be found here.
First, a 1080p bitmap viewed at 720p.
Then, a 1080p dxtc dds viewed at 720p.
The quality reduction is surprisingly small, and obscenely small compared to the saved memory.
Onto a 720p bitmap viewed at 720p.
And, a 720p dxtc dds viewed at 720p.
Now we can see a small sharpening effect due to the reduction of available colors in the dxtc sample, however, the image quality is still superb.
If an image is to be upscaled, dxtc compression would probably result ugly artifacts, however if the resolutions is pre-selected or downward only, dxtc gives incredible memory reductions.
Why is this important? Not only does this reduce the memory usage, which especially for the xbox is very important, but it also saves disk space for backdrops, reduces i/o, reduces lag on loading, and provides a smoother experience.
