Variable Rate Shading

Variable Rate Shading promises improved performance with minimal loss in image quality. It achieves that by not shading every pixel of a textured surface, but larger blocks—which makes sense if differences between pixels are only minor.


This illustration by NVIDIA helps explain the idea behind VRS. The asphalt is mostly held in similar colors, so it can be rendered at lower resolution, and you'd never notice the difference. Areas with more details, like the car or mountains in the background remain at the native resolution because both would immediately degrade in visual quality.

Looking at the comparison shots below, I'm extremely disappointed. In Resident Evil Village, the output looks like everything has been rendered at lower resolution and then upscaled. All textures look very blocky, I'm not seeing any evidence of "variable" here. Also, the performance gains are minimal, definitely not worth it for the loss in image quality.