[cjakeman]

Kknobl has reported that updating from Stable Release 1.4 to 1.5 renders the display very dim - unacceptably so. Reverting to 1.4 restores the original brightness.

(I've started this public thread instead of using Private Messages or Launchpad.net so that it gets a larger audience and someone might have some thoughts on how to solve it.)

James has publicly listed archives for all Unstable Versions, so they are executable and we can use them to find out when the problem arose. Any of these archives can be downloaded and unzipped to a folder. So long as that folder is separate from your installed Open Rails. It will then have no affect on the installed Open Rails. To run an unzipped archive, find and execute the OpenRails.exe file.

We could use binary search to pin down the Unstable Version that dims the display. Before we try that, I suspect the change from 32-bit to 64-bit might be the culprit so, Kknobl, would you try the archive from just before 64-bit was submitted (9-Jan-22) and another from just after it was merged with the Testing Version (28-Feb-22).

Before
After

Looking forward to the results. Was it the change to 64-bit?

[kknobl]

Will do, downloading both now and will advise of the results.

[kknobl]

cjakeman, on 20 November 2022 - 05:40 AM, said:

Kknobl has reported that updating from Stable Release 1.4 to 1.5 renders the display very dim - unacceptably so. Reverting to 1.4 restores the original brightness.

(I've started this public thread instead of using Private Messages or Launchpad.net so that it gets a larger audience and someone might have some thoughts on how to solve it.)

James has publicly listed archives for all Unstable Versions, so they are executable and we can use them to find out when the problem arose. Any of these archives can be downloaded and unzipped to a folder. So long as that folder is separate from your installed Open Rails. It will then have no affect on the installed Open Rails. To run an unzipped archive, find and execute the OpenRails.exe file.

We could use binary search to pin down the Unstable Version that dims the display. Before we try that, I suspect the change from 32-bit to 64-bit might be the culprit so, Kknobl, would you try the archive from just before 64-bit was submitted (9-Jan-22) and another from just after it was merged with the Testing Version (28-Feb-22).

Before
After

Looking forward to the results. Was it the change to 64-bit?

Hi, the 32 bit display brightness was normal, 64 bit the display was dim

[cjakeman]

kknobl, on 23 November 2022 - 06:15 AM, said:

Hi, the 32 bit display brightness was normal, 64 bit the display was dim

Thanks for trying these out.
It seems I guessed right about the cause. Not sure what the solution might be. I have an on-line meeting with James, our technical lead on Saturday, so I will ask his advice.

If anyone else has thoughts on what might be affecting just one user, then please feel free to jump in.

Thanks.

[cjakeman]

cjakeman, on 23 November 2022 - 09:20 AM, said:

I have an on-line meeting with James, our technical lead on Saturday, so I will ask his advice.

If anyone else has thoughts on what might be affecting just one user, then please feel free to jump in.

Hi kknobl,

James has pointed out that the change to 64-bit removed the large-address-aware executable RunActivityLAA.exe. Many graphics drives can be customised for a specific executable so, if your graphics driver was customised for the 1.4 version of RunActivityLAA.exe, then that customisation will need to be re-applied to the 1.5 version of RunActivity.exe. (The same applies if you have been making use of ReShade, the graphics post-processor.)

If this is the case, please re-install v1.5 and tell us how it works out.

If not, then we need a screenshot from v1.5 as this can provide some clues. Is the lighting dim everywhere on screen including the pop-up windows or just in the 3D world? What about in-cab? What about distant mountains (as these have no shadows)?

Please don't take screenshots when running full-screen, but use windowed mode. It seems screenshot software can remove effects that are used by a program running in full-screen mode so you don't then get an accurate image.

[Peter B.]

Hello kknobl, hello Chris,

recently I made a strange observation: I don't get the dimmed (darker) graphics when running OR 1.5, but with ORNYMG 134. I'm running 1.5 with all options stored in the registry and ORNYMG with a local OpenRails.ini file. So, it's obvious that some graphics settings are different. I compared the log files from both and found these graphics related differences:

OR 1.5 (normal appearance):
AntiAliasing = (user set) 3
DirectXFeatureLevel = (user set) 10_0
ShadowAllShapes = (user set) True
ShadowMapDistance = (user set) 1250
UseLargeAddressAware = True
WindowGlass = (user set) True

ORNYMG 134 (dark appearance):
AntiAliasing = (user set) 2
DirectXFeatureLevel =
ShadowAllShapes = False
ShadowMapDistance = 1000
WindowGlass = False

Maybe this helps in narrowing down the search for the source of that dimming effect. I've attached both log files for details.

Greetings, Peter

Attached File(s)

•  OpenRails1.5Log.txt (15.11K)
  Number of downloads: 242
•  OpenRailsORNYMG134Log.txt (11.62K)
  Number of downloads: 193

[Peter B.]

UPDATE: I've found what makes my ORNYMG134 installation go dim: I've got AMD's Adrenalin Edition Software installed and set up a separate gaming configuration for "D:\Spiele\OR_NewYear_MG\RunActivity.exe". This config had the option "Image Sharpening" activated. When I deactivate this OR is displayed normally. And as OR 1.5 is installed in a different path and has no specific gaming config defined it isn't affected by this setting.

@kknobl: in your log file I see that you also use AMD graphics. Could you please check if you've got image sharpening activated, and if deactivating it restores the normal brightness/contrast?

Greetings, Peter

[cjakeman]

Peter B., on 27 November 2022 - 04:34 AM, said:

UPDATE: When I deactivate this OR is displayed normally. And as OR 1.5 is installed in a different path and has no specific gaming config defined it isn't affected by this setting.

Well done, Peter. Let's hope this is the right solution for kknobl too.

[kknobl]

Peter B., on 27 November 2022 - 04:34 AM, said:

UPDATE: I've found what makes my ORNYMG134 installation go dim: I've got AMD's Adrenalin Edition Software installed and set up a separate gaming configuration for "D:\Spiele\OR_NewYear_MG\RunActivity.exe". This config had the option "Image Sharpening" activated. When I deactivate this OR is displayed normally. And as OR 1.5 is installed in a different path and has no specific gaming config defined it isn't affected by this setting.

@kknobl: in your log file I see that you also use AMD graphics. Could you please check if you've got image sharpening activated, and if deactivating it restores the normal brightness/contrast?

Greetings, Peter

Will do, I'll give it a shot and keep all posted. Thanks!

[kknobl]

Peter B., on 27 November 2022 - 04:34 AM, said:

UPDATE: I've found what makes my ORNYMG134 installation go dim: I've got AMD's Adrenalin Edition Software installed and set up a separate gaming configuration for "D:\Spiele\OR_NewYear_MG\RunActivity.exe". This config had the option "Image Sharpening" activated. When I deactivate this OR is displayed normally. And as OR 1.5 is installed in a different path and has no specific gaming config defined it isn't affected by this setting.

@kknobl: in your log file I see that you also use AMD graphics. Could you please check if you've got image sharpening activated, and if deactivating it restores the normal brightness/contrast?

Greetings, Peter

Image Sharpening was deactivated, but the screen was still dimmed in full screen mode.

However, when run in windowed mode, the screen display is perfectly normal with no dimming.

[Peter B.]

Hello kknobl,

sorry to hear I was barking up the wrong tree with my idea about AMD's image sharpening. At least I can confirm that the dimming also occurs in OR 1.5 and 1.5.1 in full screen when I activate it, but not in window mode.

Greetings, Peter

[cjakeman]

Hi Peter,

Peter B., on 30 November 2022 - 09:59 AM, said:

sorry to hear I was barking up the wrong tree with my idea about AMD's image sharpening. At least I can confirm that the dimming also occurs in OR 1.5 and 1.5.1 in full screen when I activate it, but not in window mode.

Thanks for finding this.

Can you provide a screenshot, please?

Is the lighting dim everywhere on screen including the pop-up windows or just in the 3D world? What about in-cab? What about distant mountains (as these have no shadows)?

Thanks,

[Peter B.]

Hi Chris,

on my machine with image sharpening activated everything is dimmed in full screen as soon as RunActivity starts, even the OR icon on the start screen and the "load" picture.

Now I am just wildly speculating and thinking aloud: could this be connected with the interface for alternative shaders (like ReShade) that has been introduced with 1.5 and was already present in ORNYMG for some time?

@kknobl: do you have other 3D games installed on your computer? Sometimes these bring their own shaders, and one of those might be involuntarily also be used by your OR 1.5 via that interface.

Greetings, Peter

[Peter B.]

Hi kknobl, hi Chris,

one more thing worth mentioning might be the type of monitor I'm using: it's an older LG 32" LCD TV which has its own picture processing. I used the "Gaming" setup, but I had also changed some parameters like contrast, brightness and sharpness. After resetting the "Gaming" preset to its factory default I can't see any difference between AMD's image sharpening on or off, or windowed vs. full screen mode. So, in my case there probably were several "optimizers" fighting each other.

Greetings, and have a nice weekend, Peter

[jaytrain2]

I've had this problem as well. Turning off Image Sharpening does work, but I prefer to keep it on. When I switch to windowed mode, it is not dimmed anymore, and when I go back to full screen, it stays undimmed...