For the sake of completeness (most of you will have noticed this app already): For a change, Samsung have done a fantastic job and released a great app called "Game Tuner". It's simple to use, doesn't even need root, and renders all of the stuff I wrote below obsolete!
What it does is, it renders each game at an individual screen resolution, frame rate, and texture quality (texture quality only working for me since MM upgrade).
All you have to do is install Game Tuner from Google Play (above link), start it, follow the instructions to install GameMode through Galaxy Apps, and you're good to go. Create a custom profile, set default values (e.g. 75% resolution=1080p), activate the profile. Set different resolutions for other games. And if you want to control apps other than games, tap top left menu, and chose "Apps".
I've done the same benchmarks as with the method below, and the results were exactly the same, so it's really working, but without messing up the UI or impairing system apps like the camera.
Hey folks,
I've decided to put together a little wrap-up of the stuff I found regarding the sometimes rather poor 3D performance of the Note 4. This is only for experienced users who are familiar with things as rooting, backups, adb, in general: unbricking their phone if bad things happen. As usual, I don't take any responsibilty if you brick your phone or destroy it in any other way. Just make sure to activate USB debugging, and if anything goes wrong, either follow this guide, or simply reflash your ROM.
Just make sure you make a Nandroid or at least Titanium backup before you try this. Better safe than sorry...
It comes as no surprise that running a cpu at almost 3GHz takes its toll. Demanding games such as Real Racing 3 or XCOM:EW, or emulators such as PPSSPP cause the cpu to heat up rapidly, until it reaches ~80°C, before it gets mercilessly downclocked to cool down. At this point, you start noticing more or less pronounced performance drops. There isn't really much you can do, except using a custom kernel to downclock cpu & gpu, before your phone does.
But apart from that, there is another, even greater performance hog, which is also one of the main reasons for the overheating issue: the QHD resolution of our Note 4's screen. We're talking about a 3.69 megapixel resolution, that's almost twice as much as Full HD (2.07 MP), and exactly four times as much as HD (0.92 MP). Gorgeous and brilliant, beautiful to look at during everyday use, but pushing the Adreno gpu to its limits when it comes to gaming.
So, an ingenious guy called NOMone has created a nifty little tool called "NOMone Resolution Changer", already some time ago. It's available for free at Google Play. It's been widely discussed here on xda and on other forums, but I want to share my experience specifically on the Note 4.
Btw, it seems he only posted here two times, so he's most likely not active anymore, but you should head over and thank him anyway.
Now, if you're thinking "no way, why should I deliberately sacrifice my QHD resolution?", read on nonetheless. Because this tool is extremely easy to use, and if you only switch the resolution before playing a game, and revert afterwards (it's only one click), you won't have to sacrifice any visual quality. The settings stick after a reboot, so make sure to really restore defaults if you want to go back to QHD.
The trick is to use the appropriate resolution and dpi values, so your screen doesn't get mixed up.
The results are impressive, sometimes even staggering. Has anyone ever wondered why PPSSPP doesn't perform better on a Note 4 than it does on a Note 2? Here's the reason. PPSSPP gains so much performance , it's almost unbelievable.
I've also done some benchmark runs to measure the improvements (yeah, I know, benchmarks are bad, but still :angel: ). The improvement is clearly visible and, even more important, reproducable:
GFXBench GL Benchmark 3.1 (Manhattan):
1. 1440p: 449,4 frames, 7.2 fps
2. 1080p: 800,6 frames, 13 fps (+78%)
3. 720p: 1621 frames, 26 fps (+261%)
4. 480p: 2728 frames, 44 fps (+507%)
This is plain awesome. The Note 4 is listed even lower, with 434 frames, in the device list, while the 1080p Galaxy S5 reaches 775 frames.
AnTuTu (gpu score only):
1. 1440p: 16210
2. 1080p: 21253 (+31%)
3. 720p: 22524 (+40%)
4. 480p: 22523 (+40%)
Obviously, by comparing scores 3 and 4, the Note 4 hits the fps limit at HD resolution, so there's no more room for improvement in AnTuTu.
Seascape Benchmark (detail setting: Very High):
1440p: 26.9 fps
1080p: 46.6 fps (+73%)
720p: 53.4 fps (+99%, sometimes hits the frame limit of 59.0 fps)
480p: 59.0 fps (+119%, hits the frame limit constantly).
This is a beautiful OpenGL ES 2.0 test, so no cpu scores interfering with the result. Again the fps limit prevents a higher score, but nonetheless, this is pretty amazing.
Other benefits: if you're using a custom kernel, you can run gpu-intensive games at lower cpu speeds to keep the cpu temperature in check. In my case, XCOM:EW runs smoothly @ 30% (!!) cpu speed. This way, the cpu doesn't heat up to more than 60°C, which means it doesn't get downclocked while playing. If you like, you can also automate the process of setting the cpu speed with the aptly named app "Automate" . Which is fantastic, btw.
Now what about visual quality?
Seriously: it's hard to tell the difference. If you look very closely, you can see the display isn't as sharp in FHD as in QHD. But if you look that closely, you're in constant danger of triggering some random app with the tip of your nose. At normal viewing distance, especially while gaming, it's impossible to tell the difference.
So, are there any drawbacks?
Yes, there are: the UI gets messed up a bit (e.g. bigger status bar, some Samsung apps don't fit on screen anymore), and NOMone Resolution Changer doesn't seem to work with CM12.1. Well, at least for me, and other users reported so as well. I tested it some time ago, while I was on CM12.1, and even thought it was a fake app, which it isn't! Seems that the resolution is somehow hard coded into CM12, and you can only switch dpi. There's probably nothing you can do when you're running CM, except try your luck.
But if you are running a Touchwiz ROM, stock or custom, it should work as intended (Emotion Revolution ROM r10.1 in my case). And you can simply ignore the UI issues, as long as you only switch the resolution for gaming. It's not a real issue then, because the status bar is hidden anyway while the game is running.
If you want to keep your device running at FullHD permanently, it's a bit more complicated: first, you'll need Xposed, so you can use the App Settings module to set Android System and SystemUI to 480 dpi. This'll fix the UI (Not needed. Just reboot)
Some apps like phone, contacts, S-Note scale down to the lower dpi setting, whereas Samsung keyboard and the camera won't (camera works, see post #10 below).
So you'll have to install another keyboard like SwiftKey (if you don't have it already), find a working camera app (3rd party or hacked Note 4 camera), and clear your Google Play data (at least I had to, it wouldn't install any apps after the changes), and you're good to go. There might also be other issues I'm not aware of yet. But apart from the ones I described, everything's working fine so far.
Have fun!
you don't need root to change the dpi and the resolution.
enable usb debugging and adb the following:
adb shell wm density 480
adb shell wm size 1080x1920
adb reboot
if you want to revert back:
adb shell wm size reset
adb shell wm density reset
adb reboot
the changes persist after reboot.
I am using it like that for some time. Everything is much faster. Even the browsing..
the only 2 bugs I noticed is the Samsung keyboard (i switched to swiftkey) and the action memo (c'mon Samsung devs, code properly..)
mitko76 said:
you don't need root to change the dpi and the resolution.
enable usb debugging and adb the following:
adb shell wm density 480
adb shell wm size 1080x1920
adb reboot
if you want to revert back:
adb shell wm size reset
adb shell wm density reset
adb reboot
the changes persist after reboot.
I am using it like that for some time. Everything is much faster. Even the browsing..
the only 2 bugs I noticed is the Samsung keyboard (i switched to swiftkey) and the action memo (c'mon Samsung devs, code properly..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, you don't necessarily need this tool. All it does is simplify the process. And you should really be able to use adb commands to fix your phone when you mess it up. But NOMone's tool comes in very handy when you're away from your pc and need to switch resolutions quickly. In my case, it's when I want to use the camera: the UI is messed up at 1080p and I haven't found a way to fix it yet, except switch back to QHD. Or the other way round: if you want to play a demanding game on the train at lower resolution, but go back to QHD again.
I'm using 1080p resolution permanently now, because I get a smoother UI, a cooler phone, better battery life, and much better performance. I hope they don't give us 5" UHD screens next...
Could you please explain what is wrong with the camera on 1080p 480dpi? I am using these settings and have 0 problems with the camera. Just curious.. If possible please attach a screen shot. Cheers
The UI is messed. I can't see most of the buttons, and can't take a photo, see attached screenshot.
Xelasarg said:
The UI is messed. I can't see most of the buttons, and can't take a photo, see attached screenshot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using my method and my values, it is absolutely fine for me. Do you restart after changing the resolution and the dpi?
I am on UK BTU 5.1.1
mitko76 said:
Using my method and my values, it is absolutely fine for me. Do you restart after changing the resolution and the dpi?
I am on UK BTU 5.1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even wiped /cache and /dalvik. Strange. My device is a Snapdragon N910F. Is yours an Exynos N910C perhaps? If not, would you mind sending me your camera apk for testing?
Thanks!
Xelasarg said:
I even wiped /cache and /dalvik. Strange. My device is a Snapdragon N910F. Is yours an Exynos N910C perhaps? If not, would you mind sending me your camera apk for testing?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very strange indeed. My device is n910f as well. Not rooted and fully stock. I used the Debloater app to disable all unused apps (works via adb) and the method descried in my other post to change the resolution and dpi. The camera is working absolutely fine i.e. no visual changes or glitches. As I am not rooted I am not sure if I can give you the camera apk. It is basically the same apk as in the stock 5.1.1 BTU rom. Try my method on the stock rom with my values and I am sure it will work.
Cool
mitko76 said:
very strange indeed. My device is n910f as well. Not rooted and fully stock. I used the Debloater app to disable all unused apps (works via adb) and the method descried in my other post to change the resolution and dpi. The camera is working absolutely fine i.e. no visual changes or glitches. As I am not rooted I am not sure if I can give you the camera apk. It is basically the same apk as in the stock 5.1.1 BTU rom. Try my method on the stock rom with my values and I am sure it will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I went ahead and downloaded _alexndr's COI3 stock debloated rom base (Deodexed), extracted SamsungCamera3.apk, replaced the one in my /system/app dir, set permissions, rebooted, and everything's working fine now. :good:
No idea what the Emotroid guys did to the camera app.
I've attached the apk to this post in case anyone else is having this issue.
Man, I've been playing XCOM:EW at 720p, and my phone didn't get warmer than 59°C, even after 2+ hours. And the performance boost is just so incredible... Turns out I don't even mind the 720p resolution in 3D games, it didn't bother me at all.
Just a warning:
I just managed to render my phone useless with this. After changing resolution and DPI, the phone did a soft reboot (as it should), startet booting, then, after the initialisation of systemUI reboots. Has been Bootlooping the past hour. ADB doesn't work, as reboot it's unauthorised and boot loop doesn't allow for any authorisation. Tried resetting via build.prop and userinit.sh. Even Direct Script Injection into init.rc didn't work.
Cache wipe -> no chance
System wipe and reflash -> Nope
In the End i ended up factory resetting and reflashing complete rom. This did work. Not to rant or anything, just a little story for those that are not capable to troubleshoot problems: This might screw your Installation!
domsch1988 said:
Just a warning:
I just managed to render my phone useless with this. After changing resolution and DPI, the phone did a soft reboot (as it should), startet booting, then, after the initialisation of systemUI reboots. Has been Bootlooping the past hour. ADB doesn't work, as reboot it's unauthorised and boot loop doesn't allow for any authorisation. Tried resetting via build.prop and userinit.sh. Even Direct Script Injection into init.rc didn't work.
Cache wipe -> no chance
System wipe and reflash -> Nope
In the End i ended up factory resetting and reflashing complete rom. This did work. Not to rant or anything, just a little story for those that are not capable to troubleshoot problems: This might screw your Installation!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hence the warning at the beginning of the thread.
But seriously: which method did you use? The NOMone app or the adb commands? Because only the adb command needs a reboot to take effect, NOMone does not reboot: it changes the resolution on the fly, then waits 10 seconds for confirmation and switches back to default resolution otherwise.
It's impossible to tell what went wrong in your case, might have been anything from a bad adb command to a malfunction of the app or your rom. I guess if you enter bad values, both methods might break your SystemUI. I managed to do so by using Automate to activate the shell commands on app launch (no bootloop, though, only permanent FC of SystemUI), but I was able to fix it with adb easily.
It's a shame it didn't work for you, most people who are using this method are very happy with it.
THANKS !
dooes this improve battery as well /
gonna try this
Boody hegan said:
THANKS !
dooes this improve battery as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does, at least a bit. The screen does still burn a lot of juice because it's so big and bright, but the cpu stays much cooler. Less heat=less power consumption.
Thanks alot , i'm on simplrom v5c and googy max kernel v2
can this still work ..
Xelasarg said:
Hence the warning at the beginning of the thread.
But seriously: which method did you use? The NOMone app or the adb commands? Because only the adb command needs a reboot to take effect, NOMone does not reboot: it changes the resolution on the fly, then waits 10 seconds for confirmation and switches back to default resolution otherwise.
It's impossible to tell what went wrong in your case, might have been anything from a bad adb command to a malfunction of the app or your rom. I guess if you enter bad values, both methods might break your SystemUI. I managed to do so by using Automate to activate the shell commands on app launch (no bootloop, though, only permanent FC of SystemUI), but I was able to fix it with adb easily.
It's a shame it didn't work for you, most people who are using this method are very happy with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was completely my fault. I knew what i was getting into, so no problem. It's just that, the "mistakes" i did could easily be done by accident by some less experienced users.
First off, i'm on CM12. NOMones Sollution doesn't seem to work there. CM does a "Hot Reboot" to reload the system UI. No matter what you set in NOMones app, the resolution doesn't change. DPI does though. This seems to be a CM related issue. Maybe they hardcode the resolution at build time...
After that i tried another app, which had the Orientation labeled backwards. So it set 1920x1080 landscape instead of portrait. After that the Phone Bootlooped the System UI. It would always boot up to the PIN Enter Screen and then reboot.
As said, no big Problem. I knew what to do and was able to bring my phone back to working state. Just make sure that you are 100% sure about the numbers you put into such apps and keep in mind that even with such "small" changes you should always have a up to date Backup of everything.
Boody hegan said:
Thanks alot , i'm on simplrom v5c and googy max kernel v2
can this still work ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should, unless SimplROM is CM12-based. NOMone Resolution Changer, as well as similar apps and the adb method, aren't limited to specific devices. In theory, they may all work on all Android phones. You'll have to try it out yourself, just make a backup before you do so!
domsch1988 said:
It was completely my fault. I knew what i was getting into, so no problem. It's just that, the "mistakes" i did could easily be done by accident by some less experienced users.
First off, i'm on CM12. NOMones Sollution doesn't seem to work there. CM does a "Hot Reboot" to reload the system UI. No matter what you set in NOMones app, the resolution doesn't change. DPI does though. This seems to be a CM related issue. Maybe they hardcode the resolution at build time...
After that i tried another app, which had the Orientation labeled backwards. So it set 1920x1080 landscape instead of portrait. After that the Phone Bootlooped the System UI. It would always boot up to the PIN Enter Screen and then reboot.
As said, no big Problem. I knew what to do and was able to bring my phone back to working state. Just make sure that you are 100% sure about the numbers you put into such apps and keep in mind that even with such "small" changes you should always have a up to date Backup of everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, thanks for clarification. I don't remember the hot reboot in CM12, but I know the resolution switch didn't work when I tried it on my Note 2 some time ago. Funny that for once Touchwiz is more customizable than CM.
If you're still interested, but hate the Samsung colour scheme (like me), you can try out Emotion Revolution ROM r10.1. It's based on the latest COI3 TW firmware, but they themed the notifcation/status bar and toggles to somewhat more like stock Android, see attached screenshot. Looks pretty sleek, performance is easily on par with CM12, and the Emotion kernel has tons of great tweaking options. Or you can go for their Port Note 5 r2.1 ROM, also based on COI3, which should offer full Theme Store support. That's the one I'll flash next. :good:
Xelasarg said:
Right, thanks for clarification. I don't remember the hot reboot in CM12, but I know the resolution switch didn't work when I tried it on my Note 2 some time ago. Funny that for once Touchwiz is more customizable than CM.
If you're still interested, but hate the Samsung colour scheme (like me), you can try out Emotion Revolution ROM r10.1. It's based on the latest COI3 TW firmware, but they themed the notifcation/status bar and toggles to somewhat more like stock Android, see attached screenshot. Looks pretty sleek, performance is easily on par with CM12, and the Emotion kernel has tons of great tweaking options. Or you can go for their Port Note 5 r2.1 ROM, also based on COI3, which should offer full Theme Store support. That's the one I'll flash next. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, TW is no option... I choose CM because of the straight forward no bllsht Apps approach. Plus Nightly builds via OTA... In no possible way am i going back to TW
AnTuTu Benchmark @ 1080p, performance governor, stock cpu frequency (2.65 GHz): :highfive:
(OK, cpu was also very cool when benchmark started, 28°C).
Alright, I'm reaching out to the community for help on this one. With the recent sale on Daydream VR (they're $50 from Google and Verizon right now), I have been trying to optimize my 6P with the VR set. I have tried some of the suggestions on the form, but I'm still having stuttering issues. So I had the idea about lowering the resolution. So I used the "wm size 1080x1920" trick and successfully dropped by resolution down, and adjusted the DPI accordingly. It runs well, however, when I put it in the VR set, the viewing angles are messed up. When I put the headset on, both eyes are not lined up with each other. I fiddled around with all the wm settings I could find (overscan, scaling, etc), and I can confirm that the viewing angle is messed up in the opposite direction when I set the size over 4k.
I used a Display Settings app to look at my settings, and it seems as though the device thinks the actual screen size is changing when I change the resolution, which may be why Daydream is maligning the eye points.
Is there a way to change the resolution while making the device think the screen size has stayed the same? Or is there a way to change this info just for Daydream?
If it's any encouragement, the Daydream apps ran very smoothly with one eye closed at 1080p. The Google Photos app stuttered at 4k but had no problem at 1080. So if we can figure this out, we could have a smoothly running Daydream setup.
razgriz8426 said:
Alright, I'm reaching out to the community for help on this one. With the recent sale on Daydream VR (they're $50 from Google and Verizon right now), I have been trying to optimize my 6P with the VR set. I have tried some of the suggestions on the form, but I'm still having stuttering issues. So I had the idea about lowering the resolution. So I used the "wm size 1080x1920" trick and successfully dropped by resolution down, and adjusted the DPI accordingly. It runs well, however, when I put it in the VR set, the viewing angles are messed up. When I put the headset on, both eyes are not lined up with each other. I fiddled around with all the wm settings I could find (overscan, scaling, etc), and I can confirm that the viewing angle is messed up in the opposite direction when I set the size over 4k.
I used a Display Settings app to look at my settings, and it seems as though the device thinks the actual screen size is changing when I change the resolution, which may be why Daydream is maligning the eye points.
Is there a way to change the resolution while making the device think the screen size has stayed the same? Or is there a way to change this info just for Daydream?
If it's any encouragement, the Daydream apps ran very smoothly with one eye closed at 1080p. The Google Photos app stuttered at 4k but had no problem at 1080. So if we can figure this out, we could have a smoothly running Daydream setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just a guess, but have you tried to edit the build.prop file in order to "mess around" with declared display density over there?
chk27 said:
It's just a guess, but have you tried to edit the build.prop file in order to "mess around" with declared display density over there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I messed with any of the build.prop settings that dealt with display. I long ago gave up and now have an Axon 7. Good luck to anyone else trying it!
Was wondering if this display shows native 4K all the time or has user selectable option for it?
Was super pissed with my XZ Premium being forced to render at 1080p in all but a few apps.
4K is only useful on this size screen for VR, so won't make the same mistake again.
gaijin1% said:
Was wondering if this display shows native 4K all the time or has user selectable option for it?
Was super pissed with my XZ Premium being forced to render at 1080p in all but a few apps.
4K is only useful on this size screen for VR, so won't make the same mistake again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forced 1080p but you could make the xz 4k all the time through adb look it up
ariy11 said:
Forced 1080p but you could make the xz 4k all the time through adb look it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. You answered my question.
Actually, the adb method was only emulated 4K, not native. Still selected the resources from xxhdpi folders and blew them up. Doesn't even select the xxxhdpi higher resolution images for 2K. For the best I guess. then it would scale it down to 1080p before enlarging to 4K adding extra blur.
ariy11 said:
Forced 1080p but you could make the xz 4k all the time through adb look it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What command in adb can force this screen resolution?
For the XZ Premium apparently the following would have worked:
In an ADB shell:
wm size 2160×3840
wm density 820
In my case the wb size command gives me:
Error: bad size 2160×3840
Probably we need another resolution
After change it to 4K, the screenshot have an issue ( not capturing the whole screen as 4k but the screen at a corner with other space in black. How do you guys solve this issue?
wm size 2160×3840
wm density 820
In my case the wb size command gives me:
Error: bad size 2160×3840
Try....2160x3840
Not ....2160*3840
I just placed my xz2p into native 4k mode with the dpi set at 640/xxxhdpi. I really like the increase in real estate and the integer scaling makes everything look crisp.
That said, I've currently got two hiccups (not already mentioned, I also have the screenshoting issue hereto described) related to dpi change:
(1) The monochrome viewfinder is behaving strangely, but still serviceable (wrong aspect ratio & tap to focus doesn't move the focus indicator)
(2) The rotation animation is really broken and is either firing twice or has some other timing related issue.
#1 I can live with, but #2 is a real drag. I've turned the transition animations off in the dev setting, but it still looks really weird when i rotate.
Any ideas? It seems like sony has made some additional changes to deal with the 4k/1080p pop in and out. Simply setting the WM mode doesn't appear to manipulate those hidden settings. Perhaps one of the on phone apps needs to be disabled?
Edit: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xz...20hz-quest-t3852052/post78603665#post78603665
...according to the xzp forums, its not actually 4k? how can one verify this?
Edit2: Saying things that will have me eating crow in no time!
I'm at least somewhat convinced the xzp peps are wrong. I have been swapping the phone from [email protected] dpi to [email protected] dpi. If they are correct either both would look exactly the same or the 4k version would look worse (because of the double scaling). It clearly looks better. A good test to try; make the icons and text as large as you can in nova launcher and switch between the two. If you look at the top and bottom of the dark ring inside the camera icon you'll see clear aliasing at 1080p and smooth curves at 4k. Just a reminder anything that is not a perfect multiple of 160 will always cause scaling on android. same with dpi values over 640.
I've got a pretty decent canon camera(xc10) with 10x optical zoom, once I find the charger for it I'm going to try to get some clean photos of the screen in the two mode and post 100% crops here.
blinksilver said:
I've got a pretty decent canon camera(xc10) with 10x optical zoom, once I find the charger for it I'm going to try to get some clean photos of the screen in the two mode and post 100% crops here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you do that? Also a comparison of Instagram, or VSCO high quality photos?