{"id":2664,"date":"2019-12-17T16:43:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T00:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/?p=2664"},"modified":"2020-03-23T10:55:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T17:55:34","slug":"demystifying-full-screen-optimizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/demystifying-full-screen-optimizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying Fullscreen Optimizations"},"content":{"rendered":"

TLDR \u2013 Demystifying Fullscreen vs Windowed\u00a0Mode\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Games on\u00a0<\/span>PC<\/span>\u00a0generally offer three different types of display modes:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Exclusive<\/span>\u00a0(FSE)<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>indowed, and\u00a0<\/span>B<\/span>orderless\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>indowed.\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Exclusive<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mode\u00a0<\/span>gives y<\/span>our<\/span>\u00a0game complete ownership of the display<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0allocat<\/span>ion of<\/span>\u00a0resources\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0your<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>graphics card<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>In windowed game\u00a0<\/span>mode<\/span>, the\u00a0<\/span>game\u00a0<\/span>is deployed in a\u00a0<\/span>bordered\u00a0<\/span>window which allows other\u00a0<\/span>applications and windows<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to continue\u00a0<\/span>running\u00a0<\/span>in the background<\/span>. The\u00a0<\/span>D<\/span>esktop\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>indow\u00a0<\/span>M<\/span>anager\u00a0<\/span>(DWM)\u00a0<\/span>has control of the display<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>while the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>graphics resources are shared among all applications<\/span>, unlike in a\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Exclusive<\/span>\u00a0environment. The\u00a0<\/span>third<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mode\u00a0<\/span>is borderless windowed. In a borderless windowed\u00a0<\/span>mode<\/span>, the game is still running in\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0window but has no border around it<\/span>. This means the size of window can be adjusted<\/span>\u00a0to fill the entire screen w<\/span>hile other processes still run in the background.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the\u00a0<\/span>release of\u00a0<\/span>Windows 10,\u00a0<\/span>we<\/span>\u00a0added Full<\/span>s<\/span>creen Optimizations \u2013\u00a0<\/span>which takes full screen exclusive games and\u00a0<\/span>run<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>them instead in a highly optimized\u00a0<\/span>borderless windowed format<\/span>\u00a0that takes up the entire screen<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0You get the visual experience\u00a0<\/span>and performance\u00a0<\/span>of running your game in\u00a0<\/span>FSE<\/span>, but\u00a0<\/span>with<\/span>\u00a0the benefits of running in a windowed mode. These benefits include<\/span>\u00a0faster PC commands such as alt-tab,\u00a0<\/span>multiple monitor<\/span>\u00a0set up<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and overlays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We have extensive performance data that indicates that almost all users who use Fullscreen Optimizations have equal performance to Full Screen Exclusive<\/span>.\u00a0 However,\u00a0<\/span>if you do find that you are experiencing any issues that may be related to full screen optimizations, please head to the\u00a0<\/span>troubleshooting section<\/span>\u00a0where we will walk through<\/span>\u00a0how to<\/span>\u00a0optimiz<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0your system and\u00a0<\/span>provide\u00a0<\/span>feedback to our team.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stepping\u00a0Back\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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F<\/span>ull\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>creen\u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>xclusive (FSE) was created to\u00a0<\/span>give the application or game you are running full control of your desktop and display.\u00a0<\/span>As a user,\u00a0<\/span>this\u00a0<\/span>means that you are getting a fully immersive gaming experience\u00a0<\/span>while\u00a0<\/span>seeing\u00a0<\/span>great performance\u00a0<\/span>from your system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>However,\u00a0<\/span>PC Gaming has evolved and\u00a0<\/span>FSE can bring challenges that can hinder game play and the overall gaming experience in subtle ways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>One\u00a0<\/span>example<\/span>\u00a0is when you give an application full control of your desktop,\u00a0<\/span>you cannot run any other processes in the\u00a0<\/span>background<\/span>. In addition,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>there can be performance issues when you try and use overlays or alt-tabbing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overlays<\/span>, which are windows within the game that are not created by the game (such as Game<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bar)\u00a0<\/span>are\u00a0<\/span>another of the key limitations of FSE<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0While running with\u00a0<\/span>FSE<\/span>, overlays\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>possible,<\/span>\u00a0but they may cause some<\/span>\u00a0issues<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In order to create an overlay, the outside application would have to step into and intercept the rendering process.\u00a0<\/span>So,<\/span>\u00a0if you wanted an overlay \u2013 the frame would be rendered, then intercepted by the command\u00a0<\/span>that generates<\/span>\u00a0the overlay before the frame was presented, inject the overlay, then finally present the frame to the\u00a0<\/span>graphics card<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>This process of intercepting the render and presentation process<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>can cause problems<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>including\u00a0<\/span>performance regressions<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>instability<\/span>\u00a0and issues with anti-cheat<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Road to\u00a0Fullscreen Optimizations\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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We wanted to create the best gaming experience\u00a0<\/span>possible,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>so we enhanced the<\/span>\u00a0current FSE mode by creating Fullscreen Optimizations.\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Optimizations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>as<\/span>\u00a0designed\u00a0<\/span>for gamers to\u00a0<\/span>experience the best aspects of both FSE and borderless windowed mode<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>allowing game<\/span>s to take up the entire screen, run at full speed, support fast alt-tab switching, and\u00a0<\/span>support for overlays<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When using<\/span>\u00a0Fullscreen Optimizations, your game believes that it is running in Fullscreen Exclusive, but behind the scenes, Windows has the game running in borderless windowed\u00a0<\/span>mode. When a game is run i<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0borderless windowed mode,\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0game does not have full control of the\u00a0<\/span>display<\/span>\u2013 that overarching control is given back to the\u00a0<\/span>Desktop Window Manager (<\/span>DWM<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0The DWM manages the composition\/organization of the desktop display content from various applications, meaning it controls what is rendered and presented to the front of your display and what is held in the background.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>However, this control has historically\u00a0<\/span>resulted in<\/span>\u00a0a slight performance overhead<\/span>\u00a0vs FSE, where the<\/span>\u00a0game has full control.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To get back this performance overhead,\u00a0<\/span>we enhanced\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0DWM\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>recognize when a game is running in a\u00a0<\/span>borderless\u00a0<\/span>full screen<\/span>\u00a0window<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with no other applications on the screen.\u00a0<\/span>In this circumstance<\/span>, the DWM\u00a0<\/span>give<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0control of the display\u00a0<\/span>and almost\u00a0<\/span>all<\/span>\u00a0the CPU\/GPU power\u00a0<\/span>to the game. Which in turn allows equivalent performance to running a game in FSE.<\/span>\u00a0Fullscreen Optimizations is essentially FSE with the flexibility to go back to\u00a0<\/span>DWM\u00a0<\/span>composition<\/span>\u00a0in a simple manner. This gives us the best of both worlds with performance and other features that require the DWM, such as overlays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>When an overlay such as the Game Bar is present,\u00a0<\/span>the DWM reassumes control of\u00a0<\/span>the display, and a slight performance overhead is incurred so that the overlay can be composited on top of the game<\/span>\u00a0in a safe and stable way<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(To learn more about the Xbox Game bar, check out the info\u00a0<\/span>the Game Bar Team has information posted\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To make sure that we did not release Fullscreen Optimizations until the performance was equal to FSE, Fullscreen Optimizations was gradually rolled out in\u00a0<\/span>multiple stages<\/span>. Throughout the roll out, we continued performance testing and our telemetry indicates that performance is, on average, as good or better than FSE.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Check if\u00a0Fullscreen Optimizations\u00a0are\u00a0Enabled\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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You can check whether\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Optimizations are<\/span>\u00a0enabled or not by\u00a0<\/span>opening<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Xbox\u00a0<\/span>Game<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bar via\u00a0<\/span>Win+G<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0If you are\u00a0<\/span>running<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in Fullscreen Exclusive,\u00a0<\/span>then the display\u00a0<\/span>brightness may<\/span>\u00a0be<\/span>\u00a0flicker<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>If you\u00a0<\/span>are in\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Optimizations<\/span>, the\u00a0<\/span>Xbox\u00a0<\/span>Game<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bar should pop up as an overlay. You can do this with other system UIs such as the volume indicator too.<\/span>\u00a0Make sure to update your drivers to ensure you\u00a0<\/span>can take advantage of Fullscreen Optimizations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Troubleshooting\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you find that you are having trouble with Full Screen Optimizations, such as performance regression or input lag, we have some steps that can be useful. This includes how to disable the feature for any specific game, but also how to provide us with feedback regarding your gaming experience.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are the instructions on how to disable\u00a0<\/span>Fullscreen Optimizations\u00a0<\/span>for a game.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Right Click on the Executable File<\/span>\u00a0(.exe)\u00a0<\/span>and Select\u00a0<\/span>Properties<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Select the\u00a0<\/span>Compatibility<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Tab<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Under Settings \u2013 Select \u201c<\/span>Disable\u00a0<\/span><\/b>F<\/span><\/b>ullscreen\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Optimizations<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Click\u00a0<\/span>Apply<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Our goal is to create the best possible gaming experience, so if you do find performance issues or other problems that are resolved by disabling Full Screen Optimizations, we want to know. Your feedback is extremely important to us and helps us constantly improve. Below are the instructions that you can follow<\/span>\u00a0to report any issues.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Go to\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/aka.ms\/fullscreenoptimizationsfeedback<\/span><\/a>\u00a0which will\u00a0<\/span>open<\/span>\u00a0to the correct feedback hub for any Fullscreen Optimization related issues.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. In the first tab, <\/span>S<\/span><\/b>ummarize<\/span><\/b>\u00a0the problem \u2013 you also have an optional\u00a0<\/span>Details\u00a0<\/span><\/b>section to provide further detail about your issue.<\/span>\u00a0Once completed, click next.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. On the second page, select\u00a0<\/span>Problem<\/span><\/b>\u00a0for the category.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Under the drop-down menus \u2013 select\u00a0<\/span>Gaming and Xbox\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and then select\u00a0<\/span>Game Performance and Compatibility<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. On the Additional Information tab, select\u00a0<\/span>Important Functionality Not Working<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Under Additional Information, you can attach screen grabs or replay captures that help show what you are experiencing. While this is optional \u2013 it provides us with much more detail on how we can fix the issue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      We hope this explanation is useful and that it helps improve your experience. We welcome any and all feedback.<\/span>\u00a0Happy Gaming<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      We wrote this article to explain the difference between Fullscreen Exclusive and Fullscreen Optimizations. This article goes details the roll out and the benefits that come with Fullscreen Optimizations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14526,"featured_media":12651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[978,17,18,981,980,982,974,975,26,27,31,983,976,979,977,50],"class_list":["post-2664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-directx","tag-borderless-windowed","tag-directx","tag-directx-12","tag-disable","tag-enable","tag-feedback","tag-fse","tag-fullscreen-optimizations","tag-games","tag-gaming","tag-graphics","tag-optimize","tag-pc-gaming","tag-performance","tag-windowed","tag-windows-10"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

      We wrote this article to explain the difference between Fullscreen Exclusive and Fullscreen Optimizations. This article goes details the roll out and the benefits that come with Fullscreen Optimizations. <\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14526"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}