Quote from: Oshyan on January 08, 2016, 05:23:39 PM
I'm 99% sure that DPI does not matter whatsoever in games or most any other purposes *except* print and *sometimes* web. Resampling in games is based on absolute texture (image) resolution in pixels and on in-game display scaling, which is generally independent of both screen resolution *and* PPI/DPI.
- Oshyan
Unreal Engine 4 upscaling a 10x10 image says otherwise, there is a noticeable difference in quality and subsequently saved, file size.
A large image, with a large DPI can be resampled with higher quality. A low DPI cannot. Simple as that. A low DPI image blown up twice the size will look terrible compared to the latter.
A game engine is continuously resampling, which uses this algorithm to determine pixel blending...
Granted, some engines have no texture filtering (skew and transform the texture rather then resample), but modern engines usually do, and with DX12, even more features.
I'm not sure what's all in the file, or why it's bigger with larger DPI, but it's being used in resampling as seen visually.
Also, raw buffered images form a games engine being put to print for promotional uses would look terrible if everything is render with low DPI, would it not? You can clearly see this with in-game art on boxes from old games to new (Just within the last 10 years).
Prior to 4k textures even heads of gaming and CG state "If 4096x4096 @ 300 dpi were available, you'd choose it above any other options" which is the whole point, go with the best quality and let the renderers manipulate it as seen fit (engine, browser, phone, print, whatever). Textures are meant to be raw, which is why a lot of engines use RAW formats.