The right visual settings can make a huge difference in online PUBG matches. Here’s how to optimize those settings on PC.
Obtaining the coveted Chicken Dinner is never a walk in the park in PUBG Battlegrounds. There are so many factors in play, and one of those is ensuring that the game's graphics and visuals don't get in the way. Just as some tactics involve meticulous tinkering and tactics, adjusting the graphics settings is always a must.
It just so happens that min-maxing everything is one thing that PUBG Battlegrounds players love. So when it comes to choosing the best settings here, visual aesthetics are waived in favor of providing the smoothest gameplay experience. After all, PUBG Battlegrounds' graphics engine is quite old. Even the beefiest of rigs can run into some rare or occasional stutter with max graphical settings, and this can cost players a victory at worst.
Before diving in and changing the advanced graphical options, players will want to make sure that they have the most optimal display settings. The Window Mode determines how much of a priority PUBG Battlegrounds is while running as a program.
Thus, anything other than Fullscreen Exclusive can and will cause stutter. This could be either Borderless or Window mode. Moreover, those two sub-optimal options can introduce some form of input lag, which is detrimental to gameplay.
Here's the subjective setting. FOV, or field of view, refers to how wide the player's viewing angle is in-game. Higher numbers mean a wider view squeezed in the limitations of a monitor. There's more to see the higher the viewing angle, but it introduces a fisheye effect and distortion, making objects appear smaller or farther away.
On the other hand, lower FOV numbers makes objects appear closer or bigger, making them easier to see. However, the viewing angle is narrower, meaning less peripheral view. The default is set to 90, so if players are undecided, then they can just keep it at that.
V-Sync synchronizes the monitor's refresh rate with the game's framerate so that screen tearing (misaligned screen parts) doesn't happen. It's handy if players find screen tearing annoying or noticeable as it can be an eyesore, but V-Sync is notorious for introducing an input lag.
This will delay keyboard and mouse actions— not by much (a couple of milliseconds at most), but it's noticeable for sensitive players. Thus, the consensus is to just endure the screen tearing and turn off V-sync for smoother and lag-free gameplay.
Now, on to the advanced graphics. One of the most important visual improvements that the game allows is removing screen jaggies, or basically smoothening out pixel corners. This is called Anti-aliasing, and it's imperative to set the setting to Ultra.
That's because more screen jaggies mean it's easier to confuse faraway players with shrubs and bushes, as they tend to look like a mashup of pixels. Also, it can be hard to spot moving targets with Low Anti-aliasing.
Post Processing supposedly improves the game's overall visuals and lighting, but it's also one of the most costly settings in terms of framerate hit. How much it lowers the framerate can dependend on hardware, but a lot of players won't notice much of a difference visually.
So for a better framerate and fewer chances of getting a stutter, set Post Processing to Low or Very Low. Bear in mind that this must be done for serious games. Otherwise, just set everything to the maximum if visuals are more important.
Shadows make a huge difference in atmosphere and visual aesthetics, but like Post Processing, it also costs a lot of frames and can even make the game slower on low-end systems. There's also the fact that it might introduce some form of stutter even on higher-end systems. Thus, many players opt to keep it at Low or Very Low.
Moreover, Shadows can also hide or obscure other players especially if darker or larger shadows cast over them. This is apparent enough in areas with lots of trees or when peeking through building windows.
Textures can be tricky to max out, especially for those with limited VRAM in their video cards. However, anything with even 4GB can likely max out the Textures setting. Most players are safe with Ultra Textures here, and they would want it at that.
That's because Textures can help players to see faraway objects better. Also, it doesn't have a framerate hit, since Textures depend on the VRAM available on the graphics card, and not the card's processing power.
Effects can be a costly setting, particularly in scenarios with dozens of gunfire sources or grenades exploding one after the other. However, that doesn't happen too often in a game like PUBG Battlegrounds— depending on the playstyle.
Regardless, Effects lets players see gunfire a lot better. Higher Effects setting means muzzle flash from guns is brighter and more detailed. Explosions are also more visible, and smoke effects are more pronounced. It's generally an important setting to max out.
Even before the game went through a rebrand, or before it was even released as a full version, PUBG Battlegrounds veterans have been setting this setting to Very Low. The reason is simple: more foliage means more camouflage for enemies.
Such is the case for bushes or shrubs and even some grass or trees. One can set it to Ultra for aesthetics, but then they'll be at a disadvantage compared to other players who set Foliage to Very Low, as they'll have fluffier and healthier vegetation that hides enemies.
View Distance can be a tricky setting to balance, as the hardware advantage pays off quite a lot. It determines how early or near the landscape will be rendered relative to the viewer's position. As expected, that kind of process takes power from the graphics card.
It just so happens that View Distance is best set at the highest quality possible to provide the best advantage. After all, players wouldn't want to see enemies seemingly floating because the terrain wouldn't render. At the very least, those with less-than-ideal hardware for PUBG Battlegrounds should strive for Medium View Distance.
Motion Blur doesn't have a significant or even noticeable framerate hit, as it's more like a filter effect that mimics how the eyes lose their focus and visual clarity when changing views. Some players like the cinematic appeal, while it makes others feel dizzy.
Nevertheless, Motion Blur is objectively detrimental for serious PUBG Battlegrounds gameplay, for the sole reason that it blurs objects when the camera is moving. That automatically makes it a bit harder for players to spot moving targets or hit them.
Sharpen is similar to Motion Blur. It's also a filter effect, but it's somewhat beneficial as it can highlight object edges and details, making them more visible. It's typically used as a counterbalance for some Anti-aliasing effects that blur the screen to remove the screen jaggies (i.e. FXAA).
In PUBG Battlegrounds, it works well to make faraway objects a bit sharper. The drawback is that it can make screen jaggies more apparent or the overall imagery appear more grainy, but that's not a bad tradeoff for better chances of getting a Chicken Dinner.
PUBG Battlegrounds is available on PS4, Xbox One, Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Google Stadia.
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Sid was born, did some stuff, then decided to become a writer. He finds respite in the sweet embrace of mass media escapism after having risked his life too many times as a journalist covering warzones and depressed areas. Nowadays he mostly risks his bladder as he tries to hold his urine waiting for those precious post-credits scenes at the movies or trying to kill Souls-like bosses. So far it’s going well. Probably.
