New Display Connectors

The "Pascal" architecture features DisplayPort 1.4 even though it's only certified for up to DisplayPort 1.2. You can enjoy all the features of DisplayPort 1.3 and 1.4 just fine, such as HDR metadata transport. The GPU also supports HDMI 2.0b, the latest HDMI standard with support for HDR video. In the entire course of its presentation, NVIDIA did not mention whether "Pascal" supports VESA AdaptiveSync, which AMD is co-branding as FreeSync. All you need for it to work is a GPU that supports HDMI 2.0a or DisplayPort 1.2a (which are both satisfied by NVIDIA supporting HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4). All that's needed is support on the driver's side. The GeForce GTX 1060 features an HDMI 2.0b, a dual-link DVI-D, and three DisplayPort 1.4 connectors. The DVI connector lacks analog wiring, and, thus, the GTX 1060 lacks support for D-Sub monitors through dongles.

Fast Sync

With each new architecture over the past three generations, NVIDIA toyed with display sync. With "Kepler," it introduced Adaptive V-Sync, by the time "Maxwell" came along, you had G-SYNC, and with "Pascal," the company is introducing a new feature called Fast Sync. NVIDIA states Fast Sync to be a low-latency alternative to V-Sync that eliminates frame-tearing (normally caused because the GPU's output frame-rate is above the display's refresh-rate) while letting the GPU render unrestrained from V-Sync, which reduces input latency. This works by decoupling display pipelines and render output, which makes temporarily storing excessive frames that have been rendered in the frame buffer possible. The result is an experience with low input-lag (from V-Sync "off") and no frame-tearing (from V-Sync "on"). You will be able to enable Fast Sync for a 3D app by editing its profile in NVIDIA Control Panel; simply force Vertical Sync mode to "Fast."

Simultaneous Multi-Projection

With "Pascal," NVIDIA introduced a new hardware-accelerated feature that corrects display output to an arrangement of physical displays by simultaneously rendering the same 3D scene through multiple different perspectives at low rendering cost. This gives you more accurate surround-view output.

Ansel

Ansel is less a gamer-specific and more an "in-game photography" specific feature. There is, apparently, a thriving industry for pictures based on beautiful, scenic in-game screenshots. Ansel lets you freeze a supported game and play with its lighting effects for that perfect screenshot.

HDR takes Centerstage

High Dynamic Range, or HDR, isn't a new concept in photography. It isn't even new to PC gaming as some of the oldest games with HDR (using simple bloom effects) date back to the Valve Source engine (early 2000s). Those apps, however, used the limited 24-bit (8-bit per color, 16.7 million colors in all) color palette to emulate HDR. Modern bandwidth-rich GPUs such as the GTX 1080 have native support for large color palettes, such as 10-bit (1.07 billion colors) and 12-bit (68.7 billion colors), to accelerate HDR content without software emulation. This includes support for 10-bit and 12-bit HVEC video decoding at resolutions of up to 4K @ 60 Hz, or video encoding at 10-bit for the same resolution.