(This is only applicable for users with NVIDIA GPUs, I do not know what the equivalent settings would be for AMD cards)
I was tinkering around in the NVIDIA Control Panel seeing if there was anything I could do to improve the graphics in-game for 2k22 by making some simple settings changes. For reference, I'm using an EVGA FTW3 Ultra 3060ti and my monitor is an AOC 165hz curved gaming monitor at 1080p. 1080p is the "native resolution" that the GPU will render the game at since it's what my monitor supports. I really wish 2k Sports would adopt NVIDIA's DLSS technology but that's a different discussion for a different time.
Now maybe I'm just smoking too much of the "devil's lettuce" here but I made some changes to a few settings which seems to have sharpened up the graphics and made the colors more vibrant and brilliant. The settings don't appear to have any negative effect on the graphics mods that I use. I'd love to hear if anyone else has tried this or tries it and experiences the same results.
OK...so here's what I did. You can change these safely without any issues to your system but if you want to be extra careful, I'd suggest creating a system restore point before changing the settings just in case something goes haywire on ya.
1) Open up the "Nvidia Control Panel." You can get to it by either right clicking on your desktop or finding it in your Start Menu.
2) Expand the "3d settings" menu in the left hand side pane and select "Manage 3d settings."
3) Change the following settings:
a) DSR Factors - change to "4.00x (native resolution)". This will force your GPU to render at a much higher resolution than your native resolution and then downsize the rendered frames to your native resolution. For example, it will render the game at 4k resolution and then downscale it to 1080p. This will cause a small hit to FPS but not enough to cause a noticeable difference to the naked eye in my opinion.
b) DSR Smoothness - change to "0%". This will sharpen up the rendered frames slightly and give a more "crisp" appearance to the graphics.
c) Low Latency Mode - change to "Ultra". This will force your GPU to render frames as fast as it possibly can (in layman's terms). I didn't notice a huge difference in render latency but it shaved off a few milliseconds.
d) Power Management Mode - change to "Prefer Maximum Performance".
e) Texture Filtering - change to "High Quality".
Above all, I recommend changing the "DSR Factors," "DSR Smoothness," and "Texture Filtering" settings the most. You may or may not get a performance increase from the "Low Latency Mode" and "Power Management Mode" settings. After you've changed these, click on the "Apply" button. Your monitor(s) will flicker a time or two and then come back on. Also note that this will change the global settings for your system meaning that every program will use these settings.
If you give this a shot, leave a comment or some feedback with your experience. I'd like to hear if it enhances anyone else's graphics experience or if it's just a "placebo effect" that I'm experiencing.
Happy ballin' yall!