DLSS is a term you may have heard about, especially if you’ve been considering buying the latest RTX graphics cards that Nvidia offers. Nvidia is known for creating incredible PC gaming hardware, but they also develop many interesting software technologies.
Nvidia is responsible for pushing forward with ray tracing, which adds enhanced visuals through the use of diffused sources of light, realistic lighting, and precise shadows. However, technology like ray tracing can put a lot of pressure on your PC. This lowers the FPS count and is overall not good for your system or your gaming experience.
This is when DLSS comes in to help. It makes the most of visual accuracy while improving performance to keep your framerates high.
DLSS Explained
What Is DLSS?
DLSS stands for deep learning super sampling. It’s an artificial intelligence technology from Nvidia and helps to improve the performance of your gaming machine even when using higher settings.
This means that your GPU has to work less. DLSS renders the original image at a lower resolution. Then, AI is used to upscale the image to give a portrayal of a higher resolution.
Your game will be able to run faster and effortlessly. DLSS essentially allows your frames-per-second (fps) to be unaffected without your visuals suffering.
What Does DLSS Do?
As mentioned above, DLSS takes a lot of the pressure off of your graphics processing unit. AI tech improves low-resolution images to give the impression of higher resolution images.
It basically adds extra pixels to allow for fantastic visuals without causing a decrease in your fps. DLSS isn’t perfect by far, but it has grown better over time.
Nvidia now allows for multiple DLSS settings, including performance mode, balanced mode, and quality mode. Based on your experience, you’re able to switch between them to get the best results.
Quality mode offers the best visual enhancements. Performance mode is dedicated to helping your fps.
DLSS helps counter any negative effects caused by ray tracing, enabling you to keep the setting on while increasing your system’s overall performance levels. Again, it isn’t flawless just yet, but the exchange is definitely worth it.
Games That Support DLSS & DLSS 2.0
When DLSS was first introduced, only a few games supported the feature. Nvidia has since improved upon that and released DLSS 2.0. This made the technology more accessible to developers so it could be more broadly incorporated into as many games as possible.
DLSS is supported by Unreal Engine and Unity, which are the two most commonly used game engines currently. There have been notable claims about performance improvements related to DLSS in several popular games, such as Back 4 Blood, Red Dead Redemption 2, Outriders, and more.
The official list of games that support DLSS is continually growing. Many popular games are included, like Cyberpunk 2077, Rainbow Six Siege, and Final Fantasy XV. There are also several indie games that support DLSS, as well, including Helios, Last Hope on Earth, and Recall.
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