Nvidia splits Internet with new hyper-realistic graphics tech
Nvidia has unveiled the fifth iteration of its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, which is capable of overlaying photorealistic visuals on top of in-game graphics in real-time.
DLSS 5 will be available by the end of the year, and Nvidia said it was already providing some of the world’s biggest game developers and publishers access to the technology.
This includes companies such as Bethesda, Capcom, NCSoft, S-Game, Tencent, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros. Games, among others.
When enabled, DLSS 5 promises to drastically improve visual fidelity in titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Resident Evil Requiem.
In-game graphics are automatically overhauled with AI-driven ambient occlusion, granular lighting, and realistic shadows at negligible performance cost.
Richard Leadbetter, founder of graphics analysis group Digital Foundry, called the technology “one of the most surprising, potentially disruptive, transformative, next-generation technologies we’ve seen.”
“It’s almost getting beyond computer graphics and into neural rendering,” he added. The group’s analysis of DLSS 5 was mostly positive, pointing out only aspects which may be controversial.
Digital Foundry’s Oliver McKenzie said the apparent aesthetic changes to Grace’s face in the Resident Evil Requiem technology demonstrator would be the most controversial.
He pointed out that in the rest of the gameplay in the tech demo, there weren’t as many incidents where DLSS 5 attempted to “beautify” characters.
While institutional and expert reactions to the new technology have been mostly positive, the most vocal commentators in the gaming community have been negative.
For example, one poster on Digital Foundry’s Reddit noted that the model’s face in Resident Evil became more conventionally attractive. “It is clearly ruining the artistic intent on character models,” they said.
According to Bethesda’s post on X, the technology is still in development, and the demo showcases early footage. Developers will have considerably more control over the final product with DLSS 5.
“Our art teams will be further adjusting the lighting and final effect to look the way we think works best for each game. This will all be under our artists’ control, and totally optional for players,” the company stated.
Nvidia explains how DLSS 5 works
“Bridging the divide between rendering and reality, DLSS 5 empowers game developers to deliver a new level of photoreal computer graphics previously only achieved in Hollywood visual effects,” Nvidia said.
It also explained that a neural engine takes in-game colour and motion vectors frame by frame as input, then uses a generative AI model to overlay generated frames back on top.
This creates the illusion of photorealistic lighting and textures in real time as gameplay happens. The AI model uses “source 3D content” as a base for the overlaid frames.
Nvidia said the AI model is trained to “understand complex scene semantics,” including characters, hair, fabric, and translucent skin, as well as environment-specific lighting conditions.
“DLSS 5 then uses its deep understanding to generate visually precise images that handle complex elements,” it explained.
This includes subsurface scattering on skin, the delicate sheen of fabric, and light-material interactions on hair.
The structure and semantics of the original scene are retained, and the output appears to the eye as extremely high-quality, realistic graphics, rendered at a fraction of the performance cost.
Rendering computer-generated graphics at such a high level of realism would usually be extremely costly and hardware-intensive.
Around 2,500 of 2,700 shots in Avengers: Endgame involved CGI, with estimates putting the CGI budget alone at over $100 million, requiring large render farms of interconnected hardware to produce.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang likened the rollout of DLSS 5 to the launch of ChatGPT.
“Twenty-five years after Nvidia invented the programmable shader, we are reinventing computer graphics once again,” he said.
“DLSS 5 blends handcrafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.”
The next big games will come with DLSS 5
Nvidia said developers are including DLSS 5 support in already-released and upcoming games like Aion 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Hogwarts Legacy.
Other titles include Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Naraka: Bladepoint, Phantom Blade Zero, Cinder City, Delta Force, and more.
Resident Evil makers Capcom have been investing significantly in supporting DLSS and AI-upscaling technology in their games.
Resident Evil Requiem is also one of the first games to support Sony’s own AI upscaling, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).
While Nvidia’s DLSS focuses on enhancing visual fidelity, PSSR is intended to improve framerate and create the illusion of smoother gameplay.
For Microsoft’s Bethesda, one of the biggest game makers in the world, support for DLSS 5 will likely come to its future titles.
This includes the highly anticipated The Elder Scrolls VI, which still lacks a release date. Some reports claim the game will launch only in 2028, after more than 10 years of development.
Loading ...