Nvidia DLSS 5 first look: generative AI lighting radically transforms game visuals

[Julio Franco]

We're hosting an opinion column from Ryan Shrout who was hands-on with DLSS 5:
https://www.techspot.com/news/111719-saw-dlss-5-running-across-multiple-games-not.html

 

[Toliandar]

The extra lighting seems to be a competitive advantage. Think you are hiding in the dark? Not if DLSS 5 has anything to say about it.

 

[Puiu]

'look awful', 'for the worse', are you serious?

It looks different, that much is true. And that's the serious point of contention.
But worse? Nah man. Looks like a generational jump.

A huge generational jump backwards. We went from realistic lighting and shadows using path tracing on an 5090 to broken shadows and light just so that a few textures become more "texturous" and for instagram filters, all the while using two 5090.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

Kinda funny situation. I wonder how reactions would be if they hadn't shown female faces right away and focused on environments instead.

We already knew Nvidia was doing this tho, they demoed the face thing specifically already.

This is how most 3D rendering is going to work in the future. It's just a Moores law thing at this point, only way to gain visuals is to process in new ways. I think people are going to be a lot more shocked when they see what's coming after this.

This new slop is not "3d rendering" and this has nothing at all to do with Moore's Suggestion. This is fake LLM slop overlayed frame-by-frame onto actual renders. Nobody asked for this, it's terrible, and it looks just like every fake Artificial Stupid girl's filter on existing fake, AS apps.

 

[Kirby1]

This new slop is not "3d rendering" and this has nothing at all to do with Moore's Suggestion. This is fake LLM slop overlayed frame-by-frame onto actual renders. Nobody asked for this, it's terrible, and it looks just like every fake Artificial Stupid girl's filter on existing fake, AS apps.

You can call this slop if you want to, I'm not arguing about that.

Just that the ML parts of the GPU and render pipeline are going to get bigger relative to the traditional render parts, that is a fact. We are going to see more of what we think of as traditional rendering being heavily enhanced by those ML parts of the GPU. There will never be a GPU that will brute force high fidelity and high res path tracing with more and more RT cores.

But you're right that this is an awkward example because it's not part of the game's render pipeline, which is where something like this should be, and will be eventually. UE6 will focus heavily on that kind of thing. It would have been much better to have demoed path tracing with neural rending as some kind of UE5 proof of concept rather than this. That's why I said before I think people are going to be surprised by what comes next beyond this, when it eventually does make it's way into the pipeline.


That aside, I think this tech definitely has value but if it's going to work like a filter it would be more interesting to see it reimagine older games to some extent rather than alter new ones.

 

[Beerfloat]

A huge generational jump backwards. We went from realistic lighting and shadows using path tracing on an 5090 to broken shadows and light just so that a few textures become more "texturous" and for instagram filters, all the while using two 5090.

The Instagram filter quip of all things becoming the rallying cry among the Internet detractor class is stupid. These faces we’ve been shown are the opposite of idealized and homogeneous. To me they clearly look more worn and lived-in. The laments about artist intent and diluting what falls under the DLSS moniker seem more on point. Though poorly informed, as it turns out.

 

[BadThad]

It's another step toward the goal of "total realism". The question is - does every game have to completely realistic? What is the performance cost?

I'm a little surprised by all the negative comments, I think it's pretty cool myself. It reminds me of the first Mortal Kombat! hahahaha What is also intriguing to me is AI NPCs, still deciding if that's a good thing.

 

[Julio Franco]

This is worth checking out:

https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/1rvwube/dlss_5_fixing_it_in_post

 

[LimyG]

Must admit, the Lara Croft image is most pleasing. Be very hard to concentrate on all the ledges and tricky jumps though...especially with realistic "bouncing physics."

 

[Anton Longshot]

These days I cannot afford to build a new box due to hardware prices going far into insane territory.
It's possible I may NEVER own a PC that can run upcoming AAA's. What use are developments like these if only the rich can afford new computers? Are the rich going to buy enough AAA games to support the game dev industry?
I think we're farked and so is the game industry unless normal people can buy PC's without parting with a kidney or two again.
Unless of course the industry drops the "moar eye candy = better game" concept.
The handware builders won't like it but hey they have AI datacenter builder customers. Which as we know caused the impossible price PC to happen.

 

[Endymio]

These days I cannot afford to build a new box due to hardware prices going far into insane territory.
It's possible I may NEVER own a PC that can run upcoming AAA's. What use are developments like these if only the rich can afford new computers? Are the rich going to buy enough AAA games to support the game dev industry?
I think we're farked and so is the game industry..

Good grief, it's a temporary economic cycle. Around late 2027, supply will catch up with (and eventually outstrip) demand, and prices will drop like meteors from the sky. Until then, there's a few hundred thousand games already released that you've never played before -- go try a few. I'll also note that the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution -- guaranteeing one the right to more gaming frames per second each year -- was never ratified.

 

[Jack77]

This "artistic preservation" crap is beyond absurd. These are videogames, not Picassos.

Despite all personalization options and mods, games look in part because the team wanted to create that look and feel. Just like in series and movies the lighting, costumes, background, camera-positions are important.

(And, yes, some game creators may feel limited by what current technology can offer, and they may find DLSS5 a step up in getting the look and feel right.)

 

[Gravitytr1]

It is impressive but on a grand scale it is... Almost worthless. What am I expected to do, admire this feature when the game has cutscenes? Does anyone even care? Heck, even body jiggle physics are more important because that at least is visible at all times in 3rd person games.
They should focus on optimization, both game devs and Nvidia with its drivers.
In this economy, the majority of gamers are doomed to stay forever on their ancient 1060 GTX or rtx 3060.

Optimization didn't make money. In fact, it costs money.

And the only benefit is for users. So it's useless.

 

[Gravitytr1]

Good grief, it's a temporary economic cycle. Around late 2027, supply will catch up with (and eventually outstrip) demand, and prices will drop like meteors from the sky. Until then, there's a few hundred thousand games already released that you've never played before -- go try a few. I'll also note that the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution -- guaranteeing one the right to more gaming frames per second each year -- was never ratified.

You need some education. But I appreciate the optimism.

 

[Gravitytr1]

These days I cannot afford to build a new box due to hardware prices going far into insane territory.
It's possible I may NEVER own a PC that can run upcoming AAA's. What use are developments like these if only the rich can afford new computers? Are the rich going to buy enough AAA games to support the game dev industry?
I think we're farked and so is the game industry unless normal people can buy PC's without parting with a kidney or two again.
Unless of course the industry drops the "moar eye candy = better game" concept.
The handware builders won't like it but hey they have AI datacenter builder customers. Which as we know caused the impossible price PC to happen.

It's not about gaming. This is just a side effect. The main goal is to limit access to hardware for the average person. This funnels control over to the conglomerates.

If more people had the income for home HDDs and hardware capable of running local models, they lose a lot of subscriptions (money) and worse, they lose an infinite amount of control and data.

 

[Gravitytr1]

It's another step toward the goal of "total realism". The question is - does every game have to completely realistic? What is the performance cost?

I'm a little surprised by all the negative comments, I think it's pretty cool myself. It reminds me of the first Mortal Kombat! hahahaha What is also intriguing to me is AI NPCs, still deciding if that's a good thing.

Nothing realistic about those people graphics

 

[Hecate91]

Unfortunately the shortages caused by AI memory hoarding may not be temporary, an SK group chairman said it may last until 2030.
These "shortages" simply aren't sustainable for the tech industry, some suppliers and brands can't last through this technological cold winter on no products to sell, and the rich won't buy enough graphics cards or AAA games to keep these companies profits up.
And the AI bubble probably won't pop as long as governments and other companies keep bailing out AI companies like Open AI with infinite money.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-sk-group-chairman-expects-chip-wafer-shortage-last-until-2030-eyes-2026-03-16/

 

[Puiu]

Good grief, it's a temporary economic cycle. Around late 2027, supply will catch up with (and eventually outstrip) demand, and prices will drop like meteors from the sky. Until then, there's a few hundred thousand games already released that you've never played before -- go try a few. I'll also note that the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution -- guaranteeing one the right to more gaming frames per second each year -- was never ratified.

Let's stop it with the childish excuses for price gauging and price fixing.