NVIDIA’s next-gen version of its popular upscaling technology was announced alongside the latest RTX 50 Series GPUs. DLSS 4 includes various advancements in graphical upscaling that rely on the power inside the impressively powerful new RTX cards to run. Most notably is the new neural rendering capabilities that can perform what NVIDIA calls Multi Frame Generation.
Essentially, Multi Frame Generation can generate up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame. NVIDIA says it works in unison with other DLSS technology to multiply frame rates by up to 8X over the traditional brute force rendering. The company claims that DLSS 4 can turn a highly demanding 4K raytracing game into a 4K 240FPS experience with full raytracing enabled.
But DLSS 4 goes deeper than just making additional frames. New RTX 50 Series GPUs can take advantage of Ray Reconstruction, Super Resolution, and DLAA and use built-in AI transformer models to improve every aspect of the visual and performance experience in gaming.
NVIDIA says the new Multi Frame Generation model is 40% faster and uses 30% less VRAM than DLSS 3. This is thanks to the new and improved Convolutional Neural Networks in the GPUs’ transformer model. The company says generated pixels will have less ghosting and noise, more details, and provide better stability for a clearer and cleaner image.
Keep in mind that DLSS 4 is new, and games will need to be updated to support the tech. NVIDIA promises that 75 games and apps will support Multi Frame Generation when the new RTX 50 Series cards launch. These include Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Outlaws, and more. 50 games will then support the new transformer-based DLSS features. So support for games will vary depending on what titles are updated for Multi Frame Generation and other DLSS enhancements.
NVIDIA is also improving the latency caused by these upscaling techniques thanks to the new Reflex 2 and Frame Warp tech. The company says enabling this in supported games will cut latency by up to 75%. The good news here is that Reflex 2 isn’t exclusive to the new RTX 50 Series cards. It will roll out first on these cards and come to other RTX hardware later down the line.
As a frame is being rendered by the GPU, the CPU calculates the camera position of the next frame in the pipeline, based on the latest mouse or controller input. Frame Warp samples the new camera position from the CPU, and warps the frame just rendered by the GPU to this newer camera position. The warp is conducted as late as possible, just before the rendered frame is sent to the display, ensuring the most recent mouse input is reflected on screen.
An example of Reflex 2 was provided. NVIDIA says in The Finals, latency was reduced from 27ms using Reflex 1 to just 14ms using Reflex 2. NVIDIA breaks down all the exclusive new DLSS 4 features in a slide below:
NVIDIA is also making it easier to automatically switch between the various tools as games are updated to support them. The company says the NVIDIA App will be updated with toggles and DLSS override settings. These settings include:
- DLSS Override for Frame Generation – Enables Multi Frame Generation for GeForce RTX 50 Series users when Frame Generation is ON in-game.
- DLSS Override for Model Presets – Enables the latest Frame Generation model for GeForce RTX 50 Series and GeForce RTX 40 Series users, and the transformer model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction for all GeForce RTX users, when DLSS is ON in-game.
- DLSS Override for Super Resolution – Sets the internal rendering resolution for DLSS Super Resolution, enabling DLAA or Ultra Performance mode when Super Resolution is ON in-game.
Source: NVIDIA