Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

In August, NVIDIA released DLSS 3.5 technology and said it would be the first to install it in Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk 2077: shadow of the past and other games and apps released in the fall of this year. Now, with the launch of Cyberpunk 2077: shadow of the past DLC, we can finally measure how much this feature has improved picture quality in the game. In this article, CTOnews.com will take you to analyze it.

"Cyberpunk 2077: shadow of the past" NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and panoramic ray tracing technology presentation video

DLSS 3.5 is a collection of graphics enhancement technologies based on artificial intelligence introduced by NVIDIA. It uses dedicated hardware inside each GeForce RTX GPU for real-time neural network rendering and provides higher quality graphics and higher frame rate by intelligently reconstructing images. Although it is called DLSS 3.5, it is not a simple iterative relationship with our previous DLSS 2 and DLSS 3, but an inclusive relationship:

DLSS 2: Super resolution (Super Resolution) and DLAA

DLSS 3: collection of Super Resolution (Super Resolution), DLAA, frame Generation (Frame Generation), NVIDIA Reflex

DLSS 3.5: Super resolution (Super Resolution), DLAA, frame generation (Frame Generation), light reconstruction (Ray Reconstruction)

You can see that the biggest upgrade of DLSS 3.5 is the introduction of Light Reconstruction Technology (Ray Reconstruction). This function can further improve the image quality of RayTracing. In the traditional ray tracing game and renderer, we need to use the manual noise canceller, but the artificial noise canceller is very limited, which will lead to the loss of ray tracing picture details, the artifact of the motion picture and so on, affecting the quality of the image. The light reconstruction function of DLSS 3.5 makes the game more realistic and the light more natural by using the AI network trained by the NVIDIA supercomputer to replace the artificially designed noise canceller to generate higher quality ray-traced images. Compared to DLSS 3, DLSS 3.5 uses more data for training than before, recognizes different ray tracing effects more intelligently, and retains high-frequency information during processing for higher quality image magnification.

Needless to say, let's go directly to "Cyberpunk 2077: the Shadow of the past" to compare the actual combat. The configuration we tested was i9-13900KS + RTX 4090 + 32G DDR5 memory. We can already see some changes in the new version of the settings interface. The top quick preset scheme is from RayTracing: overspeed upgrade to RayTracing: overspeed mode (panoramic RayTracing mode). The lower DLSS section adds DLSS light reconstruction in addition to the familiar frame generation of DLSS 3 and the super resolution of DLSS 2. This option appears only in RayTracing: overspeed mode (panoramic RayTracing mode).

CTOnews.com made such a detailed comparison for you. On the far right is the screen that turns on ray tracing and light reconstruction. The light on the ground transitions naturally and the reflection in the water is lifelike. The middle is only on the ray tracing screen, you can also see the reflection, but the reflection will appear very blurred. On the far left is the picture with no technology turned on, the ground reflection can not reflect the real physical world, and the sense of substitution is not as good as the former. It can be said that DLSS3.5 is visible to the naked eye for the improvement of the picture of the light-chasing game.

From the following two pictures, we can see the effect of light reconstruction more visually. After opening, the clarity of light reconstruction has been significantly improved, and there have been many fewer artifacts in the past. And surprisingly, light reconstruction has little impact on performance and can be safely turned on in any case. Image quality improvement of DLSS 3.5

↑ turns off light reconstruction

↑ turns on light reconstruction

In addition, light reconstruction can also make the light path more in line with the real world and our intuition. As we can see from the picture below, turning off the light and rebuilding the front lights will unconditionally illuminate all areas ahead. On the other hand, after the light reconstruction is turned on, the light will correctly avoid the obscured area and become more lifelike.

↑ turns off light reconstruction

↑ turns on light reconstruction

Not only is the light reconstruction, but the frame generation technology of DLSS 3 is also included in DLSS 3.5. The so-called frame generation technology is a performance multiplier technology driven by AI, driven by a new fourth-generation Tensor Core and a new optical flow accelerator, is a key technology added in the third-generation version of NVIDIA's highly acclaimed deep learning supersampling technology, and has a groundbreaking optical multi-frame generation function, which will open a new era of NVIDIA RTX neural network rendering games and applications.

To put it simply, in the past, DLSS 2 improved the image quality and the number of frames by rendering a low-resolution image, and then AI zoomed in to high resolution. While the new DLSS 3 is compatible with DLSS 2, it also adds a frame generation function, which can insert a new frame calculated by AI between two real frames to double the number of frames. Combined with the super-resolution function of DLSS 2, AI can reconstruct up to 7/8 display pixels, and the game performance can be up to four times better than without DLSS!

In our actual measurement, DLSS is not enabled even if i9+RTX 4090 is not enabled at 4K resolution, and the average number of frames is only 24 frames. After starting the DLSS 2 Super Resolution (Super Resolution) of the performance file, the number of frames soared to 72.5 frames, and you can play smoothly at this time. If we further open DLSS 3.5, the number of frames will further soar to 110 frames, both in terms of picture quality and fluency.

So, will frame generation (Frame Generation) cause higher latency to affect the game experience? We also use the AvgPCLatency average delay data collected in the Frameview software to compare. You can see that if nothing is open, the delay is actually the highest, as high as 76.8ms. If you turn on NVIDIA Reflex technology, the delay will shrink the 32ms around, and the feel is best at this time. After the frame generation (Frame Generation) technology is turned on, the delay increases the 12ms, which has little impact on the game experience, so you can rest assured to turn it on.

It is worth mentioning that the new light reconstruction technology added in DLSS 3.5 is suitable for all RTX graphics cards, but the RTX 20 and RTX 30 series only support Super Resolution (Super Resolution) and Light Reconstruction (Ray Reconstruction), because these two functions are based on Tensor Core, so older cards can also be adapted. Frame generation (Frame Generation) technology is still exclusive to the RTX 40 series. Therefore, the author also recommends that players who want to experience 4K light chase games upgrade to RTX 40 series graphics cards.

DLSS 3.5 has been supported by many well-known game developers and engines. This fall, DLSS 3.5 will be used in a number of games and apps, including well-known games such as Cyberpunk 2077: shadow of the past and mind Killer 2. In addition, DLSS 3.5 will support creative applications such as Chao Vantage, such as Unreal Engine and Unity.

The author believes that today's game graphics card can no longer focus on the traditional raster performance, AI is the general trend of future development. From DLSS 1 to DLSS 3.5, Nvidia has been trying to improve the game experience with AI, making the game's picture and frame number much higher than the traditional raster performance, and there are now more than 340 games and applications that support NVIDIA DLSS. We were impressed by the nearly doubling of frames brought about by frame generation (Frame Generation) technology in the first half of this year, and we believe that light reconstruction (Ray Reconstruction) will bring us more visual shock in the second half of this year.

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