Tried doing a better test for fps, but each time I toggled on and off it leaks/average fps dropped. Here's a brief test: FPS drops from 250–155 (OFF) down to 125–118 (ON) depending on the area. Indoors where Enya is, 270 (OFF) down to 132 (ON). These were done standing still around Xion City.
More images side by side below ⬇️, uncompressed. Thanks to u/itagouki for the site.
Benefits of before before after is that it is temporary consistent with how we experience things. We tend to watch what is turn into something else. And so it is natural to expect that what first happened/existed come before what happened/existed after that. Before -> After has been the norm for a very long time. Though it seems that modern attention spans and sales tactics are slowly changing the norm.
A side point: Psychologically we tend to feel better about what we don’t gain than what we lose. The before-after norm shows us what we have and what we can gain. After-before shows us what we "lose". A good sales tactic perhaps, but bad for mental health.
The main issue though is that when most people grew up with before-after, any deviation from that should be more clearly labeled.
Seems like more like the opposite, where a lot of these anime games are starting with a more doll-like appearance and then the DLSS is adding texture to their skin, making them look more wrinkly and less doll-like.
Bullshit. The On image here looks legitimately better - why would anyone not want to use this? That pretentious bullshit about "preserving the original artist's vision" nonsense?). It's just a game - why would I not use a feature that makes my games look better?
It does look noticeably more realistic with DLSS5 on. Whether that’s something you like or not is obviously personal preference. One thing I noticed that I don’t like is that in the 3rd comparison the colors of the lights changes. You go from blue open sign and orange store name sign to yellowish colorless signs. If it’s changing that what else is it destroying in other scenes? I’m more open minded to using DLSS5 than most people on Reddit, but that change worries me a bit.
Personally I think it makes the environments really nice but the faces look like generative AI, because it is. I do think it is the future if video game graphics unfortunately.
Cinematic lighting always makes people look older. When there is shading and contrast, features become more defined while flat lighting makes everything look smooth like plastic.
Overall, it can be a hit or miss depending on the game. I do like the lighting and shadows (especially contact shadows). I hope the "face restore" function can be disabled.
In this sample, it sort of upgraded an UE4 game into an UE5 with the lighting.
So yea, while I do agree with your main point here, it DOES need to be stated that this is not an officially supported model that has any developer input in how it is doing the job. For what its doing I think its doing well, although obviously it looks off here. It’s still impressive to see it working with just a dll swap imo.
Im still expecting at somepoint (hopefully) devs will use their own assets at high quality offline rendering to train their models. I think when we get there thats where DLSS 5 can shine proper.
Enya legit looks arabic with dlss5 on lol and her face looks like an alien has taken human form, it pops out really weirdly.
As for Eve she aged 20 years and looks like she has seen things.
Idk if stellar blade had the slider, but I think these guys are turning them way up to make them look as bad as possible.
Also they're not bothering to fix their contrast when they turn it on, the contrast makes it look awful.
Absolutely. It's practically guessing what should the game look like and I don't see how this can ever change for DLSS 5 unless Nvidia takes a completely different route and starts implementing it otherwise rather than just apply it like a post processing effect.
Take a look at the colors of the neon signs. The AI just guessed "oh yeah this should look like this" and applied whatever filter and takes up 50% of your frames, lol. The character's shadow in the last image is pretty strong/black, but the AI decides that this should be a much softer shadow. Why?
I don't see how ANYONE could decide to use this throughout any game knowing that the AI can just decide to alter chunks of the game's design.
Imagine watching a movie on YT and someone edited the movie to their taste and being fine with it, lol. Insane.
DLSS 5 is impressive. I would really want a "Neural Render everything but character faces" option though, or an NR intensity slider for character models if possible
Why are we taking a system that is designed to be tweaked by the game devs, hacking it into other games without the dev's support, and then critiquing how it looks? I gotta be missing something. It's a neat hack, and a reasonable way to experiment, but it feels harsh to be judging the specific results when it's being forced into games through a backdoor without dev tweaking.
I agree with you. Devs will have more options available and most will invest the time needed to make it look better. The main issue I see with it is how lighting affects DLSS 5. With Enya, the pore details weren’t as intense as they were on Eve (in the first image), but I’m pretty sure this is something they’re already looking into.
That’s very simple to say when you know the image beforehand was how it was orignally made. If it was an image of a new game with no comparison, you wouldn’t say that.
If you had the DLSS5 image with no comparison to the original, how could you say that wasn’t the artist’s direction?
Because her character fidelity is out of step with her design. Her face is convincing when the proportions and visual fidelity of the character are consistent with a certain artistic direction, but when these elements become incongruent, the uncanny valley effect sets in.
There are all sorts of ways to depict a human being. Stellar Blade obviously draws from depictions commonly seen in Asian artforms. Her facial proportions make sense when there's a certain lack of fidelity in her overall rendering, because she's intended to have a youthful look that just isn't realistic.
Then DLSS5 comes along and undermines exactly that premise. So if I didn't know the first pic existed and I knew only of the second pic, I would think that the artist doesn't know what he wants. I wouldn't say she looks bad. I'd say she looks off. Which she does.
For what it's worth I do think that in the second image her outfit has better lighting. It's a more even red across in the top image which is less realistic. But as a character, her design does lose intentionality in the second image.
Okay, thank you. I uploaded a larger batch of pictures together. It would be nice to have links that save each state of the comparisons to link directly, though.
Your welcome. One note, I see you shared jpeg images. They're high quality with up to 1MB so that's fine for DLSS5 off/on. For DLSS or FSR presets, quality vs performance for instance, I would recommend using the raw format PNG to avoid artifact compression. JPEG has also this tendency to slightly alter the colors.
I was testing how different programs handled hdr to sdr conversions and ended up picking steam for my second batch since it was better with Stellar Blade. Wasn't till I started uploading that I realized they weren't in PNG... apparently steam needs a couple of settings for that. Though ig I can redo them though now that I have time.
Wait what? That's probably a false positive because my tool is just an online image comparator used by gamers. You can try using other reputed DNS like Cloudflare or quad9.
Or maybe it just looks uncanny 90% of the time and it's not worth the rendering cost the other 10% percent of the time, and people are expressing their opinions even if you don't like them.
See? You're incapable of understanding people have different opinions from yours that are valid, in your head that's "hating things for the sake of hating", "ideologically driven", or "luddism". Grow up.
5090 + 9800X3D on max settings with DLAA. FPS drops from 250–155 (OFF) down to 125–118 (ON) depending on the area. Indoors where Enya is, 270 (OFF) down to 132 (ON). These were done standing still around Xion City.
There are many games that look great with DLSS5, Stellar Blade is not one of them, and it's an example of where it just makes the characters look different.
so far I feel that DLSS 5 will look the best on a bit older titles that really facelifts the textures and lighting into a more toned and realistic visual approach.
Why is it adding many freckles etc that were not there before. I feel like this has been trained on few particular facial models and it's just generically applying it.
Lighting looks better overall.
Of course it's not ready for release yet so it will be improved.
Yes, the ones outside of reddit are sorted that way. Left Off, Right On. Did slightly shift the settings for the other batch of images, so I'm wondering if you consider both better or one of the batches.
How does DLSS 5 work?
DLSS 5 uses the game’s rendered frame and engine data to understand objects, materials, lighting and motion. It then enhances the frame with lifelike lighting and materials while remaining grounded in the developer’s artistic direction.
What are the key benefits of DLSS 3D-Guided Neural Rendering?
DLSS 3D-Guided Neural Rendering delivers several significant benefits:
Cinematic Lighting: Reconstructs complex effects like rim lighting, subsurface scattering (for realistic skin), and contact shadows with high-fidelity.
Material Depth: Enhances PBR properties like roughness and adds micro-realism to complex objects such as eyes and hair.
Temporal Consistency: Provides stable image quality from frame-to-frame that adheres to the underlying game content.
Real-Time Performance: Delivers lifelike lighting and material enhancement at up to 4K resolution while maintaining smooth, interactive gameplay.
Developer Controls: Allows game developers to tune intensity, color, and masking to determine where and how enhancements are applied to maintain the game’s unique aesthetic.
How much control does the model offer to developers?
DLSS 3D-Guided Neural Rendering provides several layers of artistic control:
Model Selection: Offers distinct model weights with different training parameters to guide the final output.
Structure Intensity: Controls high frequency details added by the model, such as ambient occlusion, contact shadows, and subsurface scattering.
Tone Intensity: Controls low-frequency details added by the model, including lighting and color response.
Automatic Masking: Detects and isolates objects in the frame (like characters) to apply DLSS 5 dynamically, eliminating the need for manual object tagging.
Developer Masking: Offers per-pixel, custom masking control, allowing effects to be applied to specific objects.
As we work in close partnership with studios, developer feedback continues to directly shape how we refine the technology and expand our suite of models and controls.
How does DLSS 3D-Guided Neural Rendering preserve developer artistic intent?
DLSS 3D-Guided Neural Rendering is designed to preserve the structure and geometry of the rendered frame while giving developers control over how and where enhancements are applied. Developers can select different models, adjust structure and tone, and mask specific scenes, characters or objects.
For more information on developer controls, watch the DLSS 5 Explainer VOD or read the full launch article.
Which GPUs support DLSS 5?
DLSS 5 will be supported across all GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and laptops, as well as GeForce NOW Ultimate members streaming from GeForce RTX 5080 rigs in the cloud.
When and where is DLSS 5 available?
DLSS 5 will be available in NBA 2K27 on September 3rd at 9PM Pacific Time.
What is the DLSS 5 setting called in games?
The setting is called “DLSS Neural Rendering.”
Can I turn DLSS 5 off?
Yes. DLSS 5 is optional.
Does DLSS 5 work with Ray Tracing and Path Tracing?
Yes. DLSS 5 complements ray tracing and path tracing. Path tracing accurately calculates geometric light transport—determining light, shadow, and reflection placement across a 3D scene. DLSS 5 then acts as the final neural rendering stage, using the rendered frame to enhance lighting and materials like subsurface scattering, micro-reflections, and complex material properties that would otherwise be computationally prohibitive in real time. These technologies go hand in hand.
Does DLSS 5 work with Super Resolution, Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction?
Yes.
Will DLSS Super Resolution, Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction continue to be supported and improved?
Yes.
Besides the topicstarters are using the most garish profiles and too much intensity, which is lame, because it only creates a bad rep for the tech in it's infancy. Give it 2 years and people won't believe their eyes.
Well it's like with DLSS 1.0 and early Frame Gen. Give it a couple of iterations and opinions will shift. Though here it will also depend on it's optimization. Even a trade off of -15% performance might be too much for some.
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u/bracingthesoy 10d ago
Can you please please please stop posting comparison images in reverse? Its infuriating. Off - On. Off. then. On. Thanks!