It’s DLSS 4 Super Resolution upscaling, which has received a substantial update aimed at improving visual quality.
So how good is DLSS 4 upscaling?
Let’s find out.
Is that still the case with DLSS 4, or are those lower prefs now more viable?
We will also briefly examine performance, as the new Transformer model is larger and more demanding to run.
One area of confusion surrounding DLSS 4 is compatibility.
DLSS 4 upscaling works on all RTX GPUs, going back to the GeForce 20 series.
The most useful component of DLSS 4 the upscaling is widely available, which is great to see.
All the visual examples in this article and the accompanying videos were captured at 4K using aGeForce RTX 5090.
For those who are highly sensitive to detail, this is a game changer.
There are plenty more examples of this.
We even found the experience better using DLSS 4 Performance versus DLSS 3 DLAA.
Games look, feel, and most importantly play in a way that’s less blurry.
Edge Stability
Another crucial aspect of image quality is edge stability.
In examples like this, even the Performance mode provides superior stability to what the Quality mode offered previously.
Where DLSS 4 sees the biggest benefits is when there is a small amount of movement between each frame.
In some cases, like this one, DLSS 4 Performance actually comes out ahead of DLSS 3 Quality.
That doesn’t mean DLSS 4 Performance mode is always better than DLSS 3 Quality for edge stability.
The Cyberpunk 2077 is notably better at reducing ghosting from overhead street lights or the tailpipes on the car.
This is another case where DLSS 4 Performance can look better than DLSS 3 Quality.
The Last of Us was the only game where we found the downgrade noticeable in real time.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see much improvement when comparing DLSS 3 and DLSS 4 in this area.
The challenges with hair rendering also apply to fur (as tested in Ratchet & Clank).
One area where DLSS 4 improves upon DLSS 3 is particle ghosting.
In most cases, this means DLSS 4 Quality mode is equivalent to DLSS 3 Quality mode.
There were some instances where DLSS 4 Balanced was able to match DLSS 3 Quality in transparencies.
But in other areas, like the holographic map in Cyberpunk, it’s more of a parity situation.
However, this advantage usually disappears in motion.
This issue is most noticeable on wires and other fine-line details.
Like with edge stability, this is an area where DLSS 4 has an advantage over DLSS 3.
Wire detail, such as overhead power lines, is only marginally improved.
Generally, results fall into two categories.
Even in Performance mode, trees can look less pixelated than in DLSS 3 Quality mode in motion.
The second category involves faster motion, such as trees blowing in the wind or dense fine-detail branches.
Here, DLSS 4 vs. DLSS 3 quality results align more with what we saw in fine detail reconstruction.
DLSS 3 DLAA still has an edge over DLSS 4 Quality upscaling.
Typically, the best match was at the same setting, such as Quality vs. Quality.
Surprisingly, it gets quite close when viewed side by side.
Grass
We were more impressed with how DLSS 4 handles grass.
This is improved with DLSS 4, as seen in Star Wars Outlaws.
Results depend on the game, though.
Previously, DLSS 3 Performance mode was often too grainy and unstable in games with dense foliage.
One of the most noticeable improvements is how DLSS 4 handles repeating patterns without producing moire artifacts.
In Horizon Zero Dawn, we saw little difference in water quality.
When it comes to the rain particles themselves, there’s little difference between DLSS 3 and DLSS 4.
Technically, we were looking at snow here but snow is just a punch in of rain, right?
Either way, we observed about one quality step of improvement provided by DLSS 4.
Performance Benchmarks
Let’s now take a look at performance.
However, we’ll need to investigate that further in a future article.
When comparing Quality modes directly, there was an 8% drop in frame rate.
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we saw similar results while testing the Ultra preset at 4K.
In the area we tested, DLSS 4 Performance provided a 39% FPS improvement over native TAA rendering.
However, the Performance mode is able to nearly double the frame rate compared to native rendering.
Lastly, we have Cyberpunk 2077.
Typically, DLSS 4 results in about half a tier of performance loss.
On average, the performance impact was 7% when comparing the same mode across versions.
What We Learned
Overall, DLSS 4 Super Resolution upscaling is an impressive improvement for 4K gaming.
Anyone using DLSS 4 for the first time will immediately notice its superior clarity.
Not every aspect has improved, though.
Across many hours of gaming, we were consistently satisfied with the image quality in this mode.
That may not sound like a whopping improvement at first, but it’s pretty massive just from software.
It’s surprising that Nvidia focused so much onmulti-frame generationinstead of highlighting the improvements in DLSS 4 upscaling.
Finally, where does this leave AMD and FSR upscaling tech?
We don’t want to dive too deep into this considering FSR 4 is only a few weeks away.
FSR 4 will need to be a massive leap over FSR 3.1.
This allows the vast majority of DLSS-supported games to be easily upgraded to DLSS 4.
AMD, however, only started using DLLs with FSR 3.1.
Will it be enough to match DLSS 4?
That remains to be seen and will require detailed analysis.
