Nvidia DLDSR: The RTX AI Feature You Might Be Missing Out On
Apr. 29, 2024Nvidia’s Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution (DLDSR) is anupscaling featureavailable in theNvidia app, and it’s something that I don’t see being used by games often. If you are wondering whether or not this is better than Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, let’s just say you are in for a treat!
DLDSR is a feature that can be enabled using Nvidia’s software on every RTX graphics card. Note that RTX laptops have some specific requirements as they sometimes aren’t directly connected to the laptop display. We explore DLDSR in detail here, including how it can upgrade the quality of your existing monitor, how to turn on DLDSR, and how I use it personally as a PC gamer!
DLDSR Makes Your Monitor Go Beyond Native Resolution
Your monitor has a native resolution (check monitor and refresh rate via this tutorial), which is the maximum you can select in-game. Well, turning on DLDSR will sort of increase that, and enable two higher resolutions, which are1.78x and 2.25x higherthan your native resolution.
Keep in mind that the physical pixel arrangement and the actual resolution of your display are still unchanged after enabling DLDSR. Still, keep on reading to witness how DLDSR works to drastically improve image quality in games!
After enabling DLDSR, a higher resolution becomes available in games. When you select this higher resolution, Nvidia’s Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution (DLDSR) is activated and renders the game at a higher resolution!
Here is how much of a resolution upgrade the Nvidia DLDSR feature can enable for the top monitor resolutions used by gamers (source:Steam Hardware Survey)Native Monitor ResolutionDLDSR (1.78x)DLDSR (2.25x)1920×1080 (1080p)2560×1440 (2K)2880×1620 (2.8K)2560×1440 (2K)3413×1920 (~3K)3840×2160 (4K)3840×2160 (4K)5120×2880 (~5K)5760×3240 (~6K)New DLDSR resolutions for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K monitors
Effectively, this resolution isdownscaled to your displayaccordingly. The results that we have shown later speak for themselves because you can easily spot thedifference in the clarityafter turning on DLDSR.
We will now explain what exactly is DLDSR, the differences compared to DLSS, the requirements for enabling DLDSR, and then finally compare the image quality in games.
Nvidia DLDSR is an artificial intelligence (AI) backed update to their DSR feature. With the feature enabled, it renders games at a higher resolution than your monitor. This higher-quality rendering of your game is downscaled to the native resolution of your monitor.
Nvidia RTX graphics cards haveTensor cores. For example, theRTX 4060 Tigraphics card has 136 tensor cores. These tensor cores are utilized when you enable AI-related features like DLDSR.
With DLDSR, the AI network requires less data than the traditional non-AI-enhanced version of DSR. It ismore effectivethan previous supersampling methods. According to the company, the image quality of DLDSR (2.25x) is ‘comparable’ to the old DSR (4x). So, you also get better image quality and performance with DLDSR enabled as compared to DSR without any AI.
DLDSR is a separate feature compared to DLSS. Its purpose is to directly upscale the quality of your games via a new resolution but also use AI enhancements. DLDSR is available in the Nvidia Control Panel, but DLSS is turned on inside your games.
We will talk about using DLDSR and DLSS together later. DLDSR is essentially adriver-levelAI-driven supersampling feature available to turn on within the GPU software.
DLSSworks on a game-engine leveland is based on the preset (DLSS balanced, performance, quality, etc.) the render resolution of the game decreases with DLSS. But after that, DLSS upscales that image of the game using deep learning to give you native-like quality with more performance.
Nvidia’s Deep Learning Dynamic Super Sampling (DLDSR) requires any Nvidia RTX graphics card. So, anything from theRTX 20 series onwardswill support the DLDSR feature. There are certain performance demands when using DLDSR, so keep that in mind. If you were playing at 1080p (Full HD), now you will be playing at a resolution of 1440p (QHD) or above with DLDSR active.
Above are the requirements of DLDSR, as shared by Nvidia. DLDSR requiresyour monitorto bedirectly connectedto the graphics card. In the case of many laptops without a MUX switch, DLDSR may not be available. By the way, there are many more features on the Nvidia RTX platform that you could be using.
You can also consider plugging in your laptop to anexternal monitor. If the HDMI port of your laptop is connected to a dedicated Nvidia RTX GPU (and not the internal integrated GPU), then DLDSR will show up in the Control Panel.
When you set a game to a higher resolution than your native setting, the magic of Nvidia’s Deep Learning Dynamic Super Sampling (DLDSR) will be visible. For example, this is what selecting a higher resolution (enabled via DLDSR) looks like in Cyberpunk 2077’s graphics settings:
I tested Nvidia DLDSR in Cyberpunk 2077. Below are in-game screenshots, with the left side using1080p(no DLDSR), and the right side using the1620presolution (with DLDSR). Honestly, it can be hard to tell the difference in uploaded screenshots. But when playing the game, I can tell that thejagged edgesare completely gone now.Nvidia DLDSR (Off vs On)
The game looks beautiful with a much higher fidelity. Of course, my monitor is still 1080p but there ismore image dataof the game displayed on every inch of the display since the render resolution is set higher than the native resolution.DLDSR is very effectiveand honestlymuch betterthan any anti-aliasing technique out there.
Again, its effectiveness is hard to see in screenshots, but the text ‘Orbital Air’ immediately popped out to me as being much clearer with DLDSR turned on. The sharpness and overall immersiveness of the game are also dramatically enhanced with this feature.
In games such as Red Dead Dead Redemption 2, jagged edges are a major problem when playing at 1080p resolution. But I could immediately notice the game’s improvement in quality when DLDSR is enabled. One disadvantage of using DLDSR is that itlowers performance compared to the native resolution. To fix this, you can enable DLSS alongside DLDSR, and here’s how that works!
Many times, I useDLSSandDLDSRtogether when playing games. Simply enable DLDSR in the Nvidia Control Panel, after following the previously mentioned tutorial. Then, in your game, select the highest resolution available. On a 1080p monitor, enabling DLDSR gives a resolution of 2880 x 1620 in games.
Once the DLDSR resolution is selected, go to the DLSS settings within the game. Enable DLSS and set a preset (Quality, Balanced, Performance, etc.) that works best for your setup without any FPS drop issues.
If the performance withDLSS qualityand DLDSR enabled is not satisfactory, you can consider switching to DLSS performance or even ultra-performance instead. In the end, DLDSR will work alongside any DLSS setting. DLSS itself becomes more demanding with DLDSR turned on because the render resolution becomes way higher. But as I said, simply enable lower-quality DLSS presets to mitigate this.
Personally, in a multiplayer game likeThe Finalsthat I play regularly, I use DLDSR (2880 x 1620) resolution with DLSS Balanced enabled. This deliversgood FPS and image qualityat the same time. I am taking advantage of DLSS and DLDSR together at every opportunity, and the resultant experience is honestly quite awesome!
For games that don’t support DLSS, I can still enjoy the AI-enhanced supersampling goodness by selecting the higher resolution facilitated via DLDSR. Most modern games do support DLSS, and the ones without DLSS can work well even at higher resolution settings if you have a decently powerful RTX card. Of course, there is a second DLDSR setting (1.78x) which is less demanding if prefer using that.
Some examples of games without DLSS includeGrand Theft Auto V,Sekiro,Apex Legends, and many more. But yeah, you can still enable a higher resolution in the game if DLDSR is turned on. You should use it as often as possible because using DLDSR will put those previously inactive tensor cores of your shiny RTX graphics card to some proper use whenever you play games!Image Courtesy: RespawnImage Courtesy: Rockstar GamesImage Courtesy: FromSoftware Inc.
I use it in pretty much all my games and enjoy higher resolution fidelity even on my 1080p 165Hz monitor. And if the game supports DLSS, I enable both DLDSR and DLSS with the aforementioned settings to enjoy a stellar AI-enhanced experience!
Now that you have learned how to use DLDSR, go ahead and try it out on all your games! What are your thoughts on this AI supersampling feature? Let us know in the comments below, and do tell us if you have any doubts!
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