When I first examined Death Stranding’s DLSS 2.0 tech within the run-up to the game’s launch, I wasn’t capable of present you what it really appeared like. I might let you know that switching it on would flip any RTX card right into a 4K 60fps machine, however not how its intelligent, AI-driven upscaling wizardry affected the in-game visuals. Well, now I can, and as you’ll quickly have the ability to see for your self, there’s exactly… wait, which of them have been my DLSS screenshots once more?
DLSS, in case you’ve forgotten as a result of there are so few playable DLSS games proper now, stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling, and it’s one among Nvidia’s unique RTX options. It’s a nifty little bit of upscaling tech that makes use of AI to fill within the gaps if you’re taking part in at excessive resolutions comparable to 4K, serving to to maintain these body charges good and excessive with out tanking your GPU’s efficiency. The game ought to look the identical because it does with DLSS turned off, nevertheless it run higher consequently.
The first iteration of DLSS we noticed in Final Fantasy XV did an honest job of establishing the game’s huge environments with out rendering every pixel, however a better inspection revealed some barely muddy trying textures off towards the horizon.
Final Fantasy XV’s DLSS tech appeared high-quality in movement, however look too carefully and also you’ll see the place it’s doing its AI guesswork. On the left is a close-up of the horizon in native 4K, whereas the suitable is similar scene with DLSS enabled (click on to enlarge).
Since then, Nvidia have refined their DLSS tech and launched DLSS 2.Zero in August of final 12 months. DLSS 2.Zero is so much sooner than its earlier incarnation, and Nvidia have by some means obtained it to a degree the place it could possibly produce photographs which might be akin to their native decision originals however which solely render between 25-50% of the pixels, which is fairly mad. It’s additionally a bit extra versatile than earlier than, too, giving gamers the choices to decide on between Quality, Balanced and Performance modes that management the game’s inside rendering decision.
There nonetheless aren’t many games that utilise this newer type of DLSS – Death Stranding is among the first, together with Control, Wolfenstein Youngblood, Mechwarriors 5 and Deliver Us The Moon – however as you may see from my Death Stranding photographs beneath (click on to enlarge), it’s positively obtained a heck of so much higher because it first got here out.
Death Stranding at 4K on Very High, with DLSS off.
Death Stranding at 4K on Very High, with DLSS Quality enabled.
Death Stranding at 4K on Very High, with DLSS Performance enabled.
I swear these are three totally different photographs, trustworthy.
Even zoomed in, there’s little or no distinction between them, which is fairly spectacular. The rocks all look equally sharp and detailed to my eyes, there’s no discernible distinction within the high quality of its shadows or lighting, and the grassy hillside seems simply as verdant and filled with vegetation, too.
The solely actual flaw between DLSS and no DLSS, at the least so far as I’m capable of inform anyway, is that the stream within the high proper nook is a little more detailed in its native state, exhibiting clearer ripples and waves because the water tumbles down the hillside. But man alive, I feel I’d be hard-pushed to identify that with out zooming proper in like I’ve performed beneath, and it’s positively an enormous enchancment in comparison with Final Fantasy XV’s model of it.
DLSS off zoomed in.
DLSS high quality zoomed in.
DLSS efficiency zoomed in.
So yeah, if you happen to’ve obtained an RTX card, you’d be nuts to not activate Death Stranding’s DLSS setting and luxuriate in these greater body charges. Without DLSS, for instance, my RTX 2070 Super was hitting an honest common of round 55fps on Very High at 4K, however there have been moments throughout a few of the cutscenes the place it turned a bit juddery someplace within the low 40s. With DLSS Quality mode, that common body price jumped to round 75fps, whereas Performance noticed it shoot as much as simply over 90fps. All whereas producing a nigh-on equivalent picture, too.
You don’t essentially want an RTX card to take pleasure in easy body charges in Death Stranding, although, because the game runs beautifully even on a GTX 1060 at 1920×1080. For extra data on the way it runs, head on over to my Death Stranding PC performance article.
