NVIDIA responds to gamer criticism: DLSS 5 technology completely overhauled

18:00 / 22.07.2026·27·Technology

Graphics processor market leader NVIDIA has announced new details about its next revolutionary development — DLSS 5 technology. According to information presented at the Siggraph 2026 conference, the company decided to fundamentally change the technology's concept following sharp criticism from the gaming community. Initial announcements regarding the excessive interference of AI in the visual style of games had sparked widespread objections. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

According to the Ixbt.com publication, the first look at the DLSS 5 project was mocked by gamers and developers as a "beauty filter for games." Critics expressed concern that generative AI would alter game scenes and undermine the artistic vision of the creators. In the updated version, NVIDIA has relegated AI to a secondary role, focusing primarily on preserving the original visual style of the game.

New architecture and flexible settings

A three-stage image processing architecture was chosen as the foundation for DLSS 5 technology. Game developers can now independently determine the extent to which AI should "improve" the image. Most importantly, the ability to apply these settings to individual objects has been introduced.

Leaving main characters and important NPCs without additional processing;
Improving only the environment and background elements using AI;
Applying separate models for different parts of the frame;
Switching processing models instantly without input lag.

NVIDIA engineers emphasize that the traditional scaling system has been preserved. As in previous versions, the system reconstructs a low-resolution frame, placing geometry, lighting, and shadows correctly. Generative AI is only connected at the final stage to smooth out the finished image. It is currently unknown whether users will have the option to disable this layer entirely.

Performance and technical requirements

The initial demonstrations of DLSS 5, which were conducted on systems with two GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, had caused concern for many. However, the company announced that the new version will work seamlessly on a single GPU. As a result of optimizing the AI model, VRAM consumption has been significantly reduced.

One of the key achievements of the technology is the ability to process 4K resolution images in real-time. To prevent input lag, each frame is analyzed individually. Unlike models based on multi-frame analysis, this method ensures the smoothness of the gameplay.

The question remains open as to whether DLSS 5 will be exclusive to the new generation of Blackwell graphics cards (GeForce RTX 50 series) or if it will also work on older GeForce RTX models. NVIDIA calls this technology the next step in the evolution of image scaling. The project is scheduled to be finalized and released to the public in the third quarter of 2026.