Nvidia tries again to get gamers to accept DLSS 5 — and doesn't entirely succeed

Nvidia again showed off DLSS 5 at its Siggraph 2026 keynote Team Green made it clear that developers will have a level of control, with a choice of three different AI models There will be two sliders to play with, and masks to keep DLSS 5 from interfering with game assets where it's not wanted – but

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Nvidia again showed off DLSS 5 at its Siggraph 2026 keynote</strong></li><li><strong>Team Green made it clear that developers will have a level of control, with a choice of three different AI models</strong></li><li><strong>There will be two sliders to play with, and masks to keep DLSS 5 from interfering with game assets where it's not wanted – but many gamers think devs should have much more control than this</strong></li></ul><p>Nvidia has given us another showing of DLSS 5, the incoming tech for its GeForce GPUs which received a <a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/i-could-see-where-theyre-coming-from-i-dont-love-ai-slop-myself-nvidia-ceo-tries-to-defend-dlss-5-again-shortly-after-telling-gamers-theyre-completely-wrong">very stormy reception when first revealed at GTC 2026</a> – and unsurprisingly, changes have been made in the past few months.</p><p><a href="https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/nvidia-shows-off-dlss-5-with-three-ai-modes-for-different-levels-of-detail-upscaler-can-switch-between-models-in-real-time" target="_blank">Tom's Hardware reports</a> that Nvidia revealed more about how DLSS 5 will be implemented at Siggraph 2026 over in Los Angeles, where the tech was the foremost topic in Team Green's keynote.</p><p>Nvidia was keen to point out how it has changed the neural rendering model in some key ways since DLSS 5 was first announced. Of course, it's obvious that a lot of this is about combating the idea that the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/why-do-gamers-already-hate-dlss-5-here-are-3-key-reasons-and-why-history-suggests-nvidia-will-win-them-over-eventually">tech is 'AI slop' which makes games look worse</a> rather than better, and characters (particularly faces) look bad and have that undesirable 'uncanny valley' effect. And indeed the criticism that DLSS 5 is messing with the art direction and overall feel of a game's graphics.</p><p>On the latter point, back at the original reveal, Nvidia stressed that it would give game developers control over the end result with DLSS 5, and now we're seeing how this will work. Team Green has brought in three different AI models which offer varying levels of detail (and impact on performance), so devs can choose between three different filters, essentially.</p><p>This isn't a game-wide choice, though, as the developer can apply any of those models to any different scene, mixing and matching as needed. There are also two sliders to adjust the 'structure' and 'tone' intensity of the effects.</p><p>On top of that, the developer can mask off any game asset where they don't want DLSS 5 to be applied. That's good news as it means that, for example, character's heads (and faces) could be marked as out-of-bounds, and therefore not subject to Nvidia's tech. The developer could just get DLSS 5 to enhance background objects and details, and maybe only in a relatively minor way (by toning down those intensity sliders).</p><p>To clarify, DLSS 5 is essentially an AI filter that sits atop the existing DLSS suite of technology. Underneath that, you still have upscaling (and frame generation), and Nvidia applies what's essentially a photorealism filter on top of that in the form of this new neural rendering model.</p><p>If you want to grab some popcorn, Nvidia's full Siggraph presentation is available to watch on YouTube, check it out below. All the DLSS 5 stuff is at the start (well, past the usual preamble).</p><div class="youtube-video" data-nosnippet ><div class="video-aspect-box"><iframe data-lazy-priority="high" data-lazy-src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vXDetI2TUWw" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div><h2 id="analysis-a-step-forward-but-the-doubters-remain">Analysis: a step forward, but the doubters remain</h2><p>Has Nvidia managed to placate the DLSS 5 haters, then? No, in a word. Did you really think it would?</p><p>As one <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1v2iscl/comment/oywii02/" target="_blank">Redditor put it</a>: "I had so much hope for DLSS in the early days, what a dumpster fire it's turned into."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1v2iscl/comment/oyvlmv6/" target="_blank">Another observed</a>: "So just confirming what anyone with a basic understanding of AI already knew. Glorified Instagram filter."</p><p>To be fair, in general the reaction has been somewhat more positive compared to the original reveal, and clearly it's a good thing that game developers can at least keep 'yassified' faces out of the mix with characters. Clearly, there is a level of control here, but despite Nvidia treading more carefully in this respect, there's still a feeling that it isn't doing enough.</p><p>A choice of three AI models and a pair of intensity sliders is relatively limited, really, and a far cry from anything like a full level of control over how DLSS 5 imposes itself on a game. Although admittedly there's still some way to go before DLSS 5 comes out – it'll supposedly arrive later this year, in the fall (so theoretically any time from September through to November) – and Nvidia could put in additional controls before the launch.</p><p>Aside from disappointment around the level of control Nvidia is giving devs, the other beef being raised is how much of a performance hit this AI filter might be burdened with. When Nvidia first demoed DLSS 5, it was running on a pair of RTX 5090 <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/best-graphics-cards-1291458">graphics cards</a>, and in this more recent outing, there's no mention of the hardware involved.</p><p>It's fairly easy to guess that the GPU demands haven't been meaningfully reduced yet, otherwise Nvidia would likely be shouting about that – and this is being read as a worry by some. I get where they're coming from, although Nvidia has clarified that the tech will run on a single graphics card (it'll have to, of course), adding at Siggraph that DLSS 5 is "VRAM efficient" (a nicely vague assertion).</p><p>I'd expect it probably won't run on anything less than an <a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5080-review">RTX 5080</a> to begin with, or indeed an RTX 5090. And the other fear is that the initial incarnation could be quite rough in terms of artifacts and the like, and that's a danger with the first take on any tech. Just look at the original DLSS (version 1), which suffered from blurriness and glitches, before they were polished out and it became a seriously impressive upscaler. Perhaps the same will be true of DLSS 5, but there's a long road ahead yet, and notably, a lot more doubts and question marks here.</p> </article> ]]>