NVIDIA launched DLSS 5, its latest AI graphics technology for games, with NBA 2K27 becoming the first commercial title to showcase the new system. The technology uses information from a game’s rendered frame to improve lighting, materials, shadows, and fine visual details, aiming to bring real-time game visuals closer to cinematic quality.
DLSS 5 introduced what NVIDIA calls ‘3D-Guided Neural Rendering’. Unlike earlier DLSS versions, which focused mainly on image reconstruction and performance improvements, the new technology aims to improve visual realism in rendered scenes. It can enhance player skin, hair, clothing, and arena lighting in NBA 2K27 while preserving the facial geometry created from real-world scans.
NVIDIA says DLSS 5 works as the final stage of the graphics pipeline. It uses the game engine’s rendered image, color information, and motion vectors as its foundation rather than replacing the underlying artwork.
The technology can improve global illumination, subsurface scattering, hair and foliage lighting, contact shadows and other material responses. NVIDIA also says DLSS 5 is deterministic and designed to remain temporally stable, reducing issues such as shimmering or visual drift. Developers can use semantic and engine-level masking to control where neural enhancements apply.
NBA 2K27 is the first commercial game to feature DLSS 5. NVIDIA says game developer Visual Concepts is using the technology to improve the interaction between arena lighting and players’ skin, hair, and clothing while preserving facial geometry based on real-world scans.
Also Read: NVIDIA Invests USD 3.5B in MediaTek: AI Chip Push Expands
NVIDIA highlights players including Cade Cunningham and Tyrese Haliburton. DLSS 5 aims to provide more natural skin lighting, sharper contact shadows, and improved hair definition.
Visual Concepts senior producer Peter Kavic said the technology provides greater control over the overall tone and style while allowing developers to fine-tune character details.
DLSS 5 is available from September 3 at 9 PM Pacific Time for GeForce RTX 50 Series PCs and laptops, alongside GeForce NOW Ultimate. The technology relies on the fifth-generation Tensor Cores in Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs.
Older RTX products will not receive DLSS 5 support, although they can continue to use other forms of DLSS technology. NVIDIA says additional games and applications will adopt DLSS 5 over time.