We might see a new version of DLSS next month

By Jacob Roach Published December 17, 2024

As the year comes to a close, we’re hearing more about what Nvidia might have in store at CES next month. Not only is the company rumored to launch its RTX 50-series GPUs, which could take Nvidia’s best graphics cards to the next level, it could also introduce new software features. At least, that’s what Nvidia board partner Inno3D is suggesting.

The company, which is an exclusive Nvidia board partner, posted a press release detailing what it will cover at CES next month. In addition to its various GPU models, including the Frostbite range with a “new liquid cooling solution” and the SFF range for small form factor PCs, Inno3D highlighted an AI feature set including “advanced DLSS technology,” “improved AI-driven upscaling,” and “neural rendering capabilities.”

We’ve already learned a lot about Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs through various leaks and speculation, but that’s all been related to the hardware itself. We haven’t heard anything about Nvidia’s future plans for Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). Inno3D’s press release might provide a few hints.

With the launch of the RTX 4090 in this past generation, Nvidia introduced DLSS 3. It’s been a monumental achievement for Team Green, with the feature oftentimes justifying the purchase of an Nvidia graphics card. Since then, we’ve seen a big pickup in AMD’s FSR 3, which matches the DLSS 3 package, and the introduction of Intel’s XeSS 2.

Although AMD and Intel have tried to match what Nvidia is offering, DLSS has maintained a lead in features up to this point. There’s a good chance Nvidia wants to maintain that lead with the next version of DLSS, so it’s possible we’ll see that next version arrive alongside the launch of RTX 50-series GPUs. That’s certainly what Inno3D’s press release suggests.

The post says that the company will “highlight new AI-accelerated capabilities” at CES, suggesting that this isn’t just fluff about existing DLSS technology. That’s always a possibility, but we’ve heard suggestions about what future versions of DLSS might look like before. Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has suggested DLSS will “even generate textures and objects” in the future, while Nvidia’s Bryan Catanzaro has mused about DLSS 10, where rendering won’t even require a graphics card.

At this point, there hasn’t been anything concrete about a new version of DLSS, and certainly nothing confirming that it’ll arrive next month. However, it’s clear that DLSS is technology that Nvidia is invested in and wants to continue building upon. Inno3D’s press release isn’t a confirmation that we’ll see a new version of DLSS next month, but it certainly suggests that something new is coming down the pike.