Nvidia has been hinting at the DLSS magic coming to the Switch 2 for a while now, and the folks at Digital Foundry are here to break it all down for us. While Nintendo and Nvidia have been tight-lipped about the specifics, DF’s Alex Battaglia dives into the nitty-gritty details in a recent video.
DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, comes in two flavors on the Switch 2, according to Digital Foundry. The first type, seen in games like Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and Street Fighter 6, is similar to the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model found on PCs before DLSS 4 came along. This version offers consistent image quality at 1080p resolutions and solid anti-aliasing during movement and camera changes.
On the other hand, there’s a “tiny” DLSS model in action for games aiming for resolutions higher than 1080p, such as Star Wars Outlaws, Hogwarts Legacy, The Touryst, and Fast Fusion. While this model provides a sharper image resolution, it falls short in terms of anti-aliasing during movement and camera cuts, giving the impression that it’s not quite up to snuff during motion. However, the upside is that this model can run at a lower cost, easing the burden on the Switch 2’s GPU for upscaling purposes.
Battaglia notes that developers may opt for the less demanding DLSS model in handheld mode to conserve resources, but its visual drawbacks could make it a tough sell for docked play. While the analysis is based solely on Digital Foundry’s findings at this point, a developer who chose to remain anonymous has corroborated the theory, confirming the existence of two DLSS models for the system. Time will tell how this technology shapes the gaming experience on the Switch 2, but for now, the DLSS capabilities are certainly a point of interest for players.
