Watch Fortnite's Epic Graphics Transformation With Ray Tracing, DLSS And NVIDIA Reflex Support
NVIDIA and Epic announced today that Fortnite will be adding support for three technologies: NVIDIA Reflex, DLSS, and real-time ray tracing. As we discussed in our broad Ampere overview earlier today, NVIDIA Reflex makes better use of available CPU and GPU resources to reduce latency (i.e. input lag) by as much as 50 percent.
DLSS and real-time ray tracing are already known quantities for those familiar with Turing-based GeForce RTX cards. DLSS makes use of the RTX Tensor Cores along with a deep learning neural network to improve game performance while maintaining crisp visuals. As for ray tracing, the cartoonish looks of Fortnite are about to get a little bit more lifelike thanks to the added fidelity that comes with this support.
According to NVIDIA, these are the ray tracing enhancements that you can expect in a forthcoming Fortnite update:
- Ray-traced reflections – Recreates the way light reflects on glossy and metal surfaces, including smooth natural mirrors like window glass and rougher surfaces like brushed metal.
- Ray-traced shadows – Accurately models shadowing on many surfaces while enhancing surface and contact detail, and fixes problems associated with traditional shadow techniques.
- Ray-traced global illumination – Calculates world lighting with massively increased precision, illuminating Fortnite’s environments, players and characters with unprecedented detail, fidelity and clarity.
- Ray-traced ambient occlusion – Where objects or surfaces meet, light is occluded, creating subtle shadows that can highlight the slightest of surface details.
“The GeForce RTX 30 Series is a testament to NVIDIA’s dedication to ray tracing and artificial intelligence,” said Marcus Wassmer, engineering director for Graphics at Epic Games. “Second-generation ray tracing, innovative use of AI with DLSS, and a large raw performance boost make the GeForce RTX 30 Series a truly impressive powerhouse for graphics technology in gaming.”
We should note that DLSS and real-time ray tracing support in Fortnite will be available to all GeForce RTX graphics cards (Turing and Ampere). NVIDIA Reflex, on the other hand, is available to all GeForce 900 Series and newer graphics cards.
