The Tool Desk
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Why DLSS can look blurry or unstable
DLSS Super Resolution reconstructs the displayed image from a lower-resolution render, using information across frames and game-provided motion data. When the game renders fewer source pixels, reconstruction has less detail to work with. The result also depends on how the game supplies and uses temporal information, samples textures, and integrates DLSS.
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“Blurry” and “unstable” describe different symptoms. Fine detail that looks soft even in a still view points toward resolution or sharpening choices. Trails behind moving objects, crawling edges, shimmer, or flicker call for a comparison in motion: they can involve the temporal inputs or the game’s implementation, not just the selected mode. NVIDIA describes newer Super Resolution models as aiming to reduce ghosting and improve temporal stability, but that does not make every game artifact-free.
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- Record the current settings. In the game’s graphics menu, note the display/output resolution, DLSS Super Resolution mode, sharpening value if available, and whether Ray Reconstruction is on. Check whether dynamic resolution is enabled and changing the render scale.
- Hold the scene constant. Use the same output resolution, graphics settings, camera position, and scene for each comparison. Look once at stationary fine detail and again while panning or moving; a still image alone can miss ghosting or shimmer.
- Change one setting at a time. Compare your current mode with one less aggressive option—for example, Performance to Balanced, or Balanced to Quality. If your hardware has enough performance headroom, use DLAA or native rendering as an image-quality reference.
- Judge both image and performance. Note stationary detail, clarity during motion, trails or flicker, and frame rate. A sharper result may cost performance, and the best trade-off is game-specific.
Choose a mode that preserves enough detail
Super Resolution modes differ in the amount of source image available to reconstruction. If Performance or Ultra Performance looks soft, try Balanced or Quality at the same output resolution. These less aggressive options usually provide more input detail, in exchange for some performance; there is no mode that is best for every game and GPU.
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DLAA is not another upscaling mode: it applies DLSS anti-aliasing at native resolution rather than reconstructing a higher-resolution output from a lower-resolution render. It can help you compare image quality if your hardware can maintain an acceptable frame rate at native resolution. NVIDIA describes these DLSS features on its DLSS technology page.
Match the fix to the symptom
Soft detail, even when the camera is still
First compare a less aggressive Super Resolution mode. Only after that comparison, adjust the game’s sharpening control if it has one. Increase or decrease it in small steps: excessive sharpening can add ringing around edges or make flicker more noticeable rather than restoring real detail.
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Trails behind moving objects or detail that resolves late
Compare the available DLSS modes and models while watching the same moving subject or scene. NVIDIA says its DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution models are intended to improve ghosting and temporal stability, but model availability and performance effects vary by game, mode, and GPU generation. A model change is a useful test, not a guarantee that a title’s integration is correct.
Crawling edges, shimmer, or flicker during motion
Test a different mode and, if the game or NVIDIA App offers it, a current model. If the instability remains, it may be tied to the game’s temporal inputs. NVIDIA’s developer integration guidance identifies incorrect or missing jitter as a possible cause of poor anti-aliasing and increased flickering; players generally cannot correct missing engine data with a graphics-menu setting.
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Smearing limited to ray-traced or path-traced lighting
If the problem is confined to ray-traced reflections, lighting, or path-traced effects, compare Ray Reconstruction on and off if the game exposes that control. Ray Reconstruction is a separate denoising and reconstruction feature, not another name for Super Resolution. NVIDIA’s integration guidance lists depth inputs, accurate motion vectors, compatible jitter, and mip-map bias among the factors developers must handle for the feature: NVIDIA’s Streamline integration overview.
Check model options without forcing developer settings
NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 guidance describes a second-generation transformer model for Super Resolution and recommends the “Recommended” model presets in the NVIDIA App for supported games. NVIDIA says the Recommended selection uses different presets for different in-game DLSS modes. Its guidance also cautions that Models M and L can have a heavier performance impact on RTX 20- and 30-series cards, which lack native FP8 support. Availability, app labels, and game support may change, so check the current NVIDIA App and the options for your specific game. See NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 model guidance and its DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution FAQ.
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Avoid treating manual DLL replacement or forced developer presets as routine fixes. Presets are developer-facing tuning choices, and a game can select different ones depending on mode and content. NVIDIA’s developer discussion of DLSS presets describes them in that context.
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When changing settings cannot fix it
Some DLSS image-quality problems originate in engine data or the game’s integration. NVIDIA’s programming guidance explains that DLSS needs an adjusted negative mip-map bias so textures are sampled appropriately at display resolution. It gives -2.0 for an example Performance-mode render-to-display ratio of 0.5; this is an implementation example, not a universal setting for players to enter. Its integration guidance also explains why missing or incorrect jitter can worsen flicker.
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Those are developer-side requirements, not general user-editable repairs. If mode and model comparisons leave the same artifact, check whether the game has an update and whether other players report the same game-specific issue. DLSS options and implementation vary by title. For targeted troubleshooting, the useful details are the game, output resolution, GPU, selected DLSS mode, whether the symptom occurs only in motion, and whether Ray Reconstruction is enabled.
NVIDIA’s technology descriptions and plugin information can change as DLSS evolves; its developer DLSS page reports a DLSS 4.5 plugin package update in September 2026. Treat app labels, model availability, and per-game support as version-dependent: NVIDIA Developer: DLSS.
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