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Nvidia GeForce Now uses DLSS to hit 4K on Windows and Mac

Jacob Roach
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As part of the weekly GFN Thursday, Nvidia announced that 4K streaming is coming to the GeForce Now apps on Windows and Mac, which is enabled by Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology. As of now, the increased resolution is only available for GeForce Now’s RTX 3080 tier.

DLSS has been a staple of high-end PC gaming for the past couple of years, leveraging the dedicated Tensor cores inside RTX graphics cards to upscale games with AI. Although you can enable DLSS with games in GeForce Now, this is the first time Nvidia has explicitly confirmed that the technology helps power its cloud gaming platform.

GeForce Now on a MacBook Air.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Presumably, DLSS has been at work in the background of GeForce Now for years. The service has supported 4K streaming on the Nvidia Shield for a while, and it’s possible that DLSS has been functioning behind the scenes to achieve that. In its announcement, Nvidia didn’t clarify whether DLSS is helping the service in supported games or across the GeForce Now library.

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We expected Windows support, but Mac support is a bit of a surprise. Nvidia just released a native M1 GeForce Now app at the end of April, suggesting the company was waiting on rolling out the 4K update until the app was ready.

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In addition to 4K streaming on Windows and Mac, Nvidia announced that RTX 3080 members can now take advantage of 120Hz streaming on more mobile devices. These include the Samsung Galaxy S22, S22 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Flip3, as well as the OnePlus 9 Pro.

As is typical of GFN Thursdays, Nvidia also announced several new titles joining the list of the best GeForce Now games. The highlights include multiple Star Wars titles in honor of May 4, as well as the recently released samurai adventure Trek to Yomi. You can find the full list of new titles below.

  • Bakery Simulator 
  • Oaken 
  • Dinosaur Fossil Hunter 
  • Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
  • Trek to Yomi 
  • Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit 
  • Frozenheim
  • Star Wars Battlefront II 
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 
  • Star Wars: Squadrons 

Nvidia has slowly been building its RTX 3080 tier for GeForce Now with support for 1440p resolution and 120Hz gaming. The cheaper Priority tier has received far less attention, restricted to 1080p streaming at 60 fps since it launched. GeForce Now’s Free tier hasn’t grown much, either, limited to one-hour session lengths.

Although Nvidia has continued to grow the platform with new features, the future of cloud gaming is uncertain with portable devices like the Steam Deck. With higher resolutions and features like ray tracing, however, GeForce Now is a sign that Nvidia still thinks this is an area worth investing in. GeForce Now is available, including the RTX 3080 tier, now without a pre-order period.

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Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
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