DLSS 5 Off / DLSS 5 On

Submission 2,396

Part of a series on Resolution Comparisons. [View Related Entries]

About

DLSS 5 Off / DLSS 5 On or DLSS 5 Off vs. DLSS 5 On is a series of resolution comparison memes inspired by the announcement of DLSS 5 by Nvidia, a "real-time neural rendering model" that uses generative artificial intelligence to enhance the lighting and graphics in video games using the company's GPUs or graphics cards.

DLSS 5 was announced at the Nvidia GTC event in mid-March 2026 and inspired memes in which users post two screenshots from a video game side-by-side, one natural and one edited or sloppily AI-enhanced, to make fun of the way that DLSS 5 makes games look. The meme satirizes fears that AI-powered rendering and upscaling technologies will make games look artificial, overly processed or similar to AI-generated imagery, as well as ruining the intended art style from developers. The comparison meme format is similar to the RTX On vs. RTX Off meme from 2018.

Origin

On March 16th, 2026, Nvidia announced DLSS 5 during Nvidia GTC, a global AI conference for developers. On its website,^[1] DLSS 5 is described as "An AI-powered breakthrough in visual fidelity for games… infusing pixels with photorealistic lighting and materials, bridging the gap between rendering and reality.”

A video showcasing DLSS 5 was also posted to YouTube and other social media platforms that day, which uses Resident Evil Requiem as an example. The video notably garnered over 183,700 views, 1,990 comments, 2,100 likes and 11,000 dislikes (using the Return YouTube Dislike browser extension, which is an estimate) in 20 hours. Many of the top comments were also highly critical of the tech.

Shortly after the announcement at Nvidia GTC, gaming communities on social media sites like Twitter / X^[7] and Reddit^[6] began mocking the concept by posting comparison images labeled “DLSS Off / DLSS On.” In these posts, the "DLSS On" image would intentionally resemble distorted AI art, exaggerated lighting, or “AI slop,” referencing criticism that generative AI imagery often looks unnatural or overprocessed. It is unclear who posted the first version of the meme.

One of the earliest known versions of the meme was posted by Redditor u/Stiv_Almasnik to the /r/pcmasterrace^[2] subreddit that day, using the Wise Mystical Tree meme as the subject, garnering over 32,000 upvotes in a day.

Spread

The DLSS 5 Off vs. DLSS 5 On meme continued to spread in mid-March 2026 in the days following the announcement.

On March 16th, 2026, a version of the meme was posted to X^[3] by @sean_gause on March 16th, 2026, using an image of Minecraft as the "DLSS 5 off" image and an image of Jeffrey Epstein diving in Minecraft water as the "DLSS 5 on" image, garnering over 48,000 likes in a day.

That day, YouTuber and content creator Linus Tech Tips posted a version on Instagram^[4] of the meme using his Linus Selfie meme as the subject, garnering over 28,800 likes in a day.

Later on March 16th, 2026, X^[5] user @NikTek posted a version of the meme using the Akakichi no Eleven redraws meme as the subject, garnering over 38,000 likes in a day.

Digital Foundry Backlash

The same day as Nvidia's announcement on March 16th, 2026, the tech site Digital Foundry^[8] published an article on DLSS 5 titled "Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series" and called it a "massive technological leap for graphics," showcasing it across four different games.

Digital Foundry also uploaded a video on DLSS 5 to its YouTube channel around the same timeframe, which received over 795,100 views, 23,200 comments, 24,000 likes and 59,000 dislikes (estimated by the Return YouTube Dislike browser extension) in 21 hours.

Over the following hours, numerous posts and threads criticizing Digital Foundry's coverage of DLSS 5 emerged on social media. The topic also trended on Reddit^[9] over the following 24 hours.

For example, on March 16th, 2026, Redditor Wolfs_Chronicles posted a thread titled "Digital Foundry should be ashamed of themselves" to the /r/pcmasterrace^[10] subreddit, claiming the site was glazing Nvidia. The post garnered over 15,000 upvotes and 1,800 comments in 18 hours.

That same day, X^[11] user MischiefsYT similarly criticized Digital Foundry's coverage, stating, "Digital Foundry's coverage of DLSS5 is absolute proof to me that they cannot be trusted going forward. This is not journalism. There is no push back or questioning despite it obviously being an Ai filter. It's just Nvidia talking points. This frankly reads like an undisclosed ad." The tweet received over 769,700 views, 11,000 likes and 200 replies in 20 hours.