Nvidia sneaks out DLSS 2.2 in update to Rainbow Six Siege

During Computex 2021, Nvidia announced that their combined anti-aliasing and scaling technology DLSS is underway for several new games. No specific dates were given for each game, but among the titles selected was Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. DLSS for Rainbow Six Siege has just arrived, as Nvidia also announces on its own website. What they do not mention, however, is that it also looks like the next version of DLSS.

Users on Reddit note that the latest game update contains the file “nvngx_dlss.dll”, and that the title uses DLSS 2.2.6.0 – a new version number. The last time Nvidia launched a new DLSS version was in the summer of 2020, with an update from 2.0 to 2.1. Then it was not about any groundbreaking changes, but the focus was on, among other things, adaptations for virtual reality (VR) and 8K resolutions.

Exactly what improvements DLSS 2.2 entails compared to 2.1 is not completely clear at the moment, but users have managed to copy the file from Rainbow Six Siege for use in other games with support for DLSS 2.1. Judging by the posts, there are divided opinions, but most do not seem to notice any major performance improvements in terms of image refresh rate. However, several report that visual artifacts and bugs from the previous version are fixed by the self-made update method.

DLSS upscaling technology works by using machine learning and Tensor cores, which are only found on graphics cards from Nvidia’s Geforce RTX 2000 and RTX 3000 series. AMD recently announced that their DLSS challenger Fidelity FX Super Resolution (FSR) will be launched on June 22. FSR will not be hardware-bound and information indicates that at least 19 games will implement the technology soon. Whether there is any connection between the upcoming FSR launch and the sneak start of DLSS 2.2 remains to be seen.

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