Understanding Denoisers in Cyberpunk 2077
Denoisers play a crucial role in the visual fidelity of Cyberpunk 2077, particularly when ray tracing is enabled. Ray tracing, which simulates how light interacts with environments, typically casts only a limited number of rays per pixel per frame to maintain real-time performance. This sparse sampling results in an inconsistent distribution of light samples, which, if left unaddressed, would appear as visual noise, flickering, or “boiling” effects.
To combat this, denoisers are employed. These algorithms average data both spatially (across nearby pixels within a single frame) and temporally (using pixel data from previous frames) to fill in the gaps and create a smoother, more coherent image. In Cyberpunk 2077, the game’s anti-aliasing solution, Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA), functions as a form of denoiser, and NVIDIA’s Ray Reconstruction feature, introduced with DLSS 3.5, offers an AI-driven approach to denoising ray-traced effects.
Historically, denoisers have been manually tuned for each type of ray-traced lighting within a scene. However, this method can sometimes lead to visual artifacts like ghosting, where lighting data from previous frames is incorrectly retained, or lower quality ray-traced effects, as detailed shadows and reflections might appear smudged due to insufficient data.
Disabling Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA)
By default, Cyberpunk 2077 uses Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA), and the game does not offer an in-game option to directly alter or disable it within the PC settings menu. Players have explored various methods to disable TAA, including modifying configuration files. For instance, TAA settings were found to be disabled from showing in the PC settings menu, but enabling them in the file located at \Steam\steamapps\common\Cyberpunk 2077\r6\config\settings\platform\pc did not immediately provide options to choose from. Further alterations would likely be needed.
Some users have successfully disabled TAA using a hex editor, though this is a more advanced method. There have also been community-created mods available on platforms like Nexus Mods designed to remove TAA. However, it’s important to note that without TAA, the game’s visuals can appear significantly more aliased, with noticeable flickering and visual artifacts, particularly on elements like hair and metallic surfaces, which might exhibit dark noise or “fireflies.” This suggests the game was heavily designed with TAA enabled.
Attempts to force alternative anti-aliasing methods like FXAA through NVIDIA or AMD control panels after disabling TAA have generally been unsuccessful, as FXAA tends to apply over the existing TAA rather than replacing it, or simply doesn’t offer a comparable visual improvement. Supersampling or downsampling could potentially soften the image, but this comes with a substantial performance cost and may not adequately address the flickering issues that TAA typically masks.
Ray Reconstruction and NVIDIA DLSS 3.5
With the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update, NVIDIA introduced DLSS 3.5, which features a new technology called Ray Reconstruction. This AI model is designed to fully replace traditional, hand-tuned denoisers for ray-traced effects. Ray Reconstruction works on all NVIDIA RTX graphics cards, from the RTX 20 series upwards.
The primary goal of Ray Reconstruction is to address the shortcomings of conventional denoisers, such as ghosting and the smudging of detailed ray-traced elements. By leveraging an AI model, it aims to reconstruct higher-quality ray-traced images. When Ray Reconstruction is active, it effectively takes over the denoising process for ray-traced lighting, potentially offering a “no-downsides upgrade” compared to previous methods.
While the game does not offer an explicit “turn off denoiser” option for ray tracing in the traditional sense, enabling or disabling DLSS 3.5’s Ray Reconstruction feature will directly impact how ray-traced effects are denoised. If you wish to experience ray tracing without the AI-driven denoising of Ray Reconstruction, you would typically disable this specific DLSS 3.5 feature, reverting to the game’s default ray tracing denoisers.
Visual Impact of Disabling Denoisers
Disabling denoisers in Cyberpunk 2077, particularly TAA, has a significant visual impact. Without TAA, the game can appear much sharper but also far more aliased. Users have reported that without TAA, the game looks “absolutely AWFUL,” with visuals described as “the most aliased game I have ever seen.” Specific issues include:
- Dithered Appearance: Hair and other fine details may look dithered.
- Noise and Flickering: Metallic surfaces can exhibit considerable dark noise and “fireflies.”
- Messy Visual Artifacts: TAA often masks various underlying visual artifacts, and disabling it can expose these issues.
It’s believed that Cyberpunk 2077 was developed with TAA as an integral part of its visual pipeline, meaning its graphics were designed assuming TAA would be active. This makes disabling it problematic, as the underlying assets and rendering might not be optimized for a non-TAA presentation. For a visually acceptable experience without TAA, developers would likely need to implement higher graphics settings for PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials and remove all instances of dithering.
Regarding ray tracing, NVIDIA’s Ray Reconstruction aims to improve upon previous denoisers. Disabling Ray Reconstruction would mean reverting to the older denoising techniques, which NVIDIA itself highlighted as having potential flaws like ghosting and smudged details in their efforts to promote the new technology.
FAQ
Can I turn off TAA in Cyberpunk 2077 through in-game settings? No, Cyberpunk 2077 does not provide an in-game option to disable Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) directly from its graphics settings menu.
What happens if I disable TAA in Cyberpunk 2077? Disabling TAA can make the game appear significantly more aliased, with noticeable flickering, dithered textures, and noise on surfaces. The game’s visuals were designed with TAA enabled, so removing it can expose underlying visual artifacts.
Does Cyberpunk 2077 have a denoiser for ray tracing? Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 utilizes denoisers for ray tracing. With the 2.0 update and DLSS 3.5, NVIDIA’s AI-powered Ray Reconstruction feature replaces traditional denoisers for ray-traced effects.
How does Ray Reconstruction relate to denoising? Ray Reconstruction, introduced with NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, is an AI model that completely replaces the conventional, hand-tuned denoisers used for ray-traced lighting in Cyberpunk 2077. It aims to provide a higher quality and less artifact-prone denoising solution.
Can I disable Ray Reconstruction? Yes, Ray Reconstruction is a feature of DLSS 3.5. If you do not enable or choose not to use DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction, the game will utilize its standard ray tracing denoisers.