Unlike most the PC gaming world, my ears didn’t perk up when Nvidia announced DLSS multiple frame generation next to his RTX 50 series GPU. Although the cards themselves seem destined for one or two spaces between the best graphics cardsthe new DLSS 4 and its Multi-Frame Generation feature exclusive to Nvidia’s latest graphics cards did not stand out. For me, at least.
That’s because I’ve been using a application called Lossless Scaling for almost a year now, which spent most of the last 12 months laying the groundwork Bases for the generation of multiple tables.. I’ve written about Lossless Scaling too many times to count, but it’s time to revisit the app once again. Not only is DLSS 4 on its way to showing everyone what multi-frame generation is capable of, but Lossless Scaling just got the biggest update it’s seen in months.
It’s really very good
Let me catch you up if you haven’t heard of Lossless Scaling. It is a frame generation and scaling utility. That’s $7 on Steam.. It works with any graphics card and any game, and that’s because frame generation happens in the display step. Unlike DLSS or AMD FSR 3It doesn’t interfere with anything in the game engine. That means you can use it with games and online titles that have a frame rate limit, such as Elden Ring.
Lossless Scaling doesn’t take advantage of any AI hardware on your graphics card, but it’s a bit smarter than standard frame interpolation. It has three algorithms available, all of them developed using machine learning. And LSFG 3, the latest algorithm, has just been released. It offers standard framing, as well as triple and quad configurations, just like DLSS 4. You can even set your own custom framing factor, up to 20X. Although I wouldn’t recommend it.
Assuming you have a decent base frame rate, 4X frame rate works great. With the RTX 4080, for example, I got around 50 frames per second (fps) in 4K with the highest graphics preset on Marvel rivals. I checked Lossless Scaling and my frame rate jumped to between 170fps and 180fps. That without any type of improvement or other tricks. And despite the competitive Marvel Rivals That is, I didn’t feel like I was dragging the mouse through the mud.
The latest LSFG 3 algorithm also works very well with multi-frame generation. Previously, I I tested the function on Elden Ring and found too many visual artifacts to bear. With the new model, any visual artifacts present were not enough to distract me. Even my cursor was fine, which is an area where I would expect to see major issues with a tool like Lossless Scaling.
Additionally, Lossless Scaling has a feature that even goes beyond what Nvidia offers with DLSS. Below the frame generation section, you will find a resolution slider. This reduces the resolution of the frames passed through the frame generation algorithm to reduce latency and improve overall performance. You’ll still see everything at your monitor’s native resolution, but the scaling factor helps greatly improve performance.
Some disadvantages
It’s an app that I ironically use in almost every PC game I play. I’ve gotten so much use out of it that I rarely think about the price – Steam has logged hundreds of hours of usage on the app, which is pretty good for just $7. It’s not perfect, though, and I don’t think it’s the same as DLSS. 4. It’s just a good compromise.
First, your base frame rate. Like any frame generation function, Lossless Scaling uses frame interpolation. It renders two frames, compares them, and then the algorithm generates an intermediate frame based on the difference between the two renders. This creates additional latency, as your GPU always needs to have a frame buffered before showing you something. And the latency gets worse if you have a low base frame rate.
The lower the frame rate, the longer each frame takes to render, so there’s a lot more latency when adding frame rendering into the mix. For Lossless Scaling, I recommend at least an average frame rate of 40 fps before starting frame generation, and ideally close to 60 fps. That way, you’ll still get good responsiveness and a smooth viewing experience. To be fair to Lossless Scaling, this is a problem with all frame generation features and probably something DLSS 4 will have problems with as well.
Compared to DLSS 4, the main problem is quality. I haven’t yet extensively tested DLSS 4. However, it runs within the rendering process and has access to game engine data such as motion vectors. There are a First, HUD elements. Static elements on your screen, like your HUD or your crosshairs, aren’t actually part of the main rendering process: they’re applied after the fact and the 3D world is still rendered underneath.
DLSS 4 can essentially mask those elements so that there are no visual artifacts in them. Lossless scaling, being in the display stage, sees those elements and cannot mask them.
Additionally, Lossless Scaling does not always achieve perfect frame interpolation. The game engine’s motion vectors describe how objects move throughout a scene, so DLSS 4 can better perform the frame interpolation you need. That sometimes means you’ll see visual artifacts with Lossless Scaling that you wouldn’t otherwise see with DLSS 4.
Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 50 series GPUs may be impressive (I’ll have to wait to try them), but tools like Lossless Scaling are breaking the pricing dynamic. If you have a GPU that you are happy with the performance, try Lossless Scaling. After all, a $7 app is a hell of a lot better than spending $2,000 on a new graphics card.
