Foveated rendering techniques, traditionally used in virtual reality, are now being applied to DLSS 5 Neural Rendering. These methods improve performance by rendering the center of an image at a higher quality while reducing detail at the edges, mirroring human peripheral vision.
Two new projects, Foveated DLSS5 by maximedgoulet and CheekyFoveatedDLSS by ClarkCheekyKent, implement this approach. The former is a ReShade add-on, while the latter functions as a standalone integration. Both allow users to customize the size of the high-quality focus area and adjust the render fall-off rate.
Performance gains are significant, particularly for high-resolution displays. In The Witcher 3, running at an ultrawide resolution of 7680x2160p on an RTX 4090, the Foveated DLSS5 mod increased the frame rate from 48 FPS to 80 FPS. This makes Neural Rendering more viable for demanding ultrawide setups.
