Since this is a translation of an overseas video, there may be some inaccuracies.

Red Desert's Biggest Visual Upgrade on High-End PCs: Ray Reconstruction and Ray Regeneration

[00:11] Experiencing 'Red Desert' on a high-end PC is truly a glorious experience. Ultra options offer high frame rates, better visibility, and precision through cinematic settings. Of course, there are various options to adjust the settings according to your hardware, which will be covered in more detail in a future optimization video.

[00:31] In particular, the PC version offers exclusive and massive visual upgrades not found on other platforms, and this video aims to highlight that point.

[00:44] The key PC-exclusive visual upgrade I want to emphasize comes from advancements in machine learning technology. Specifically, AMD's 'Ray Regeneration' and NVIDIA's 'Ray Reconstruction'. While these are usually treated as secondary aspects in reviews, they play such a fundamental role in this game that it warranted its own video.

[01:06] 'Red Desert' uses ray tracing extensively for indirect lighting on all platforms. This is a crucial element in determining the overall atmosphere of the game. However, ray tracing has been optimized to run even on consoles or PCs with lower-performance GPUs.

[01:29] This is also why Pearl Abyss confidently announced that 'Red Desert' runs smoothly at 4K ultra settings on an RX 7900 XTX before its release. It's rare to see a game achieve such performance with ray tracing-based global illumination (RTGI) and reflections.

[01:43] The secret lies in quality optimization. According to interviews with the developers, this game's unique RTGI technique shoots only about 1/16th of a ray per pixel, and ray tracing reflections use a simple denoiser at 1/4 resolution. In essence, drastically reducing the number of rays and using a less expensive denoiser lowers the high cost of ray tracing, enabling it to run smoothly on various devices.

[02:18] However, this comes at a visual price. And this is where the PC version gains a tremendous advantage. Pearl Abyss has implemented AMD RDNA4 GPU's FSR 4 Ray Regeneration and RTX GPU's DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

[02:42] This is like an 'ultra secret mode' for game lighting quality. The improvement in lighting quality provided by these denoisers was so significant that it was hard to believe when first activated.

[02:55] Let's take the example of a scene from the beginning of the game. First, we see the standard denoiser state used on consoles or GPUs that don't support the latest technology. In an area with only indirect lighting coming from the sky, the overall lighting appears flat. There is a lack of shadows where objects meet, and ground contact shadows are barely visible.

[03:32] Looking at the pool area, the lighting appears non-existent, lacking directional contrast. This lack of precision in lighting, despite using ray tracing, is mainly due to how standard denoisers work.

[03:58] Now let's turn on 'Ray Reconstruction'. Suddenly, all indirect lighting falls into place. Dense shadows appear beneath pipes and above the rocks near the ceiling. The lighting now has a clear directionality coming from the ceiling hole. This adds depth to the scene and creates subtle shadows that were previously absent.

[04:27] I believe turning on this machine learning denoiser is like switching ray tracing global illumination on and off. The only difference is the denoiser, of course. Fortunately, this isn't exclusive to NVIDIA. Running Ray Regeneration on an AMD RX 9070 XT yields almost identical results.

[04:57] Compared to even the top-tier console PS5 Pro, the PC version boasts a massive lighting upgrade thanks to its superior denoising technology.

[05:09] Let's look at another scene. This time it's a wall where light enters. With the standard denoiser, only the area near the sunlight appears adequately bright. However, turning on Ray Reconstruction brings to life beautiful reflections of light on the floor. While ray tracing was always active, the standard denoiser couldn't properly combine these elements.

[06:08] Machine learning denoising creates a surprisingly large visual difference. The responsiveness of lighting and reflections is also significantly improved. Looking at the water reflection, with the standard denoiser, there are remnants of previous frames, making the ripples appear to move at a low frame rate. But with Ray Reconstruction enabled, these artifacts disappear.

[06:58] Finally, let's consider the stability of complex indoor lighting. The standard denoiser suffers from flickering walls and noise appearing in various parts of the image. However, using machine learning denoising eliminates this noise and flickering, resulting in a much more stable image. Shadows cast by local lighting also become significantly more refined.

[08:19] In conclusion, using AMD Ray Regeneration or NVIDIA Ray Reconstruction has a tremendous impact on the lighting quality of this game. It unlocks 'ultra-quality' lighting not found on other platforms.

[08:32] However, there is a cost: performance. Since standard denoisers are very lightweight, enabling these powerful machine learning solutions requires more hardware resources. With an RTX 5080, Ray Reconstruction reduces performance by about 14%, and on an AMD RX 9070 XT, the performance drop is around 24%.

[09:04] While the performance cost is significant, users with supporting GPUs should definitely enable this feature. It's wise to adjust other settings to maintain performance.

[09:18] There are also subtle differences between the two technologies. AMD's Ray Regeneration offers good denoising performance but doesn't combine with upscaling, potentially leading to pixelation in reflections compared to NVIDIA's method. On the other hand, NVIDIA's Ray Reconstruction currently exhibits bugs in pre-release builds, such as less rugged terrain representation or disappearing raindrops. The developers are aware of these issues and may address them in the release version.

[10:38] Aside from the lighting upgrade, occasional shadow flickering and plant pop-in were observed at maximum settings. These issues might also be addressed in the release version.

[11:06] To summarize, the PC version of 'Red Desert' offers dramatically improved lighting representation thanks to next-generation denoising technology. Once you experience this difference, it's hard to go back. Thank you for watching.

- Summary -

1. Key Technology: Machine Learning-Based Denoising

Optimization of ray tracing: Red Desert reduces the number of rays significantly for performance, which inevitably leads to noise. This is where the 'denoiser' plays a crucial role in handling it.

PC exclusive feature: Unlike standard denoisers used on consoles or older GPUs, the latest PC GPUs (RTX and RDNA4) support advanced denoising technology using machine learning, dramatically enhancing visuals.

2. Visual Changes (Before & After)

Accuracy of lighting: With standard denoisers, lighting can feel flat and directional, but with ray reconstruction enabled, the direction of incoming light becomes clearer and contact shadows between objects become much more refined.

Removal of reflections and ghosting: The messy noise and ghosting (Ghosting) that occurred in the reflection expression on the water surface disappears, showing a much cleaner and near real-time screen.

Image stability: In indoor scenes, flickering or shimmering of walls is significantly improved through machine learning technology, providing a stable image.

3. Performance Cost and Limitations

Performance drop: As these technologies offer excellent visual effects, they require high specifications. An RTX 5080 can experience a frame rate drop of approximately 14%, while an RX 9070 XT can see a drop of around 24%.

Current bugs: As of the pre-release build, bugs have been found where raindrops disappear and terrain depth is slightly reduced when ray reconstruction is applied. However, these are likely to be fixed in the release version.

Conclusion

These technologies are not simply additional options but create a significant visual difference comparable to turning ray tracing on or off. Therefore, if your specifications allow it, we highly recommend using them for PC users.

▶ Original source: https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalFoundry