The next Nintendo Switch will use a new Nvidia system-on-chip with support for DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), according to a report in Bloomberg. The chip is said to bring improvements to GPU and CPU performance, with DLSS serving as Nintendo’s solution for displaying higher resolution images on 4K TVs.
DLSS was introduced with Nvidia’s RTX 20-series GPUs, based on the Turing architecture. It makes use of neural networks to reconstruct game images in real time at a higher quality. Different versions of the technology have variously relied on the GPU’s tensor cores and training the AI on specific games, but the upshot is that you can render a game at a lower traditional resolution and get a much higher output with minimal performance penalty.
That theoretically makes it a good fit for the Switch, which often struggles to hit its own native resolutions of 720p in handheld mode or 1080p on a TV screen. It’s also not surprising to hear that the new Switch would require an all-new chip design from Nvidia; the original Switch used a Tegra X1, which was announced in 2015 before Nvidia stopped producing general-purpose mobile SoCs. With the Switch’s success, though, it’s undoubtedly worth Nvidia’s while to deliver a new custom design.
Bloomberg has already reported that the new Switch will have a 7-inch OLED screen. Today’s report says the device is planned for this holiday season.
