NVIDIA Adds Smooth Motion, a Driver-Based Frame Generation AI Model for RTX 50 GPUs
NVIDIA’s latest GeForce Game Ready driver update not only introduces DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation for 75 games and apps but also quietly slips in a noteworthy new feature called Smooth Motion—a driver-based AI model focused on frame generation for games that do not already support NVIDIA’s more advanced frame-generation techniques. As described by NVIDIA, Smooth Motion can be toggled per game or globally for owners of the GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, effectively injecting “artificial” frames to approximate double the perceived frame rate in DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 titles.
“NVIDIA Smooth Motion is a new driver-based AI model that delivers smoother gameplay by inferring an additional frame between two rendered frames. For games without DLSS Frame Generation, Smooth Motion is a new option for enhancing your experience on GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs,”
— NVIDIA documentation (paraphrased).
Activating Smooth Motion involves opening the NVIDIA app, navigating to Graphics > Program settings, choosing a compatible DX11 or DX12 game, and flipping Smooth Motion on under the Driver Settings list. The feature is purportedly flexible, functioning alongside native resolution, super resolution like DLSS Super Resolution, or other upscaling strategies. The result, NVIDIA claims, is a significant increase in perceptible frame rate for titles that have not embraced built-in frame generation such as DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation or AMD’s competing technology, Fluid Motion Frames.
This new capability underscores NVIDIA’s ongoing focus on AI-driven graphics. It resembles third-party injectors (like Lossless Scaling) that attempt to introduce frame generation into non-native environments, but Smooth Motion should, in theory, allow for tighter integration with NVIDIA’s driver architecture. The real test will come in how effectively the technology handles various gameplay scenarios in older or less commonly updated games. User experiences will clarify whether the AI-based interpolation is stable, free from jarring artifacts, and reliably consistent across diverse titles.
Further Updates & Optimizations
Today’s Game Ready driver also comes optimized for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which releases soon with DLSS Super Resolution, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, now out on PC with a host of NVIDIA features including DLSS Super Resolution, Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, DLAA, Reflex, and advanced ray tracing. DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation will arrive for Spider-Man 2 in a future update.
Additionally, NVIDIA has refined RTX Video Super Resolution by employing a more efficient AI model that apparently uses up to 30% fewer GPU resources at max quality settings. It also now supports HDR upscaling—meaning HDR videos streamed at lower-than-native resolutions in browsers will automatically scale up to the monitor’s native resolution. For those using GPU Utilization’s new High setting for RTX Video, the driver can harness as much GPU horsepower as needed to deliver top-tier upscaling quality.
Do you see driver-based AI frame generation, such as NVIDIA’s Smooth Motion, becoming the standard for legacy titles lacking built-in frame-gen support? Share your thoughts on whether this AI-driven approach can revolutionize the performance of older games or if it’s simply a stopgap solution in the age of advanced upscaling!
