It took 43 years for ray tracing to become mainstream

AI was the breakthrough.

September 12, 2024

Jon Peddie

Ray tracing, once considered only for serious computer graphics users, is now mainstream. In 2018, Nvidia demonstrated real-time ray tracing using AI and image scaling. By 2023, over 500 games adopted real-time ray tracing, and Nvidia improved its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology. Now, game consoles, mobile devices, and professional graphics apps offer real-time ray tracing, making it an everyday experience. Moore’s law and AI advancements have made ray tracing a standard feature.(Source: Nvidia)I fondly remember Turner Whitted explaining his accelerated ray-tracing algorithm to me in 1981, and it seemed then that we were at last on the road

...

Enjoy full access with a TechWatch subscription!

TechWatch is the front line of JPR information gathering service, comprising current stories of interest to the graphics industry spanning the core areas of graphics hardware and software, workstations, gaming, and design.

A subscription to TechWatch includes 4 hours of consulting time to be used over the course of the subscription.

Already a subscriber? Login below

It took 43 years for ray tracing to become mainstream

Enjoy full access with a TechWatch subscription!

This content is restricted

Login