Nvidia Ray Tracing Explained: What It Means for Gamers

Here’s everything you need to know about ray tracing, which will enable PC gamers to enjoy more realistic lighting effects than ever. At Gamescom 2018, Nvidia unveiled the new GeForce RTX Line of graphics processors. The new line delivers ray tracing technology and according to Nvidia, will usher in “PC gaming’s golden age.” Hyperbole aside, ray tracing is a really big deal for graphics performance and PC gaming. And if you’re serious about video games and want to get the most appealing and attractive gaming experience possible, ray tracing might just be the feature that gets you there.  But before you double down, let’s talk in detail about what ray tracing is, and explain why it’s such a big deal: What is ray tracing? Ray tracing is a rendering technique that creates a graphical image based on virtual light and how that lighting source would interact with virtual objects along an image plane. Ray tracing can replace traditional rendering of lighting effects in games and create a far more life-like depiction of scenes that are based on how light actually interacts with the real world. The issue, however, is that ray tracing requires a significant amount of power to render the effects. In still images, ray tracing works exceedingly well and creates incredible effects. But in video games, where movement is ongoing and fast, ray tracing can be a problem without...

Read More