About Real-Time Ray Tracing: Mainly Compatible with GeForce RTX Series

In recent years, real-time ray tracing has attracted attention as an essential technology for improving the realism of games and video graphics.

This is a method that simulates the behavior of light in real time, physically accurately rendering shadows, reflections, and refractions to generate beautiful images that are closer to reality.

This article will explain in detail the differences from traditional rendering methods, compatible graphics cards, and specific use cases for real-time ray tracing.

The article also explains basic knowledge such as how to read graphics card manufacturers and model numbers, performance benchmarks, and how to choose based on performance and compatibility.

≫ Related article: How to Choose a Graphics Card for a Custom PC [Performance / Features / Compatibility]

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What is Real-Time Ray Tracing?

This section explains the basic knowledge of real-time ray tracing and how it differs from previous methods.

One of the Technologies for Rendering Graphics

Real-time ray tracing is a technology for rendering graphics on computers, and is a method that simulates the behavior of light to generate images close to reality.

Rather than explaining with words, it may be easier to understand by watching a video.

You can see flames clearly reflected on surfaces like water and cars.

Especially, the reflections of light and water surfaces have become more realistic, resulting in more beautiful visuals.

Traditional rendering technology (rasterization) simplified the calculation of light reflections and refractions, but ray tracing can more accurately represent shadows, reflections, and the refraction of light passing through transparent objects by tracing rays of light.

Real-time ray tracing enables the creation of beautiful images in real time for games and other applications by performing these calculations at very high speed.

This allows players to experience more immersive games and visuals.

Here, let’s briefly touch on 3D rendering, including ray tracing.

There are two main 3D rendering methods:

• Ray Tracing
• Rasterization

Ray tracing is a rendering method that physically accurately simulates the behavior of light.

On the other hand, rasterization is a basic rendering method for quickly displaying 3D scene objects on a 2D screen, and is the main rendering method in 3D games.

Ray Tracing

Ray tracing is one of the rendering methods that generates images based on computational results.

To achieve more detailed 3D rendering, it uses an algorithm that emits and traces rays, calculating colors while considering reflections and other effects.

The light rays hit objects in the scene and calculate effects such as reflection, refraction, shadows, and reflected light in real time, achieving realistic lighting effects and physically accurate shadow rendering.

For example, when playing a game, if there is a reflective object like a mirror, the line of sight is reflected and objects beyond it are shown in the mirror.

Also, in the case of semi-transparent objects like glass or puddles, the line of sight passes through and refracts, so objects beyond the glass appear distorted.

To faithfully render these reflected or refracted objects, rays are emitted from the player’s viewpoint, traced, and the reflection is calculated and rendered.

These processes are demanding, so previous GPUs could not render these effects accurately, and only displayed blurred, approximate visuals.

Real-time ray tracing now makes it possible to render these blurred effects faithfully.

Rasterization

Rasterization is a technology for rendering 3D models as 2D images, and is used in most 3D games.

In computer graphics, to display objects in 3D space on a screen, they must be converted to 2D pixels.

This conversion process is called rasterization.

Rasterization calculates the shape, color, and lighting of each object and assigns colors to pixels on the screen based on that.

This technology is relatively fast in calculation, making it suitable for real-time rendering.

Especially in games and applications, real-time rendering is required, so rasterization is widely used.

However, rasterization has the limitation that it is difficult to accurately reproduce complex light behaviors such as reflections and refractions.

Realistic Light Behavior

To reproduce realistic light behavior, it is necessary to accurately simulate how light reflects and refracts when it hits objects.

Real-time ray tracing is a technology that calculates this light behavior in real time and generates highly realistic images in computer graphics.

Rasterization simplified the processing of light reflections and refractions, but ray tracing can render more accurate shadows, reflections, and refractions by tracing the path of light.

This allows shadows cast by sunlight on buildings, or scenery reflected in glass windows, to be realistically reproduced.

In particular, it is now possible to calculate in real time how light from a light source affects objects in a scene, maintaining high-quality visuals even in dynamic environments.

In the videos shown earlier, flames reflected on cars, objects reflected on water surfaces, and reflections on robot metal bodies are all rendered very realistically.

This makes graphics in movies and games feel more real.

Real-Time Processing

Ray tracing requires a lot of computation, and real-time processing was considered difficult, but recent technological advances have made it possible.

Especially with the evolution of GPUs and the introduction of dedicated hardware acceleration technologies, real-time ray tracing has become a reality.

For example, NVIDIA’s RTX series introduced RT Cores (Ray Tracing Cores) to enable real-time ray tracing.

Including 3D games, PC screens are basically updated 60 times per second, so each image is drawn in about 0.016 seconds.

If performance is insufficient and drawing is delayed, the number of updates per second decreases, causing stuttering.

Rasterization has less computation, so real-time display was not a problem.

However, it was difficult to perform the more demanding ray tracing in real time, but with recent improvements in processing power, this has become possible.

Graphics Cards Supporting Real-Time Ray Tracing

This section explains the support status of real-time ray tracing by GPU chip manufacturer.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX Series

At NVIDIA, GeForce RTX 20 series and later graphics cards support real-time ray tracing.

The RTX series is equipped with dedicated RT Cores, enabling real-time rendering of light reflections, refractions, and shadows.

On previous graphics cards, these processes were very heavy and difficult to execute in real time, but the RTX series made it possible.

NVIDIA’s GeForce series is aimed at consumers and gamers, so if installing a graphics card in a PC, it is usually this manufacturer and series.

Currently, the RTX 20, 30, and 40 series are available, so when buying a new PC or building with new parts, the RTX series is usually chosen.

On the other hand, the GTX 10 and GTX 16 series before the RTX 20 series do not support real-time ray tracing, so be careful.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series and Later (AMD RDNA 2 and Later)

In AMD’s Radeon series, RX 6000 series and later support real-time ray tracing.

AMD has equipped Ray Accelerators Units to support ray tracing, and these units are included in GPUs with RDNA 2 architecture and later (such as Radeon RX 6000 series and RDNA 3 generation).

RDNA 2 architecture is the RX 6000 series, and RDNA 3 architecture is the RX 7000 series.

Intel Arc Series

The Intel Arc series is a recently released series, so all graphics cards support ray tracing.

Like other manufacturers, dedicated Ray Tracing Units are built into each core to accelerate ray tracing functions in hardware.

Use Cases for Real-Time Ray Tracing

Let’s look at the fields where real-time ray tracing technology is used.

Games

Games are the most representative field for real-time ray tracing.

In particular, by processing light reflections and shadow rendering in real time, more realistic visual expressions are achieved.

However, not all games support real-time ray tracing, so be sure to check in advance whether the games you want to play support real-time ray tracing.

Realistic Reflection Rendering

By applying real-time ray tracing to objects with reflective materials such as water surfaces, metal surfaces, and glass, environmental reflections can be rendered realistically.

For example, the appearance of a character in a mirror or the scenery seen through glass.

Scenes that were difficult to express with conventional technology can now be rendered realistically, making it easier for players to feel immersed.

This increases the sense of unity in the game world and greatly improves visual beauty.

Accurate Shadow Generation

Shadows are generated in real time based on the positional relationship between light sources and objects.

With conventional shadow maps, shadows were not displayed accurately, and shadows became blurry at a distance.

However, by using ray tracing, realistic shadows can be rendered according to the shape of objects and the position of light sources.

Global Illumination (Indirect Lighting)

Ray tracing can express how a scene is softly illuminated by indirect light even in places where light does not hit directly.

This allows natural lighting effects to be reproduced even in dark parts of a room or behind buildings.

For example, when sunlight reflects off a wall and illuminates an entire room, or when indoor lights hit objects and the light reflects to brighten the surroundings, these effects can be expressed realistically, greatly improving visual realism.

Real-Time Refraction and Transmission Effects

The refraction and transmission of light through transparent objects such as glass and water can also be accurately simulated using real-time ray tracing.

This allows for effects such as scenery seen through glass appearing distorted, or objects appearing warped when viewed through water.

Pre-Visualization in Movies and Animation

Real-time ray tracing is also used in the production stages of movies and animation, especially in scene pre-visualization, known as “previs.”

Previs is the process of visualizing scenes in advance during movie or animation production.

In simple terms, it is a process for checking camera work, direction, and character movement with temporary visuals before producing the final footage, to streamline the production process.

Previously, high-quality rendering required a long time, but being able to check light behavior and lighting effects in real time has greatly improved production efficiency.

With previs, directors and artists can adjust scene lighting, camera angles, and object placement in real time and quickly check the overall atmosphere of a scene.

This allows for fine-tuning of scene direction and lighting before producing the final footage, improving both production speed and quality.

Recently, real-time rendering engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity are often used for this purpose.

Architectural Visualization

In the architectural field, visualization using real-time ray tracing is widely used.

Architectural visualization is a technology that makes it easy to visually understand the completed state of a building in three dimensions.

During the design stage, the exterior and interior of a building can be simulated in real time, visualizing how light hits, how shadows fall, and the reflection and refraction effects of different materials.

This allows for a more accurate check of how a building will look when completed, helping with design revisions and proposals.

For example, it is possible to switch between daytime and nighttime lighting conditions, or simulate sunlight at different seasons and times of day in real time.

This allows clients to visually understand how architectural designs will look in different environments, enabling higher-quality design proposals at the planning stage.

Design and Simulation

Real-time ray tracing is also effective in industrial design and product prototype simulation.

For industrial products such as cars, the appearance of surface reflections, refractions, metal textures, and the transparency of fabrics and glass can be simulated in real time.

In particular, being able to quickly check different lighting conditions and material combinations makes communication between designers and clients smoother and helps optimize product design.

For example, the appearance of a car’s metallic paint under sunlight can be checked in real time and used as a basis for design selection.

Improving Realism in VR/AR Applications

Real-time ray tracing is also used in VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) applications to enhance user experience.

In VR and AR, expressions that integrate the real world and digital objects are required, so using real-time ray tracing allows for realistic rendering of light reflections and shadows, providing users with a deeper sense of immersion.

For example, lighting and shadows in a VR space can change according to user movement, creating the feeling of actually being in a real space.

This is expected to be applied in various fields such as education, simulation, and entertainment.

However, due to size, power consumption, and other constraints, few VR/AR devices themselves support ray tracing.

Therefore, it is common to use external input, such as displaying ray tracing-enabled graphics cards and games on VR devices.

Summary: Technology for Rendering Games More Beautifully

This article explained the basics of real-time ray tracing graphics technology, compatible graphics cards, and use cases.

Here is a summary of the key points.

Real-time ray tracing is a technology that renders games and visuals more beautifully by realistically simulating the behavior of light.

With this technology, shadows, reflections, and refractions are expressed in a way close to reality, providing players and viewers with an immersive experience.

In particular, the latest graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel support this technology, and it is used in games, movies, and design fields.

The article also explains basic knowledge such as how to read graphics card manufacturers and model numbers, performance benchmarks, and how to choose based on performance and compatibility.

≫ Related article: How to Choose a Graphics Card for a Custom PC [Performance / Features / Compatibility]

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PC Parts Estimation & Compatibility Check Tool

Automatically checks each component you need when selecting parts for a custom-built PC—perfect for beginners.