The 'RTX Off / RTX On' meme originated as a marketing campaign by NVIDIA to showcase their ray-tracing technology, which significantly enhances lighting and reflections in video games. The internet quickly repurposed these comparison shots to highlight humorous differences between poor-quality situations and their supposedly 'upgraded' counterparts. Typically featuring a pixelated or subpar image on the left and a hyper-realistic or superior version on the right, the meme has evolved beyond gaming to encompass everything from historical comparisons to everyday life expectations versus reality.