The future of video upscaling technology just got a lot more interesting with the recent announcement from AMD. At CES 2024, the tech giant revealed plans to introduce video enhancement through FSR upscaling, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for gamers, streamers, and content creators across the globe. This exciting development comes almost a year after Nvidia’s introduction of RTX Video Super Resolution, and it’s poised to shake up the industry in a big way.
For those not familiar with the concept, video upscaling uses machine learning algorithms to enhance the quality of lower-resolution videos, making them look clearer and more detailed when viewed on higher-resolution displays. This technology has been a game-changer for PC users with Nvidia RTX graphics cards, but it’s been limited to a specific subset of hardware. AMD’s FSR, on the other hand, promises to work on a wider range of GPUs, potentially reaching a much larger audience.
According to AMD’s announcement, the functionality to upscale streaming videos will be included in the next Radeon Adrenalin driver update, with compatibility for popular media players like VLC expected to follow in the first quarter of the year. While the company didn’t provide live demonstrations, they did hint at the potential for significantly clearer images when upscaling a YouTube video from 720p to 1440p, suggesting that FSR will deliver impressive results.
This move by AMD puts them in direct competition with Nvidia, who has been leading the charge in the video upscaling market. The initial reception of RTX Video Super Resolution was relatively modest, but subsequent updates have garnered a more positive response from users. However, one of the main limitations of Nvidia’s solution is its reliance on RTX graphics cards, leaving a large portion of the market out of reach. In contrast, AMD’s FSR is expected to work on a broader range of hardware, including consoles and GPUs from other manufacturers, potentially making it accessible to a much wider audience.
Despite these promising advancements, there are still some unanswered questions surrounding AMD’s FSR implementation. For instance, it’s unclear which browsers will support the new functionality, as the availability of RTX Video Super Resolution was initially limited to specific platforms. Additionally, it remains to be seen how FSR will stack up against Nvidia’s solution in terms of image quality, especially when it comes to handling motion and other dynamic elements in videos.
The announcement from AMD also highlights the company’s ongoing commitment to improving the overall video experience for users. In addition to FSR upscaling, the Radeon Adrenalin driver update is set to improve AVC, HEVC, and AV1 encoding on RDNA 3 GPUs, further enhancing the capabilities of AMD’s hardware.
With all eyes on AMD in the wake of this exciting news, it’s worth noting that the company’s rival, Intel, is also positioned to make waves in the video upscaling arena. Given their recent advancements in areas like super resolution and frame generation, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Intel develop a video upscaling solution of their own based on XeSS. This move could potentially provide a significant selling point for the company’s latest CPUs, which already boast AI hardware features and integrated graphics that support machine learning-based upscaling.
As the industry continues to evolve and innovate, the future of video upscaling is looking increasingly bright. With major players like AMD and Nvidia leading the charge, and potential competition from Intel on the horizon, consumers can expect to see rapid advancements in this space in the coming years. These developments have the potential to revolutionize the way we consume and interact with digital media, and it’s an exciting time to be a part of the ever-changing world of technology.
