Xbox Series X DirectML Super Resolution Is The Future

Every new console generation brings new technologies to the table. This starting generation should be defined by Ray Tracing and DirectML Super Resolution working in tandem to deliver both gorgeous visuals and great performance. Super resolution is a new technology that AMD is currently working on that should offer “DLSS like” graphic upscaling in games. It will be released as part of AMD’s cross-platform GPUOpen/FidelityFX technology suite. AMD has yet to release any information on how this technology actually works but Tom Warren from The Verge received more information on this super-resolution technology:

“While AMD is promising to go head to head with Nvidia in 4K gaming and more, the one big missing piece of this battle is a lack of an equivalent to Nvidia’s DLSS. Nvidia’s AI-powered super sampling technology has been transformative for the games that support it, bringing great image quality and higher frame rates by simply toggling a game setting.AMD tells me it has a new super sampling feature in testing, which is designed to increase performance during ray tracing. The company is promising its super sampling technology will be open and cross-platform, which means it could come to next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X and PS5. AMD is working with a number of partners on this technology, and it’s expecting strong industry support. Unfortunately, this won’t be ready for the launch of these three new Radeon RX 6000 Series cards.”

Even though Machine Learning Super Resolution hasn’t received as much attention as DirectX raytracing, rest assured that developers are paying close attention to what AMD is doing here. This technology represents the future of gaming on both PC and consoles. So far support for hardware-accelerated Machine Learning has been confirmed for the Xbox Series X/S consoles, but that doesn’t rule out the PS5 from utilizing this technology also.

I would like to emphasize the importance of DirectML Super Resolution especially in games with ray tracing support. It allows a game to be rendered at a lower internal resolution like 1080p and then supersample it up to 4K. We have seen the results of NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 resolution scaling technology that allows running GPU intensive games (especially with RT on) at a higher frame rate than it would be possible at a native resolution. We know how GPU demanding ray tracing is, but when a game renders an internal 1080p resolution upscaled to 4K, it frees up a lot of GPU resources for better graphics and performance. These resources would typically be wasted on rendering that same game at a native resolution.

AMD promised to release more information on this new technology soon after RDNA 2 based Radeon RX 6800 cards launch this month.

SOURCE: The Verge