According to a report from VideoCardz, AMD has a new scaling solution that should help more PC gamers get higher frame rates from their hardware. The new Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) is, in essence, AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology moved down the graphics pipeline so it can run in all games that run full-screen. It is expected to debut in January.
Developers of newer titles are more likely to implement FSR, but RSR could find a niche use for older, less frequently updated titles or in titles sponsored by rivals that may never get FSR. Of course, there are some drawbacks with RSR compared to FSR, but AMD must have weighed the positives and moves by competitors and figured out the change of tack was worth implementing.
AMD provided the most obvious reasons why RSR will be inferior to the existing (but not so widespread) FSR when it discussed the technicalities of its scaling tech. In September, we published an AMD FSR explainer article, so that's a good starting point to understand how this upscaling tech works. The most important reason that FSR scaling tech needs to be implemented in-game mid-pipeline is so that common game UI and HUD elements don't get softened up by the spatial upscaling algorithm.
AMD Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) coming in January
Leak-centric tech site VideoCardz was tipped off by its sources regarding AMD Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) and has shared a logo to back up its story. Even though this is likely to be a reliable tip, please remember to add a pinch of salt to all this RSR talk until AMD announces it. You shouldn't have to wait long until RSR becomes official, though - it is tipped to be launched next month. By the sounds of it, RSR might be discussed as part of the AMD CES 2022 presentations. It is certainly a good fit for the new lower-end graphics cards heavily rumored to appear, namely the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT and RX 6400.
Image Scaling Tech Becomes a Graphics War Flashpoint
Using intelligent image scaling techniques to boost framerates looks like a new flashpoint in the war between AMD, Intel and Nvidia. Nvidia certainly grabbed the first-mover advantage with DLSS, and firmed up its position with DLSS 2.X. Earlier this year we heard details of both AMD FSR and Intel XeSS rival technologies. More recently, AMD FSR became available and is supported by nearly 70 games at the time of writing.
Nvidia responded with an improved NIS algorithm in its control panel, implemented in drivers this November, and which doesn't require dedicated Tensor or Ray Tracing cores. Our headline marks AMD's effort to strike back, by democratizing FSR further still. It seems like all vendors are working closely with big-name graphics engine makers like Epic Games and Unity, too.
Please note that AMD FSR is officially supported by AMD Polaris, Vega, RDNA 1 or RDNA2 architecture graphics cards, as well as Nvidia Pascal or newer GPUs. AMD's RSR is said to only support RDNA1 or newer GPUs. However, this compatibility limit might just be a misinterpretation or a case of not enough depth being provided by the source.
