News that Microsoft had been developing its own AI-powered upscaler for games, called Automatic Super Resolution, first came to light back in February, before it became clear that this system would only be available on Copilot+ AI PCs. At the moment, the only systems in this ecosystem are Snapdragon X laptops from Dell, Asus, MSI, and others. But as Microsoft explains in a blog on how Automatic Super Resolution works, the PC just needs to have a suitable NPU in its main processor, so it could become available to more gamers.
Super resolution, or upscaling as it is generally called, involves rendering a frame at a lower resolution before running a bunch of math operations to to raise the resolution to that of the monitor. The obvious benefit is that the game will run a lot faster, but upscaling often creates lots of visual artefacts, especially with transparent objects, particles, and fast motion.
