Previously AMD had launched FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) to very high levels of anticipation. For laymen, FSR is a feature that enables better performance in games on PCs and gaming consoles.
FSR had quickly become the fastest adopted software product ever, giving large performance improvements with a high level of visual fidelity, however, it came with its fair share of drawbacks.
New and Improved
Enter FSR 2.0.
Now, AMD has launched FSR’s successor called FSR 2.0 which is a new type of upscaling algorithm that boosts image quality and frame rates in compatible games. This latest tech uses cutting-edge temporal upscaling to reconstruct fine geometric and texture detail and deliver improved image quality over the original version of FSR.
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As far as upscalers go, FSR is AMD’s response to Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) tech that works by lowering your in-game resolution and using a spatial upscaling algorithm to boost the frame rate back up again without adding more load onto the GPU. Thus improving performance at arguably little cost.
How FSR 2.0 Works
Unlike the original FSR that worked on the current frame to upscale it to a higher resolution image and lacked a robust anti-aliasing solution, FSR 2.0 switches to temporal image reconstruction. This technique uses frame color, depth, and motion vectors in the rendering pipeline and details from previous frames to reconstruct a higher resolution image. Additionally, FSR 2.0 includes its own anti-aliasing solution, which replaces the one built into the engine.
The advantage of this technique is that it can recreate more detail compared to the simple upscaling of FSR 1.0.
Where FSR 2.0 in principle is similar to the way Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 and Intel’s XeSS work, it does not include an AI or ML component, which means it can run on a wider variety of hardware, including GPUs from Nvidia and Intel. Although it may not reconstruct as much detail from a low-resolution image as DLSS.
Presently, we only have one example of FSR 2.0 in action in the limited samples AMD released from Deathloop, being one of the first titles to include this feature. In this image, FSR 2.0 has a clear advantage over FSR 1.0 at the higher quality present and a lower performance preset. In some areas, FSR 2.0 also resolves more detail than native 4K rendering.
FSR 2.0 will work on all hardware that FSR 1.0 currently works on. As with FSR 1.0, FSR 2.0 can be adopted on PC, consoles, and also mobile and up to the respective game developer. The feature will be rolled out in Q2 2022.
