NVIDIA is releasing a new GeForce Game Ready driver (version 531.14) today, and its main feature is the support for RTX Video Super Resolution.
The AI-based technology was unveiled at CES 2023 when NVIDIA promised that RTX VSR could upscale 1440p (or lower, down all the way to the minimum of 360p) resolution videos up to 4K with near-native quality. NVIDIA provided Wccftech with advance access to the aforementioned driver so that we could test out RTX Video Super Resolution; the result, as you can see in the comparison video below, speaks for itself.
Let’s begin with the basics, however. The technology combines software (AI algorithms) and hardware (RTX Tensor Cores) to enhance the clarity and sharpness of videos watched through the Chrome and Edge browsers, provided you have updated them to version 110.0.5481.105 and 110.0.1587.56, respectively. It achieves this goal by upscaling the resolution and cleaning up compression artifacts.
It’s not the first time NVIDIA has used AI technology to upscale videos. A similar feature is available on the SHIELD Pro device, after all. However, since RTX Video Super Resolution leverages the Tensor Cores available in NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs, it is only available on 40 and 30 Series graphics cards. Turing support is coming later, as the official VSR FAQ reveals that NVIDIA needs to re-engineer the algorithms to support GeForce RTX 20 Series GPUs.
Enabling RTX Video Super Resolution is extremely easy. You’ll just have to open up the NVIDIA Control Panel app and head to the Adjust Video Image Settings tab under Video. There, near previously available features like edge enhancement, noise reduction, and deinterlacing, you’ll find the RTX video enhancement box. After ticking the box, you will also have to select the Quality setting, which ranges from 1 to 4. According to NVIDIA, level 4 provides the best quality by augmenting the complexity of the underlying algorithm, but it also uses more GPU power than lower levels.
In our testing, we checked out the same Twitch video FullHD recording (Avalanche Software’s Tech Test feat. Guest Host!) on both Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, which doesn’t support RTX Video Super Resolution. As you can see, alt-tabbing between the two windows shows an immediately noticeable sharper picture when using Chrome. Everything, from the faces of the hosts to the finer details in the background, including the sword’s pommel, is much clearer with the enhancement provided by RTX VSR at the maximum level of quality.
Long story short, this could be a game-changer for Netflix users who don’t care about HDR or Dolby Vision and would like to watch content in near-4K quality without having to pay for the increasingly expensive Premium plan.
Unfortunately, it does not seem to work across every streaming service. We tested it with the DAZN platform and noticed no visual improvement; we’ve reported it to NVIDIA to find out if it’s a bug. Still, according to NVIDIA, you can expect RTX Video Super Resolution to work on Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, YouTubeTV, Hulu, and Twitch.
By the way, on the gaming side, the new driver reportedly delivers further optimizations for Atomic Heart and for the upcoming The Finals Closed Beta. NVIDIA also announced that The Finals features support for RTX GI, NVIDIA DLSS, and NVIDIA Reflex.
There are also a handful of critical fixes that we found in the official driver changelog, including NVIDIA officially enabling ReBAR for the Dead Space remake.
-
[Steam version] Forza Horizon 4 may freeze after 15-30 minutes of gameplay
-
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 occasional stability issues
-
Enable Dead Space Resizable Bar profile
-
Adobe After Effects / Media Encoder – issues with ProRes RAW files
-
Adobe Premiere Pro application instability
