Nvidia has released new GPU drivers that use a new technology called RTX Video Super Resolution. This technology can improve the quality of streamed video when viewed on personal computers.
Streaming video before RTX Video Super Resolution
According to the figures from Nvidia, almost 80 percent of internet bandwidth is taken up by streaming video. In addition, 90 percent of that content is streamed at 1080p or lower. This includes sources such as Twitch.tv, YouTube, Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu. However, many PC users are watching these videos on screens that are higher resolution. In these circumstances, the video is upscaled by your browser’s basic upscaling technology, which can result in final images that are soft or blurry.
RTX Super Video Resolution
Nvidia’s RTX Video Super Resolution (VSR) uses artificial intelligence (AI) to upscale lower-resolution video content to 4K to match your display resolution. In addition, the AI removes blocky compression artifacts and improves the video’s sharpness and clarity. To take advantage of RTX VSR you need to have a GeForce RTX 40 or RTX 30 Series GPU. You also need to use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge as your browser. Nvidia says that RTX VSR works with nearly all streamed content.
How does it work?
Nvidia’s RTX VSR is a development of technology that was released with SHIELD TV back in 2019. The technology uses a deep learning network that performs upscaling and compression artifact reduction in a single pass. The deep learning network has also been trained on various content with various compression levels. It analyzes each lower-resolution video frame and predicts the residual image at the target resolution. This residual image is then superimposed on top of a traditional upscaled image.
What we think
The 4K upscaling from Nvidia’s SHIELD TV was impressive, and RTX VSR promises even higher quality output. Nvidia also says that it has employed extensive visual evaluation to ensure the upscaling is effective on nearly all real-world and gaming content. With more people using PCs to view video content on high-resolution screens, RTX VSR is an exciting development. It’s always good to keep your drivers updated, but RTX VSR is another reason to install the latest version for your RTX 40 or RTX 30 GPUs
Availability
Nvidia RTX VSR is available now as part of the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver. It will also be included with the next Nvidia Studio Driver scheduled for release in March. Both Google Chrome (version 110.0.5481.105 or higher) and Microsoft Edge (version 110.0.1587.56) have been updated recently to support RTX VSR.
