AMD Gaming Super Resolution
A new patent featuring super resolution technology has just been discovered in the United States Patent Application Office.
We have been waiting for a long time for AMD to deliver an update on its super-resolution technology. Even since RDNA2 graphics cards were announced, AMD kept convincing us that their FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) is coming. But the company repeatedly refused to comment when it will be released. There has not been an update on FSR for months.
Earlier this month a YouTuber Coreteks claimed that AMD FSR will be released in June. This took everyone by surprise because AMD’s Scott Herkelman (CVP and GM at AMD Radeon) has only said that it will be released this year, which didn’t spark enthusiasm, and hope it is coming soon. The new patent might indicate though that AMD had finally chosen the technology that might be behind FSR. There is, however, a possibility that this is one of the many patients that AMD will submit to USTPO, so FSR could still use different technology.
AMD Gaming Super Resolution patent, Source: USPTO
At the time of writing, the images attached to the patent were not available. That said for now only the text is available. The patent reveals that GSR would be based on interference to upscale images. AMD explains that the currently available approaches use linear upscaling functions, but this approach may result in blurry or corrupt images because it does not take advantage of nonlinear information. Furthermore, AMD engineers claim that conventional neural networks are generalizable and are trained to operate without significant knowledge of the immediate problem. Finally, AMD says that the deep learning approach does not take into account the aspects of the original image, which may lead to lost color or details in the final image.
AMD came up with a solution that uses linear and non-linear upscaling technology, that will preserve and improve fidelity of the image. It is also said that the technology will “create high-quality image approximations and achieve high framerates”.
[…] A super resolution processing method is provided which improves processing performance. The method includes receiving an input image having a first resolution, generating linear down-sampled versions of the input image by down-sampling the input image via a linear upscaling network and generating non-linear down-sampled versions of the input image by down-sampling the input image via a non-linear upscaling network. The method also includes converting the down-sampled versions of the input image into pixels of an output image having a second resolution higher than the first resolution and providing the output image for display. […]
The patent reveals that the technology might work on a variety of processing units, including CPUs or GPUs or clusters of each. It is also mentioned that GSR would work on a computer, handheld device, set-top box, a TV, mobile phone, or tablet. This confirms that AMD has plans to launch the technology cross-platform.
[…] The device 100 can include, for example, a computer, a gaming device, a handheld device, a set-top box, a television, a mobile phone, or a tablet computer. The device 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, storage 106, one or more input devices 108, and one or more output devices 110. The device 100 can also optionally include an input driver 112 and an output driver 114. It is understood that the device 100 can include additional components not shown in FIG. 1.
[0015] In various alternatives, the processor 102 includes one or more processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or another type of compute accelerator, a CPU and GPU located on the same die, or one or more processor cores, wherein each processor core can be a CPU or a GPU or another type of accelerator. Multiple processors are, for example, included on a single board or multiple boards. […]
The patent was submitted in November 2019, but it was only made public today. It would be a big development in the graphics industry to see AMD’s alternative to the amazing DLSS technology from NVIDIA. Unlike NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR should become available to a broader range of devices, including the latest gaming consoles which are all based on RDNA2 architecture.
Update: Patent’s images have been extracted by @ayxerious:
Source: USPTO via eternity@Beyond3D
