1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,720 We have a whole video about NVIDIA DLSS and the cool features it offers, 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,760 but according to the most recent Steam hardware survey, 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,320 only 52% of you have a graphics card that supports DLSS. 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,920 But what if I told you there's an open source alternative that any modern GPU can use? 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:26,320 What? It's called AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR, and version 3.1 just came out. 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:31,840 So, lest you think we're ingredients shills, let's talk about how FSR works, 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:36,880 how it compares to the aforementioned DLSS, and how to enable it in your favorite games. 8 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:43,120 Like DLSS, the overall idea of FSR is to increase performance, that is, frame rate, 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,400 by rendering the game at a relatively low resolution, then using upskilling techniques 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,960 to fill in the blanks and produce the final image you see on your display. 11 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:59,280 NVIDIA's DLSS accomplishes this by training a proprietary AI model using a supercomputer, 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:07,280 but how does FSR do it? FSR has actually gone through three revisions, the first of which, FSR1, came out in 2021, 13 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:12,640 and is primarily concerned with correctly reconstructing the edges of objects on the screen. 14 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:17,920 The algorithm does this by comparing gradients in the original image to see how to reconstruct 15 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:23,840 edges in the upscaled image. After this is done, the image is sharpened and sent to your screen. 16 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,040 FSR1 typically gives better results than more common upscaling techniques that displays would 17 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:34,480 perform on their own, but it does require you to have anti-aliasing enabled in your game settings, 18 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,760 which means your GPU has to do some additional legwork. 19 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:44,400 But FSR2, released in 2022, can work on more parts of the image than just the edges. 20 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:50,720 Unlike FSR1, FSR2 is a temporal upscaler, which is a fancy way of saying it analyzes 21 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,640 previous frames to determine what the next frame should look like. 22 00:01:54,640 --> 00:02:00,320 This is closer to how DLSS works and provides a significantly nicer image than FSR1, 23 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:08,400 including more detailed textures. After FSR2 applies its upscaling algorithm, which works without anti-aliasing being on in your game 24 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:14,560 first, it then does its own anti-aliasing pass that takes the place of the built-in TAA of 25 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:21,040 whatever game you're playing. The downside of FSR2, though, is that because it relies so much on previous frames, 26 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:26,320 it can produce ghosting in fast-paced games, since the previous frames might be very different 27 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,360 from the current frame FSR2 is trying to upscale. 28 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:36,720 Not all frames are the same, I learned that the hard way. But even though FSR hasn't even been out for all that long, there's already an FSR3. 29 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:42,160 FSR3 is based on FSR2, but it also includes frame generation. 30 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,480 So it's a little bit like how motion interpolation on a TV works, 31 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:52,320 where frames are completely created and inserted between actual frames from the source content 32 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:58,800 in order to increase the apparent frame rate, aka the thing I turn off on every single TV I ever use, 33 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:06,560 except in this case you want it because games. Reviews on the image quality of FSR3's frame generation have generally been good, 34 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,600 but it should be noted that enabling frame generation can result in higher latency between 35 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:17,680 a controller input and what happens on your screen. But whether you'll notice comes down to what kinds of games you play, 36 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:23,280 how sensitive you are to lag in general, and whether you're using FSR3 in computationally 37 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,920 heavy scenes where the frame rate starts to dip, which can make latency worse. 38 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:33,520 It should also be noted that issues have been reported when trying to use FSR3 image generation 39 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:39,120 with variable refresh rate. AMD recommends that you try and keep your game's frame rate within your monitor's 40 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,720 refresh range to prevent tearing, so your mileage may vary. 41 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:48,320 On a more positive note, FSR3 does add its own native anti-aliasing mode, 42 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,800 which can be used without upscaling if you want an alternative to traditional AA 43 00:03:52,800 --> 00:04:00,160 without the other FSR features. The frame generation feature can also be used with a different upscaler, such as DLSS, 44 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:07,120 in FSR revision 3.1 and later. Good news if you have a RTX 2000 or 3000 series GPU, 45 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:12,320 as DLSS's competing frame generation technology is only officially supported with 46 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:19,840 4000 series cards. You're welcome, NVIDIA. No matter what flavor of FSR you're using, turning it on is just a matter of toggling 47 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:24,640 it in the game settings menu. But keep in mind that there does need to be developer support for it, 48 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:30,880 so it won't work with every single game. But AMD does offer a solution called Radeon Super Resolution, 49 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,840 which is similar to FSR1, but will work in any exclusive full-screen game 50 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:38,640 without that game's developers doing any extra work. 51 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:43,920 But you need an AMD RX 5000 series GPU or newer to run it, 52 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:49,200 as it's part of the AMD graphics driver, and only AMD GPUs use that. 53 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,880 Have you tried FSR in any of your games? What did you think about it? 54 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:58,480 We're dutch. Let us know in the comments. And if you want to know more about NVIDIA's competing solution, DLSS, 55 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,680 go watch this video next. We're just so curious. 56 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:04,720 What's going on out there?