Some of the games we’ve been playing on our Xbox Series X consoles already look phenomenal, but a recent job listing suggests Microsoft might be introducing AI upscaling to improve (at least some of) them even further.
Two positions have appeared on the Microsoft careers page, one for a senior software engineer, the other for a principal software engineer for graphics. Both of the roles reference what seems to be AI upscaling, with descriptions claiming the successful candidate will ”implement software that incorporates machine learning algorithms for graphics.”
But what is AI upscaling? That’s a good question. It’s essentially means an AI tool will cleverly share the burden of the graphics card, resulting in games with higher resolutions through upscaling. It’s pretty interesting.
As detailed by PC Gamer, by using Microsoft’s Direct Machine Learning (DirectML API), “it has a good chance to make console gaming great at high resolutions. This is either going to manifest as a DLSS-esque solution, or perhaps it could end in a complete overhaul of the process, to create something entirely new.”
Without getting to into technical jargon and getting bogged down by the mumbo jumbo, the baseline is that supported games would look better than before with this technology. A similar feature already confirmed for Xbox is something known as AMD FidelityFX, which "uses cutting-edge super-optimized spatial upscaling technologies to help boost your framerates with and deliver high-quality, high resolution gaming experiences."
What do you think about Microsoft potentially introducing AI upscaling? Let us know in the comments below.
[source careers.microsoft.com, via pcgamer.com]
Comments 5
If anyone can create a DLSS alternative it is Microsoft Research team with Azure AI.
It would be wild if somehow they can implement this as a compatibility option in the same kinds of FPS boost. So many games developed with the VCR model in mind were way inferior to their PS4 counterparts. Would be fantastic to have them AI Res boosted.
As DLSS is hardware based, I doubt these will be matching that anytime soon but the future is certainly in this area. Use the power for ray tracing or higher settings but native resolutions just aren't important anymore
@carlos82 aye hardware based will still be king for a few years yet. Problem with anything cloud based is global internet speeds just havent caught up with the progress.
This is great news. I've started to buy more cross-platform games on Xbox this gen, having been more PS4 last gen and about 50:50 on 360/PS3.
Microsoft's future vision and dedication to backwards compatibility including meaningful upgrades (like FPS boost, X-enhanced resolution upgrades and Auto HDR) mean this is becoming the definitive console version for many games. As such I want more of my digital library to be on Xbox for the foreseeable future.
It's so great when you can come back to a game and get an improved experience and Microsoft is doing this in spades. I've had a blast returning to Dunwall Karnaca, Talos I, the Wasteland and more on Series X at 60fps, feeling i'm playing the games the developers originally intended.
I've even rebought a couple of games on Xbox that I own on PS for this reason.
I hope Sony raises their focus in this area too, it's a great initiative for gamers.
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