The Challenge of Legacy Content
While modern display technology has made high resolutions—such as 4K—widely accessible and affordable, the content itself often lags behind. Even when viewing standard High Definition (HD) video streams on advanced displays, images can suffer from compression artifacts and a loss of detail due to online streaming standards. Furthermore, older videos were filmed based on resolution standards that predate modern technology, making them appear underwhelming or pixelated when viewed on contemporary screens.
Fortunately, current AMD and Nvidia GPUs offer technologies designed to mitigate these issues by upscaling such content and cleaning it up, thereby sharpening the image and reducing visible imperfections.
Nvidia’s AI-Powered Virtual Super Resolution
Nvidia implements VSR using an artificial intelligence model. This feature is exclusively available on RTX cards because its function requires utilizing the specialized tensor cores within newer graphics hardware designed for complex AI workloads. Nvidia’s process involves upscaling the video while simultaneously correcting and enhancing image details based on a trained predictive model.
This technology allows users to upscale videos as low as 360p to render them at the native resolution of their desktop monitor. Currently, Nvidia’s VSR functionality is restricted to Chromium-based web browsers, including Chrome and Edge. Additionally, the VLC media player supports this feature for upscaling local video files.
Activating Nvidia VSR
- Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
- Navigate to the Video section.
- Select the specific video image setting.
- Locate and click the option for RTX Video Enhancement.
- Check the Super Resolution box.
Users can adjust the quality on a scale of 1 through 4. The control panel will provide a live indicator when the feature is active. Based on expert observation, selecting the highest setting (scale 4) is recommended for optimal results.
AMD’s Display-Wide Spatial Enhancement
In contrast to Nvidia’s AI model-based approach, AMD employs a spatial-based method for VSR. Instead of using an artificial intelligence model to predict the image content, AMD’s technology processes each individual frame by spatially upscaling and restructuring it.
While this results in a significantly clearer picture with fewer artifacts and a more natural, fluid appearance, the detail retention is achieved through structural enhancement rather than AI prediction, meaning it may not achieve the same level of sharpness as Nvidia’s method. A key advantage of AMD’s implementation is that because it operates at the display driver level, it works system-wide—it enhances content whether displayed in a browser, any application, or even during general operating system navigation.
Activating AMD VSR
- Open the AMD Adrenaline Software.
- Go to the Gaming section.
- Under the Display tab, select Global Display and enable VSR for your chosen monitor.
Important Performance Considerations
VSR functions similarly to other upscaling technologies like FSR and DLSS, but its application here is specifically targeted at video content within supported applications. However, because these features are performance-intensive, users must exercise caution:
- Performance Impact: If VSR is enabled globally, it may cause a noticeable decrease in overall system performance when running graphically demanding AAA titles. It is highly advised to disable the feature during intense gaming sessions.
- Usage Recommendations: For Nvidia users, it is generally safe provided no background video streaming is active in Chrome/Edge/VLC. For AMD users, disabling it during gameplay is strongly recommended.
It is important to note that enabling VSR does not require a 4K display; the technology functions effectively even when viewing lower-resolution content (such as 1080p) on modern monitors.
