It appears that Microsoft is currently working on a DLSS-like upscaling tech for DirectX. And, from the looks of it, Microsoft will officially reveal this tech, which is called DirectSR, at GDC 2024.
On March 21st, Microsoft will hold the “DirectX State of the Union” presentation. And, as its description reads, MS will demonstrate DirectSR. DirectSR stands for Direct Super Resolution. Microsoft claims that DirectSR will make it easier than ever for game devs to scale super resolution support across Windows devices.
So, this looks like an answer to NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR and Intel XeSS. And no, it’s not like the AI upscaling setting we saw in the Windows 11 Insider Build. But more on that later.
DirectSR will most likely become part of DX12 Ultimate. Or at least that’s my assumption. My guess is that it will also use AI. After all, AutoSR in Windows 11 Insider Build will be using AI.
It will be interesting to see whether DirectSR will be able to compete with NVIDIA DLSS 3, Intel XeSS and AMD FSR 3.0. NVIDIA’s DLSS has a huge advantage over everything else. So, will Microsoft’s answer be able to top it? Or will it look inferior to it?
Do also note that DirectSR will most likely NOT have Frame Generation. This appears to be only an upscaler. So, NVIDIA is already ahead of MS in this area.
I’m also curious to see the differences between DirectSR and AutoSR. Will this be something similar to “FSR 3.0 FG vs AFMF“? What will be the point of DirectSR if AutoSR is good? If AutoSR is not as good as DirectSR, why should PC gamers even use it? And will AutoSR be able to at least beat the image quality of AMD FSR? Ah, so many questions.
Stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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