AMD Brings FSR 4.1 Upscaling Technology to Xbox Consoles

Chipmaker AMD has announced that it will bring its FSR 4.1 image upscaling technology to Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles. It will be available on the Xbox Series X and Series S, as well as the Ally X, Ally X20, Ally S and Ally handheld devices. The aim is to help games run more smoothly without sacrificing image quality.

FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) is AMD's proprietary technology. It renders a game at a lower resolution to save processing resources, then uses machine learning to produce a sharper image.

Who stands to benefit most

The Series X and Ally X are already very powerful, so the biggest gains will likely go to owners of the Series S, Ally S and the original Ally. These devices should see a performance boost when FSR is switched on.

Xbox chief technology officer (CTO) Scott Van Vilet said the company worked closely with AMD to optimize the technology, giving developers another tool for strong performance and visual quality.

Timing remains unclear

No exact schedule has been published. A video suggests FSR 4.1 will reach the Xbox Ally X before the end of the year, while the other consoles are listed only as "coming soon". Engadget has asked Microsoft for a clearer timeline.

AMD also said FSR 4.1 is coming to older RX 6000-series graphics cards and to laptops with Ryzen AI 9 processors. The technology is already available for 7000-series cards.

Rival Sony uses its own upscaling technology, Quick Spectral Super Resolution. It now supports some titles on the standard PS5 and works similarly to the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution software already available on the PS5 Pro.