Windows Insiders are getting a massive performance boost today with the arrival of AutoSR, a highly anticipated feature for the Xbox Ally X. Roughly seven months after the handheld’s initial launch, this automatic super resolution technology is finally arriving to enhance the gaming experience.
How AutoSR Works on the Xbox Ally X
AutoSR functions similarly to Nvidia's DLSS or AMD's FSR by taking a lower-resolution image and upscaling it to a higher displayed resolution. However, there is a fundamental difference in how the processing is handled. Instead of utilizing specialized cores within the GPU, AutoSR leverages the Xbox Ally X's NPU, or neural processing unit, to power its AI model.
Because this technology operates at the driver level rather than on a per-game basis, it offers much broader compatibility:
- Works with almost any game running via DirectX.
- Does not require individual developer implementation like DLSS.
- Utilizes a larger AI model to ensure greater preservation of detail.
Performance Gains and Availability
According to the DirectX blog, offloading the upscaling process to the NPU allows for a more robust model. While this may come with a slight cost to latency, it is significantly more memory-efficient than other GPU-based upscalers that demand heavy memory bandwidth. This efficiency is vital for handhelds like the Xbox Ally X, which have limited bandwidth to spare.
Currently, AutoSR will only be available to users who connect their handheld to an external display. Because higher resolutions can be difficult for the Z2 Extreme processor to manage, game-agnostic upscaling should help stabilize frame rates. Microsoft claims this new technology can improve 1440p performance by approximately 30%, potentially turning a stuttering mess into a playable experience.
We will be testing this technology ourselves as soon as the update goes live later today. Hopefully, Microsoft will eventually allow this to be used in native handheld mode, as many titles still struggle to run smoothly at 1080p on the device.
