NVIDIA RTX Super Resolution Takes Chrome and Edge to a Whole New Level

NVIDIA unveiled a new technology in January 2023 that is capable of upscaling videos to 4K resolution on the company's most powerful graphics cards. Called RTX Video Super Resolution, it is designed specifically to upscale low resolution videos to higher resolutions.

NVIDIA explained that the technology upscales resolutions between 360p and 1440p with a frame rate of up to 144Hz.

The company published an introductory video on YouTube that showcases the new technology. In the video, NVIDIA compares 1080p upscaling to its RTX Video Super Resolution upscaling to 4K.

Designed to improve video streaming on devices with NVIDIA video cards, the technology "ses AI to improve the quality of any video watched in a browser by removing blocky compression artifacts and upscaling video resolution".

The upscaling technology should improve a video's sharpness and clarity, according to NVIDIA. It will also help people watch content on high resolution displays in native resolution.

RTX Video Super Resolution is only available on PCs that run an RTX-30 or RTX-40 series GPU. Upcoming graphics cards will support the feature as well, and NVIDIA's Product Line Manager for Content Creators, Gerardo Delgado, revealed that the feature will also come to RTX-20 series at a later point in time.

RTX Video Super Resolution depends on support in web browsers or other tools as well. Google added the feature to its Chrome Early Stable 110 browser and has enabled it by default in the browser. Chrome engineers who added the commit to the source of the browser noted that the feature is controlled in the NVIDIA Control Panel app. It is turned off by default at this point, and needs to be enabled manually by users first before it becomes available in Google Chrome. Microsoft plans to implement similar functionality in the company's Edge browser.

The technology  may become available in other web browsers and applications as well, but no plans have been announced so far regarding this.

NVIDIA RTX Super Resolution requirements

• Video cards: NVIDIA RTX-30 or RTX-40 series. Later, RTX-20 series.
• Apps: Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Other browsers or apps may follow at a later point.
• Driver: A yet to be released NVIDIA driver that adds a preference for the feature to the Control Panel.
• Display: A display suitable for displaying ultra high resolutions, e.g., 4K.

Now You: have you watched upscaled video in the past?

NVIDIA RTX Super Resolution Takes Chrome and Edge to a Whole New Level