The announcement of AMD FidelityFX Super-Resolution (FSR) at Computex 2021 shook the tongue among the PC gaming community. It’s not just what you promise to bring to the table.
AMD proudly showed off that this technology works with Nvidia graphics cards. Nvidia graphics cards already use a very similar technology, but they are rarely compatible with AMD’s Radeon GPUs.
The problem is that showing and implementing the concept of compatibility is one thing. AMD doesn’t want to spend time on it, and Nvidia is unlikely to specify a timezone. But one of the killer features of FSR is that it is open source. And that means that the community can participate.
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution and DLSS
So it works with Nvidia graphics cards, but as PC gamers recently reported, AMD isn’t going to put any effort into extending beyond proof-of-concept. It’s up to Nvidia to optimize the hardware for FSR. And how likely is that to happen?
Nvidia already has DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), which isn’t exactly the same as FSR, but the end result is very similar. Both render the game in low resolution and provide high resolution games without compromising frame rate with the technical magic of intelligently upscaling.
The biggest difference is that one is a proprietary tool and the other is open source. DLSS is fully controlled by Nvidia and will be implemented in the game in collaboration with development partners. For titles like Watch Dogs Legion, DLSS can be used to increase RTX ray tracing and resolution to maintain a high playable frame rate.
FSR hasn’t been released yet, so it’s still a pure guess how good it is, but you’d expect AMD to aim for performance improvements similar to DLSS.
However, being open source opens up new possibilities for FSR via DLSS. Linux games can be seen as a good example of what happens when the open source community gets great tools.
Open source is the best source
AMD is already well supported on Linux, and the latest distributions include open source graphics drivers. Nvidia graphics cards also enjoy good support, but the overall feature list is still inadequate compared to Windows.
However, Linux is home to tools that are open source and built by the community, and you can show what’s possible by just looking at some of the features that gamers already have.
Proton is built into Steam and allows you to play Windows-only games on Linux. It’s open source, custom versions are available, and it’s very popular. There are open source tools that allow you to download and play games from sources such as Epic Games and Ubisoft Connect. Of course, WINE is a huge compatibility layer that is continually being improved to bridge the gap between Windows and Linux.
I’m not betting that FSR will be implemented in Linux PC games officially or through the community. And if FSR could work on the Nvidia hardware there, it would definitely happen. There’s no reason to expect or not expect equally wise people to do something with Windows.
AMD says Nvidia needs to do that, and everyone knows what Nvidia says about it. But the community knows it’s possible, and with the key to the kingdom, there’s no reason not to expect third-party tools to start offering FSR support on Nvidia graphics cards.
This is one of the real thrills of PC games. It can be trapped behind first-party walls or DRM, and it usually spoils the fun. But others are passionate people who are seriously building impressive projects in their spare time for the benefit of the entire community.
Of course, the gold goose will have Nvidia bite the bullet, act in the interests of gamers first, and in the interests of shareholders. However, as we’ve seen with G-Sync in the past, it’s unlikely that something will happen for a long time. For now, AMD owners will get the moment in the sun nostalgic for DLSS. Nvidia owners can only wait for someone to come and help.
AMD shouldn’t rely on Nvidia to support FidelityFX super-resolution-but Linux gamers instead
Source link AMD shouldn’t rely on Nvidia to support FidelityFX super-resolution-but Linux gamers instead
The Link LonkJune 06, 2021 at 07:08PM
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AMD shouldn't rely on Nvidia to support FidelityFX super-resolution-but Linux gamers instead - Texasnewstoday.com
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