wccftech Windows 11 24H2: AI Super Resolution Technology, Works Across All PCs With AI NPUs

[bonami2]

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According to a post by @PhantomofEarth, it looks like Microsoft will be offering its own AI SR or Super Resolution technology within the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update. In the description, Automatic Super Resolution will utilize AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details.

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Microsoft Windows 11 24H2 To Have Its Own AI Super Resolution Technology, Works Across All PCs With AI NPUs

WCCFTECH.COM

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Microsoft is preparing its own AI-powered Super Resolution technology which will be available in Windows 11 24H2.

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by UltraMega
Made title shorter

[Kaz]

This might be the first real feature of Windows 11 over 10!

 

I generally don't use upscaling or frame generation if I don't need it, but it may be a way to keep older games relevent on new hardware.

 

I'm curious how AI is actually learning this stuff.  If it doesn't know right from wrong, good from bad, how does it know what improvements are desired and what isn't?  It must be an interesting algorithim if they plan to impliment it on thousands of games at once.

 

There's some talk about different processing units in the article, but it's something I didn't understand.  Can anyone explain it better?  The only thing I know is, Nvidia GPUs are good with AI, AMD and Intel, not so much. 

 

I've always wondered what is physically different with AI compute as opposed to rasterization.  The fundamental concept still leads to a 1 or 0, so why is it hardware that's different and not software?  Maybe we'll start to see software/firmware bridge the gap that hardware was doing.

[Sir Beregond]

I was wondering if something like this would take off at this level vs the Nvidia and AMD offerings. If these features become more universal within the OS itself long-term and become just as good or better than what we currently get, that will be interesting to see how DLSS and FSR continue and what they offer on-top of this.

[UltraMega]

This is an interesting concept...

 

Having an upscaler that can run on any NPU is interesting because as far as I know an NPU doesn't have to be part of a GPU or CPU, it can just be a PCIe m.2 card... which technically means one could be added to a PS5 or Xbox Series console via the storage expansion slot. It also means other weird mis-matches would be possible. I guess in theory someone with an older PC that doesn't support an upscaling options could throw an NPU into a PCIe slot and use Microsoft's upscaling. It also means any modern CPU with an NPU will be able to get a lot more mileage out of the integrated graphics. 

 

 

I asked CoPilot to make a list of NPU capable hardware:

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As of now, several consumer-level hardware components incorporate NPUs (Neural Processing Units) to enhance AI-related tasks. Here's a list of some notable ones:

- Intel Core Ultra Processors:
    - The Intel Core Ultra processors (formerly codenamed Meteor Lake) feature built-in NPUs.
    - These NPUs are widely utilized by various computer companies in their latest Ultrabook and Notebook laptops.

- AMD Ryzen 8040-Series Laptop Processors:
    - The AMD Ryzen 8040-series laptop processors also integrate NPUs.
    - These processors enhance AI capabilities and contribute to improved performance in AI workloads.

- Qualcomm Windows PCs:
    - While not as common, Qualcomm's Windows PCs were among the first to include NPUs.
    - Arm processors used in most smartphones have included machine-learning acceleration for several years, and this technology has extended to some Windows laptops.

- Apple M-Series Chips for Macs:
    - Apple's M-series chips for Macs (including the M1 and later versions) incorporate NPUs.
    - These chips have been designed to accelerate AI tasks, including neural network inference.

- Future Trends:
    - A recent report predicts that 60% of PCs sold will be AI-capable by 2027.
    - As technology evolves, we can expect more consumer-level hardware to integrate NPUs, further enhancing AI experiences.

 

 

Ironically enough, CoPilot forgot to mention Nvidia GPUs which have NPUs via the tensor cores. AMD 7000 series GPUs do not have an NPU, which means they might not be able to run Microsoft's upscaler. When I looked this up, apparently AMD GPUs should be supported via a fall back method, but it might not have the same quality level as an NPU based method. 

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Microsoft Super Resolution (MSR), also known as DirectML Super Resolution, is an AI-based upscaling technique developed by Microsoft. It aims to enhance the resolution and visual quality of images and videos. However, as of my last knowledge update (which was current until 2021), MSR primarily relies on DirectML, which is a framework for machine learning acceleration on Windows devices.
Here's the situation regarding MSR and AMD 7000 series GPUs:
- DirectML Compatibility:
    - DirectML is compatible with a wide range of hardware, including both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
    - However, the specific capabilities and performance of DirectML on different GPUs can vary based on their architecture, driver support, and other factors.
- AMD 7000 Series GPUs:
    - The AMD Radeon RX 7000 series (such as the RX 7700 XT, RX 7600 XT, etc.) are based on the RDNA 3 architecture.
    - While these GPUs are powerful for gaming and general graphics tasks, they do not inherently include dedicated NPUs (Neural Processing Units) like some other AMD products.
    - MSR primarily relies on the DirectML framework, which leverages the GPU's compute capabilities for AI tasks.
- MSR and AMD 7000 Series GPUs:
    - MSR should technically run on AMD 7000 series GPUs, but the performance and efficiency may not be optimal compared to GPUs specifically designed for AI workloads.
    - For the best experience with MSR, consider using GPUs that have better AI acceleration capabilities, such as those with dedicated NPUs or specialized AI hardware.

 

 

It will definitely be interesting to see how this all plays out and what kind of weird hardware configs it will allow for. As far as I know, there are no NPU only devices available on the consumer market yet, but I think they are coming. I recently saw a video about an NPU device that looked like an NVME drive and went in the m.2 slot.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by UltraMega