Microsoft Edge Will Soon Allow You To Upscale Low-resolution Videos Online

Some Microsoft Edge Canary users will finally have access to a feature announced back in January during CES 2023.

Video Super Resolution (VSR), according to Neowin, is upscale that uses AI technology from Microsoft Research to improve video quality within the browser. VSR will be available to 50% of Microsoft Edge Canary users beginning today. The feature works by removing block compression artifacts and upscaling the overall resolution for different streaming platforms.

This should be a very useful feature because, according to Microsoft, “one out of every three videos in Edge is played at 480p or lower.” It will assist users who have limited network bandwidth or poor video quality.

However, there are some limitations. VSR, for example, requires a discrete graphics card from Nvidia (RTX 20-series and newer) or AMD (RX 5700 and newer). Microsoft stated that an update to allow for automatic switching between iGPU and dGPU would be released shortly. You also can’t use the feature on DRM-protected videos or when your laptop is unplugged.

AI upscaling could be the way of the future

AI upscaling appears to be the future of general video upscaling, as it is very similar to the one that Nvidia has been pushing. That one is called RTX Video Super Resolution that, according to a statement given to PC Gamer, would allow for “resolutions beyond 1080p. It will upscale video with native resolutions ranging from 360p to 1440p, and it will work with video at frame rates up to 144Hz.”

It also works with both Chrome and Edge browsers, so Chrome users aren’t left out. However, this feature requires an RTX 3000-series or 4000-series GPU, but in exchange, videos can be upscaled to 4K resolution.

It will be interesting to see if other browsers, such as Safari, Opera, or Mozilla, adopt their upscaling technology, as well as AMD developing independent technology to compete with Nvidia’s.