Microsoft has unveiled DirectSR, a groundbreaking API developed in collaboration with hardware giants Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. This new API will simplify the integration of Super Resolution (SR) technology for Windows games, allowing developers to effortlessly tap into the unique graphical upscaling approaches offered by these three leading companies.

According to Microsoft program manager Joshua Tucker, DirectSR serves as the missing link that developers have been eagerly anticipating, promising a smoother and more efficient SR integration experience that seamlessly scales across different hardware setups. Super-resolution technology enhances the visual quality of games without overwhelming the graphics card, running games in a lower resolution internally and leveraging machine learning to upscale the resolution on the screen. This results in crisper graphics with minimal additional strain on the GPU.

Through the DirectSR API, Microsoft is facilitating "multi-vendor" super-resolution by establishing a common set of inputs and outputs, allowing for a single code path supporting a variety of solutions from Nvidia's DLSS, AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution, and Intel's XeSS. Each of these solutions offers unique features, with Nvidia's DLSS excelling in performance but limited to Nvidia hardware, while AMD's FidelityFX is more versatile, supporting competitors' hardware as well. Intel's XeSS primarily targets Intel hardware but offers limited support for non-Intel GPUs.

In an exciting development, Microsoft announced that the DirectSR API will soon be available for developers in a public preview build of the Agility SDK, which is a component of DirectX 12. PC gaming developers can look forward to learning more about this innovative API during Microsoft's DirectX State of the Union presentation at GDC on March 21. This news comes on the heels of the recent discovery by @PhantomofEarth on Twitter of an AI-powered "Automatic super resolution" setting in a Windows Insider preview build (24H2), hinting at a consumer-facing version possibly linked to DirectSR.