The Microsoft DirectSR API received native FSR 3.1

The Agility SDK 1.715.1-preview package now includes AMD’s most modern scaler from the factory.

Back in February, we wrote about Microsoft’s DirectSR API, the purpose of which is to enable developers to operate scaling procedures that operate on a similar principle, i.e. require the same input data, from a uniform code path. We explained how to do this in more detail in our article below, and since then the system has become available for testing. Microsoft just released it Agility SDK 1.715.1-preview package that updates the upscaler implemented by default in DirectSR.

From now on, developers have the option, if they do not want to use the manufacturer’s background, to use the FSR 3.1 implementation instead of the originally used FSR 2.2. This is the so-called native mode of DirectSR, in which case it is not necessary to call the paper-compatible implementations in the drivers, it is enough just to load the native mode, and FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.1 works with it at the factory level. This can even be parameterized as desired, so it can be configured to a large extent from the developer side.

The question may arise as to what this actually means, since FSR 3.1 was previously supported through the DirectSR interface, after all, it was there inside AMD’s driver. The point here is that manufacturer upscalers are available in so-called plug-in mode, so while DirectSR offers the necessary API for the operation of manufacturer upscalers built into the driver, it does not necessarily guarantee that they will load flawlessly. In the end, the manufacturer and the software providing the support have to take care of this, which mostly happens, but software errors have always occurred and will continue to happen in the future. The native mode is mostly to ensure that there is an available upscaler that actually loads regardless of the drive. Therefore, regardless of any unforeseen problem, if the user turns on DirectSR upscaling, it will try to load the latest manufacturer module implemented in the given drive according to the settings, but if this fails for some reason, it will finally load the natively implemented FSR 3.1 . So the goal is that by activating the function, the user will definitely get some kind of upscaling, even if the manufacturer’s option is temporarily unavailable due to a software error.

Otherwise, if the user always installs software updates and uses the latest device driver available, then typically there will be no problem loading the appropriate modules. However, FSR 3.1 now requires only one compute shader supporting driver, from any manufacturer, so this scaler has become quasi-driver independent in this respect.