Earlier this week, Microsoft, Qualcomm and OEMs (PC brands) announced a new generation of laptops powered by Snapdragon X Series chips. Their particularity: a set of features using generative AI, called Copilot+PC. In addition to the Recall integration, a wonderful device that will record all your activities, these PCs offer an upscaling feature called Auto SR. Well, not all.
Auto SR: AI scaling by Microsoft
Auto SR, or Automatic Super Resolution, is a scaling technique from Microsoft. It intervenes directly at the operating system level. The principle does not change compared to DLSS, XeSS and other FSR: it always involves generating an image in a lower definition than that displayed, in order to lighten the workload and therefore maximize the number images per second, while at the same time involving algorithmsupscaling in order to get out, ultimatelya good quality image.
In the case of Auto SR, Microsoft speaks of a “sophisticated artificial intelligence technology”. At first glance, the Redmond firm’s solution should therefore be placed alongside XeSS and DLSS, two solutions also boosted with AI, rather than that of FSR, devoid of any artificial intelligence (for the moment ).
Automatic super resolution applies by default to a set of Microsoft-verified games. The company lists only three for now: Borderlands 3, God of War And The Witcher 3. The option is in Settings > System > Show graphics > enable automatic super resolution.
For games not officially supported, you must apply Auto SR manually for each title via the “Custom settings for apps”. If necessary, the complete procedure is detailed in the Source article.
About interaction with other scaling technologies, Microsoft explains that “Auto SR is integrated into the Windows operating system and display pipeline, working independently of the game’s own upscaling technologies.” It is therefore possible to combine them, but for a result that is currently uncertain (this is a shame, but we were not able to use AI during our review of Samsung’s first PC integrating Copilot+).
Reserved for a single processor
For the moment, Auto SR is reserved for Copilot+ PCs equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors. Officially, Microsoft therefore excludes all machines equipped with X86 processors (AMD / Intel), but also those equipped with Snapdragon X Plus.
The company stipulates that to benefit from Auto SR, you need a “Copilot+ PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor with Hexagon NPU and integrated GPU”. The exclusion of the Snapdragon Two solutions therefore: either the restriction is due to the integrated GPU, or it is only temporary and the Snapdragon X Plus will be integrated later.
Finally, note that Auto SR only affects DirectX 11/12 games at this point. DirectX 9, Vulkan and OpenGL titles are not supported.
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