Back in April 2023, Qualcomm first announced a Snapdragon Elite Gaming feature called Snapdragon Game Super Resolution (GSR) that can improve mobile game performance and battery life. Snapdragon GSR is a single-pass, spatial-aware super-resolution technique that delivers increased game resolution with optimal performance and power savings.
Now, Qualcomm has introduced Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2 (GSR2), a temporal upscaling solution for Adreno GPUs with several significant improvements over its predecessor. GSR2 can convert 1080p games into 4K visuals with impressive detail. As a temporal solution, the aggregation of samples over time delivers increased definition. Also, because GSR2 uses color samples from previously rendered frames, it can deliver a much higher quality final image than GSR1, which was solely dependent on the current frame buffer.
In addition to increasing a game's visual resolution, GSR2 can increase frame rates for smoother gameplay. If a game is already running at its target framerate, developers can use the additional frames to improve their rendering pipeline or add higher-resolution textures, more geometry, LODs (levels of detail), etc. GSR2 also improves gaming battery life by optimizing performance.
The core algorithm of Snapdragon Game Super Resolution has two passes: the convert pass and the upscale pass. There is also an optional sharpen pass that can be integrated for better visuals.
- Convert pass: The first pass of GSR2 prepares necessary buffers such as the motion buffer and depth clip buffer.
- Upscale pass: The second pass is a highly optimized Lanczos upscaling pass.
- Sharpen pass (Optional): Depending on the content, a sharpening pass can be utilized.
Qualcomm allows game developers to use the optional sharpen pass based on their game requirements. Developers can find more information about GSR2 from its GitHub page here. Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2 Unreal Engine Plugin is also available for download for different engine versions.
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