Microsoft Edge Canary can now upscale videos using the power of AI and your GPU
Fuzzy videos could soon be a thing of the past, as long as you have a powerful GPU.
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What you need to know
Microsoft Edge Canary now supports an experimental feature that allows you to upscale videos. Video Super Resolution (VSR) uses machine learning, artificial intelligence, and your system’s GPU to increase the resolution of videos to up to 720p.
Microsoft noted in its announcement post that one out of three videos played on Microsoft Edge have a resolution of 480p or lower. Upscaling those videos should make text easier to read and improve the overall viewing experience.
The system requirements for VSR are relatively high. You don’t need one of thebest GPUson the market, but you need at least an NVIDIA RTX 20-series GPU or AMD RX5700 GPU.
Here are the minimum requirements, asoutlined by Microsoft:
To use the feature, go toedge://flags/#edge-video-super-resolutionand enable it.
Microsoft is working on automatic hybrid GPU support for laptops that have multiple GPUs. At the moment, you can use VSR by forcing Edge Canary to run on your laptop’s discrete GPU.
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If your PC meets all of the requirements for VSR, you’ll see an HD icon in the address bar.
NVIDIA announced a similar feature recently, called RTX Video Super Resolution. It also upscales videos, but it works within Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The feature supports higher resolutions than Edge’s comparable offering as well. It’s also available today, as long as your system supports it and is running the latest NVIDIA Game Ready Driver.
Our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino wenthands-on with NVIDIA RTX Video Super Resolutionand shared his experience.
Microsoft Edge | Free
Microsoft Edge is the default browser on Windows. It’s based on Chromium, so it’s compatible with the vast majority of the web. There are several Insider versions of the browser, allowing you to test new features and provide feedback to Microsoft.
Windows Central take
It’s important to place this feature within context. It’s an experimental feature that’s only available to half of the current users of the least stable Insider version of Microsoft Edge. I’ve tested it briefly and the results were… not good. The feature struggles mightily with videos of people. It does slightly better with videos of screen recordings.
But tools like this improve over time as they’re trained on more data. It should get better before it ships to general users. So for now, I wouldn’t focus too much on the any negative results while trying out Video Super Resolution on Edge.
Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
