Arm Launches ArmASR A Prominent Game Graphics Super-Resolution Technology
TapTechNews July 11th news, Arm today launched a game graphics super-resolution sampling technology named Arm Accuracy SuperResolution (ArmASR). This technology is built based on AMD's FSR2 technology, but is specifically optimized for mobile devices. Different from FSR2 which is mainly optimized for PCs and high-end consoles, ArmASR focuses on mobile application scenarios and can run smoothly even on mobile devices with limited processing power. Arm also provides this technology to developers for free in the form of an open source license, facilitating them to integrate ASR technology into games without paying additional licensing fees.
In the past, the screen sizes of smartphones and tablets were generally small, and the resolutions were not high either, so the use of graphics super-resolution sampling technology was not common. However, with the improvement of Arm processor performance in recent years, this situation is changing. For example, Apple's M-series chips have introduced Arm processors into the notebook and desktop fields, and Apple has even added a game mode function in the macOS Sonoma system to encourage users to play games with MacBook. At the same time, 3A game masterpieces that originally only ran on game PCs and consoles have also begun to land on mobile platforms.
Specifically optimized for the characteristics of mobile devices, making ArmASR superior in performance to AMD FSR2. According to Arm's internal tests, when using the Immortalis-G720 GPU and 2800x1260 resolution for 2x graphics super-resolution sampling, ArmASR can bring a 53% increase in frame rate, while the increase of FSR2 is 36%. In addition, Arm also conducted tests with MediaTek's Dimensity 9300 chip, and the results showed that after enabling 2x ASR super-resolution sampling, the power consumption was reduced by more than 20% compared to native 1080p rendering.
This technology is crucial for battery-powered mobile devices. Reducing power consumption means longer game battery life and can also reduce the phenomenon of overheating and frequency reduction, preventing smartphones and tablets from overheating after long periods of gaming.
It is worth noting that this is not the first graphics super-resolution sampling technology for mobile phones. As early as 2023, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon Game SuperResolution technology. However, Qualcomm's solution adopts a spatial super-resolution sampling technology that focuses on performance improvement rather than image quality. While ArmASR adopts a temporal super-resolution sampling technology, by integrating with the game engine, it not only brings higher image quality but also has higher requirements for performance.
ArmASR may have a positive impact on Microsoft's Copilot+PC, as Microsoft is committed to promoting the game experience on the Windows 11 on Arm platform. TapTechNews noticed that last May, Microsoft launched a spatial super-resolution sampling technology named Automatic SuperResolution (AutoSR). Although AutoSR is not as good as Arm's solution in terms of image quality, it utilizes AI technology and the NPU on the device for processing. Due to the need for AI processing, Microsoft currently only limits it to use on Copilot+PC.
Another major advanta ge of ArmASR is its ease of use. Since this technology is built based on AMD's FSR2, developers familiar with FSR2 can easily get started with ArmASR's API and configuration options. At the same time, due to its open source nature, developers do not need to pay any licensing fees when integrating ASR technology into games. This will greatly simplify the cross-platform game development process, allowing players to play the same game smoothly on different devices and seamlessly connect the game progress.