ARM Introduces ASR Upscaler That Even Outperforms AMD's FSR

ASR, although focused exclusively on mobile platforms, behaves absolutely like an adult

A significant event has taken place in the world of graphics technology: ARM has announced its own an upscaler called Arm Accuracy Super Resolution (ASR). The new technology is aimed at mobile platforms, so its goal is not only to improve the visual quality of the picture, but also to reduce energy consumption in games. Despite this, ARM has already ambitiously stated that its development in a number of parameters surpassed even AMD's FSR 2.0Let's see what kind of beast this is and what it's good for.

ASR Upscaling Technology: What is it?

Oddly enough, but ASR is based on AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2) technology. She uses temporal upscaling to improve image quality and increase frame rate. This method, unlike spatial, which processes each frame separately, analyzes several consecutive frames to generate a higher quality image.

Let's take this frame as a basis and look at its individual areas under magnification with upscaling technologies enabled.

FSR, DLSS and XeSS, which the new development will potentially compete with, are designed for use with video cards and graphics chips of desktop processors, while ASR is a solution entirely for mobile platforms. But since the ARM architecture is becoming more widespread today, the technology will be applicable to smartphones, tablets, and portable computers. For example, such as new Microsoft Copilot+PC laptops and others. In theory, this should make them more competitive in terms of compatibility with games, including the most modern and demanding titles.

There is a difference, isn't there? And it's clearly in ASR's favor.

Already at this stage, there is no doubt about the widespread use of upscaling technology. ARM uses open source code, which facilitates the widespread implementation and further development of the technology. In addition, it is initially optimized for mobile GPUssignificantly reducing power consumption compared to rendering in native resolution. This means that it is theoretically suitable for use on devices with far from the most powerful hardware.

Comparison of ARM ASR and AMD FSR 2.0

ASR provides a really powerful fps boost

According to ARM, ASR shows impressive results:

Performance gain: on a device with GPU Arm Immortalis-G720 (a popular GPU found in flagship smartphone processors) and a 2800×1260 ASR display delivers a 53% frame rate boost over native resolution rendering.
Superiority over competitors: ASR performs better than AMD FSR 2 and Qualcomm GSR in tests on mobile devices
Energy efficiency: tests on smartphones with MediaTek Dimensity 9300 chipset showed that rendering at 540p and then upscaling to 1080p via ASR consumes significantly less power than rendering at native 1080p.

ASR energy consumption analysis (using Bistro Daylight as an example):

Energy efficiency is the key for mobile devices

As can be seen from the table, the use of ASR allows for significant reduce GPU load and the overall energy consumption of the device. Moreover, users will not even have to choose between scaling modes, because the top-end one is almost no different in terms of resource consumption from the basic one.

What do we have as a bottom line:

ASR delivers higher performance gains than AMD FSR 2: 53% versus 36% for FSR 2 at 2x scaling.
ASR performs better at all scaling factors than Qualcomm GSR.
ASR is significantly superior to the first generation FSR in performance and image quality.

When will ARM Accuracy Super Resolution appear?

ARM Accuracy Super Resolution represents a significant step forward in mobile gaming and power efficiency, offering significant increases in performance and image quality while reducing power consumption. In fact, ASR challenges the established industry giants and has every chance of becoming the de facto standard for high-end mobile gaming.

Open source code clearly facilitates rapid adoption and further improvement of ASR. In addition, there is no doubt that the technology will be available not only on future processors, but also on existing ones. As the ecosystem of ARM devices evolves – from smartphones to laptops – ASR can play a key role in ensuring high-quality gameplay with optimal use of resources.

Of course, it is too early to talk about real superiority. After all, ASR efficiency must still be confirmed by independent tests on a wide range of devices and games. The success of the technology will also depend on support from game developers and device manufacturers. But if there is no comparable response from competitors, ASR may become the very technology that will help achieve high quality even without heavy and expensive gaming devices.