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Microsoft’s Automatic Super Resolution, or Auto SR, has officially left preview. You can now use it on the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally X20, and supported AMD Ryzen-powered Copilot+ PCs.
For those who don’t know, Auto SR uses AI to upscale games so they look sharper without demanding more from your hardware. The preview had a few annoying limits, and this release fixes most of them.
Can you use Auto SR without a dock now?
In the Insider preview, the feature only worked while docked. Microsoft figured sharper visuals would be easiest to notice on a big screen.
That made sense on paper, but it ignored the whole point of owning a handheld. The good news is that Auto SR now runs on the built-in screen, whether your device is charging or on battery. Microsoft added this after hearing from players, and I think it’s the most useful change in this release.
The other fix is more subtle. Most games on these handhelds default to 1080p, the screen’s native resolution, but the preview didn’t work until you dropped the resolution.
Plenty of people missed that step, so the feature never turned on. Now 1080p games work out of the box, and once you dock, the image can be upscaled to 1440p. Microsoft admits 1080p performance on the internal display isn’t ideal, though older games should still look better.
Do you still have to choose between Auto SR and Auto HDR?
Auto HDR adds HDR effects to games never built for it, and until now, turning it on meant switching off Auto SR. That changes today, as both these features work in tandem now, greatly enhancing the visual quality of the games.
There’s also a new Performance Mode. Previously, the frame rate hovered around 60 to 75 FPS with Auto SR enabled. Performance Mode lifts that to 120 FPS, and I’d expect racing games and shooters to benefit the most.
Handheld play, 1080p support, and the expanded Copilot+ PC lineup are live today. Performance Mode and Auto HDR compatibility are tied to upcoming Windows updates, so they may take longer to arrive.
