Microsoft Edge users are getting a useful new feature that will allow them to upscale old, low-quality videos

According to Microsoft, one of out of three internet videos played in Edge are 480p or less. There are a number of possible reasons, including a media provider serving a low-quality version of the video or the original being shot in low-resolution. The company wants to change this and is leveraging the power of AI and machine learning to enhance video quality during playback.

We are excited to introduce an experimental video enhancement experience, powered by AI technology from Microsoft research called Video Super Resolution. It is a technology that uses machine learning to enhance the quality of any video watched in a browser. It accomplishes this by removing blocky compression artifacts and upscaling video resolution so you can enjoy crisp and clear videos on YouTube, and other streaming platforms that play video content without sacrificing bandwidth no matter the original video resolution.

Because of the computational requirements, the feature is only available on computers with either an Nvidia RTX 20/30/40 series GPU or an AMD RX5700-RX7800 series.

The video being upscaled should also be played at less than 720p, should not be taller or wider than 192 pixels, and it cannot be protected by DRM.

The experimental feature is available to 50% of users in the Canary channel.