Newly released Nintendo patents show plans for scaling DLSS-style AI

Two patents filed by Nintendo were recently released, showing the company’s potential plans for AI scaling technology.

The patents, which were originally filed in March 2020 but were released Thursday, detail “systems and methods for converting machine-learned images.”

It describes the process of taking a source image, dividing it into blocks of pixels, and giving each block some contextual data. These are then all added to an “activation matrix”, which goes through a trained neural network to convert the image to a higher resolution.

While Nintendo’s purpose is not precisely clear for this patent – which at the time of writing has yet to be approved – it does list a few examples of how the process can be implemented.

An example given details a process similar to the main functionality of the Switch, where a game can run at a resolution while a device is powered by a battery, but when it is plugged into a power outlet or connected to a TV, the output can be increased to 1080p.

Another example discusses the potential use of the process in cloud gaming, where cloud-based systems can send a low-resolution compressed image to the player’s device, which will then use AI to upgrade it. to 1080p on the user side to reduce latency.

Nintendo includes a diagram with the patent that shows a 540p image converted to a 1080p image. He does mention, however, that other upscaling processes, including upscaling to 4K, would be possible.

He declares: “It will be understood that, although the example shown […] relates to transforming a 540p image to a 1080p image, the techniques described here can be applied to other image sizes (e.g. 720p to 1080p, 480p to 1080p, 1080p to 1440p, 1080p to 4K, 720p to 4k , etc.).

It was reported and expected earlier this year that Nintendo was set to announce a new “Switch Pro” model that included support for 4K resolution.

Instead, the company announced the Nintendo Switch OLED model in July, which features a larger 7-inch OLED display, but no 4K capabilities.