How to Use Your Graphics Card to Get Better Streaming Video
If you've invested a substantial number of dollars in an RTX GPU from Nvidia, then you'll want to maximize the return on your investment—and besides the high frame rates and superior rendering you'll get in your games, these graphics cards also come with some useful extras to help boost the quality of streaming video.
Collectively these extras are known as RTX Video: There are two features you can take advantage of, and we might see more in the future. In Nvidia's words, they're "real time AI-based video enhancements", so they use some artificial intelligence tricks to upscale what you're watching, beyond the original quality.
To use these features, you need an RTX 2000, RTX 3000, or RTX 4000 series GPU in your system, and either the Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser on Windows. Before you get started, make sure you're running the latest drivers for your GPU—you can do this through the Nvidia GeForce Experience app that should already be on your system.
Using RTX Video Super Resolution
First up we have RTX Video Super Resolution (VSR), which (as the name suggests) makes videos look like they were recorded in a higher quality: As per Nvidia, it can be like putting on a pair of prescription glasses in the way it sharpens up content. A lot of streaming content is pushed out at 1080p, while many of us use monitors at higher resolutions, and VSR is designed to fix that problem.
The upgrade should work on "most" online video being played through Chrome or Edge, according to Nvidia, and as well as sharpening up the picture and reducing blur, it will also attempt to remove compression artifacts from the video as well. Nvidia says that the technology will work on video resolutions from 360p to 1440p.
To enable it, all you need to do is right-click on a blank area of the desktop, choose Show more options and Nvidia Control Panel, and then open the Adjust video image settings tab. Enable the Super Resolution option, and you can choose a quality level from 1 to 4 (or have your GPU adjust it automatically). A higher quality level means your videos look better, but it's also more demanding on your system.
Click Apply to enable the feature, and then try playing some videos—you'll be able to see from the Control Panel when the technology is being applied (and at what level, if you've left the Auto setting in place). You can even make adjustments as a video is being played—just remember to click the Apply button to see the difference—and switch to full screen mode for the best results.
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Using RTX Video HDR
Next up is RTX Video HDR, which applies high dynamic range to online videos. HDR is a technology that ensures a wider range of brightness and color in an image—in practical terms, it means you can see details being rendered even in really dark and really light parts of the frame, details that would otherwise not be clear.
Compressed videos streaming online are often in SDR, or standard dynamic range, so this is an improvement that can really make a difference when it comes to the clarity of what you're watching. Again, Nvidia says it will work on "most" SDR videos, though not on DRM-protected content (as you'll get on Netflix, for example).
For this to work, you're going to need a monitor that supports the HDR10 standard (most modern ones now do). You also need to enable HDR in Windows: Open Settings from the Start menu, then click System, Display, and Use HDR. You can turn HDR on from here, if it's supported by your monitor.
With that done, it's back to the Nvidia Control Panel: Right-click on a blank area of the desktop, and pick Show more options and then Nvidia Control Panel. You'll find the High Dynamic Range checkbox alongside the Video Super Resolution one on the Adjust video image settings tab—once it's enabled, click Apply to confirm.