AI Upscaling notes:
The new AI Upscaling feature allows lower resolution videos (1080p and lower) to be upscaled using new AI features for a noticeable improvement in picture quality. This process is performed locally on device and can be enabled/disabled in the Playback Settings menu. This new feature is available on devices which include an A16 (and later) and all M-series chips. There is not currently an Apple TV device that features a new enough chip, but presumably the next model will include one that is able to support these new features. However, the Apple TV is now able to take advantage of the ‘Advanced Upscaling’ features for high-framerate (50+ fps) videos which were added in an earlier update.
Currently, the default setting is ‘Auto’ which enables AI upscaling for all videos which are under 50fps. You can enable AI upscaling for 50 and 60fps videos by changing this setting to ‘Enabled’. We may adjust the default behavior in the future as we gather more real world feedback.
A set of images showing the comparison between the previous upscaling features (which were already pretty good) and the new AI upscaling are below.
I had a couple of questions and would really appreciate your insight:
• Why isn’t this feature available on Apple TV? Is there a specific reason, or is it something that might be added in the future?
• Regarding AI video upscaling, is it an automatic process? I tried playing a 360p video in my iPhone 16 Pro Max, but I didn’t notice any improvement. Is there something I need to enable, or am I misunderstanding how this feature works?
I hope that the image upscaling AI (image upscaling is something that every TV already does nowadays) is to pave the way for implementing features that are much more essential than image upscaling, such as AI subtitle synchronization.
TVs certainly have upscaling features built in, but these are designed to take content from lower resolution sources (such as a DVD Player) and upscale that 480p signal to 4K (or whatever resolution your TV is).
However, if you have an Apple TV 4K your TV is going to be getting a 4K signal so there is really nothing to upscale. It will just display it as-is. The same idea applies to other non-TV Apple devices.
That means Infuse is the one who gets to handle the upscaling and these new AI features provide pretty substantial gains in this area.
I have an LG Oled and have never been very impressed by its upscaling. I would enjoy any qualitative comparison between TV upscaling and this AI based one. In any case, I’m looking forward to this arriving on Apple TV when that gets updated.
Does your TV have the ability to play video files from a thumb drive? If so, just copy a 480 file to a thumb drive and let the TV play it, then copy that same video to your Infuse server and play it with Infuse.
The AI upscaling is so subtle that it’s hard to tell if it’s making any real impact. The difference between the before and after photos is barely noticeable.
Like I said, I hope this paves the way to other AI features, specially regarding subtitles. As a foreigner, Infuse falls short when it comes to subtitles.
Maybe it is me… i have a new MAC STUDIO (december 2024). Infuse is set at Max (unlimited) upscaling and AI Upscaling to Enabled.
I dont see any difference. Plus, the movie played, instantly continues after exiting the settings, if it is upscaling anything, at least it would take some time i guess. The movie resolution is 360p.
