What you need to know
- Microsoft has announced Clarity Boost, a feature for Xbox Cloud Gaming that enhances the visual quality of streamed games.
- Clarity Boost is exclusive to Microsoft Edge, and is currently only available on the Microsoft Edge Canary browser.
- Microsoft has committed to making Clarity Boost available for all Edge users by 2022.
In a new blog post, Microsoft has announced the arrival of Clarity Boost, a feature exclusive to Xbox Cloud Gaming on the Microsoft Edge browser that "uses a set of client-side scaling improvements to improve the visual quality of the video stream." Based on the below sample image that Microsoft included in the blog post, Clarity Boost makes noticeable improvements to image sharpness and overall level of detail.
Right now, Clarity Boost is only available through the (free) Microsoft Edge Canary browser, which is a version of Edge that Microsoft often uses for testing new features, additions, and changes. However, Microsoft has stated that Clarity Boost will be available to all Microsoft Edge users by 2022, meaning that you won't have to wait long to use Clarity Boost if you're not a fan of Microsoft Edge Canary.
To try Clarity Boost, Microsoft says you'll need to do the following:
- Download Microsoft Edge Canary
- To confirm you are in Microsoft Edge Canary, navigate to edge://settings/help to make sure you are on version 96.0.1033.0 or later.
- To enable Clarity Boost, go to www.xbox.com/play, login and start a game
- Open the more actions (…) menu
- Select the Enable Clarity Boost option.
To get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, you'll need to be an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber. Subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are typically $15/month, though sometimes Microsoft sells subscriptions for as low as $1.
All-you-can-eat gaming
For a relatively low monthly fee, Xbox Game Pass gives you access to hundreds of high-quality games across Android, Xbox consoles, and PC. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a slightly more expensive variant of the service that includes access to the Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service across Xbox consoles, PCs, and mobile devices.
