I’d imagine this is something the HW has to support, and the software has to implement a solution via that HW support. I’m really excited to see SteamOS coming up as the next mobile linux platform. With the support from Valve, I’d consider a steam deck or similar over other tablet options.
This seems more like just a reality of LCD / LED display tech than anything. CRTs (remember those?) can do a lot of resolutions pretty well no problem, but new stuff not so much. I remember using a lower rez on early LCDs as a ‘free AA’ effect before AA got better/cheaper. This just seems like a response to folks getting ~4k or similar high rez displays and gfx card performance unable to keep up.
I was just playing around with gamescope that allows for this kind of scaling stuff (linux with AMD gfx). Seems kinda cool, but not exactly a killer feature type thing. It’s very similar to the reprojection algos used for VR.
SteamOS will be coming to other handhelds before you can install it on your PC 'because right now, it's very, very tuned for Steam Deck' (www.pcgamer.com)
Nvidia Says Native Resolution Gaming is Out, DLSS is Here to Stay (www.tomshardware.com)