Sony surprised the gaming community with a significant firmware update on March 16 for the PlayStation 5 Pro, which introduced an enhanced version of PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution). Este revised feature, the result of the Projeto Amethyst collaboration with AMD, promises a revolution in the visual quality of games, transforming the experience in several titles.
The update not only implemented the new technology in a specific selection of games, but also made an in-system option available for users to enable “PSSR2”, replacing the previous version which had some notable shortcomings. The main focus lies on revisiting games where the original PSSR did not achieve the expected result and demonstrating the positive impact of the new iteration.
This release is particularly relevant for titles that rely heavily on upscaling to optimize performance and graphical fidelity. The ability to swap the old scaler for the new directly via system software is a differentiator, offering gamers greater control over image quality and a noticeable improvement without requiring specific patches for each legacy game.
Enhancement activation and scope
The new PSSR can be activated in three different ways on the PS5 Pro, providing users with flexibility. Firstly, a list of 11 titles were designated by the developers to receive the update automatically, with the system software removing any trace of the first PSSR and installing the optimized version. Cinco of these games have already been analyzed, demonstrating initial improvements.
The second and more comprehensive option is “Quality of Imagem Aprimorada”, available in the system’s user interface. Desativada by default, its activation allows any game or demo that uses the old PSSR to benefit from the new version, extending the improvement to a vast library of titles. Finalmente, a small group of recent games such as Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert, is now released with the new integrated upscalers, ensuring the best quality from launch.
Officially, there are 13 games that natively use the new PSSR, either because they are recent releases or because they are part of the system’s software compatibility list. However, to maximize the benefits across your entire game collection, enabling the “Enhance PSSR image quality” option is critical, extending improvements beyond explicitly supported titles.
Visible advances in rendering
After activating the enhancement option, improvements become evident in the vast majority of games. Em Gran Turismo 7, for example, details such as the thin edges of cars and the lines painted on the asphalt demonstrate greater coherence in movement, eliminating breaks and tremors that were previously noticeable. Títulos that already had decent support for the original PSSR, like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, now boast an even sharper presentation, with distant texture details resolved with greater clarity.
Early PSSR was known for introducing peculiar noise, similar to film grain, into still images. “PSSR2” eradicates this problem, delivering a cleaner, more stable image. The new upscaler’s ability to handle more complex reconstruction scenarios has also been significantly improved, especially those using Lumen’s RTGI (Real-Time Global Illumination) software. The original PSSR often interpreted the Lumen’s artifacts as noise, amplifying imperfections, but the new version better distinguishes genuine details from stochastic noise, achieving stability comparable to that of the Epic’s own TSR scaler.
Improvements in complex scenarios
Foliage posed a particular challenge for the first-gen PSSR, with visually rich games like Avatar: The “PSSR2” overcomes these limitations by doing a superior job of maintaining foliage quality and suppressing unwanted noise.
Titles like Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Star Wars Outlaws also benefit from visible improvements, presenting a cleaner image. While there may be a slight increase in flicker in some specific scenarios, the overall gain in visual clarity is undeniable. Esta improved ability to handle complex environmental elements contributes to much greater immersion and a more enjoyable visual experience.
Particles and transparencies are other effects that have historically challenged upscaling processors, due to the lack of motion vectors available for technologies to work on these elements. Frequentemente, these effects were attenuated or even disappeared. While the original PSSR was already reasonable in this regard, the updated version offers a sharper presentation of these components, reducing their tendency to dissolve into the background and ensuring that dynamic details remain visible.
Enhanced reflections and detailed patterns
The quality of screen space reflections has also seen a noticeable improvement with the implementation of “PSSR2”. Em Astrobot, for example, a previous implementation of PSSR resulted in noticeable flickering in screen space reflections (SSR). Essa issue was resolved with the new upscaler, which provides much more stable and coherent reflections. The correction significantly improves visual fidelity in environments with many reflective surfaces.
Moiré patterns on fine fabrics and highly reflective surfaces, such as those seen in the opening scenes of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, have also been substantially improved. The improved resolution suggests a greater capacity for detail on the part of “PSSR2”, which results in more realistic textures and surfaces that are less prone to unwanted visual artifacts, raising the level of graphical polish in areas that were previously problematic.
Persistent challenges and considerations
Despite extensive improvements, “PSSR2” is not a universal solution to all upscaling problems, and there is still no fully complete upscaler that can solve all the quirks. Peculiaridades specific new PSSR or existing artifacts may manifest in different, but not always perfect, ways. For example, in Star Wars Jedi Survivor, ray traced reflections may be excessively sharp and noisy in motion, especially in scenes with lots of water. Alguns users may even prefer the smoother look of the old version.
It is crucial to weigh these artifacts against superior results obtained in other areas. Além In addition, a subtle dot pattern has been observed in some new PSSR presentations, incorporated into the textures, which, while not particularly bothersome, is also not ideal. Similarly, Dragon’s Dogma 2 exemplifies where “PSSR2” excels and where it still struggles. Superficialmente, performance is excellent, but distant foliage can still appear strangely blurry.
Likewise, the “gaps” in RTGI issues – where moving the camera reveals missing or undersampled areas of global illumination that fill in over time – remain, especially in low-resolution performance mode. Em Assassin’s Creed Shadows, heavy rainfall sometimes disappears in certain scenarios. However, these drawbacks are minor when compared to the overall improvements and do not diminish the positive impact of the update, which manifests itself in a much wider range of situations.
Unchanged performance and dilemma of Sony
Additional testing confirmed that the “PSSR2”, despite its numerous visual benefits, maintains the same operating cost as the first generation PSSR. Mark Cerny, PlayStation architect, even stated that the new version is 100 microseconds faster, indicating that there is no compromise in performance. Esta finding was corroborated in tests with Monster Hunter Wilds and Hogwarts Legacy, where the differences in performance were negligible and within the margin of error.
This performance cost neutrality makes the lack of official updates for Sony exclusive games somewhat curious. The PS5 Pro now offers two upscalers, with one clearly superior to the other, with very few or no disadvantages. The most likely explanation for this gap lies in the company’s internal processes and policies, rather than technological limitations. Desenvolvedores may not be willing to allocate time and resources to a new quality check on already released games, even with the clear benefit. However, there is no reason for users not to enable the image quality enhancement option on their consoles.
Transformative potential for developers
The results observed with “PSSR2” are, in many cases, even more impressive than expected. A notable example is the 60fps performance mode of Alan Wake 2 on the PS5 Esta difference represents a significant advantage for developers.
With the ability to achieve high pixel quality at lower resolutions, studios can focus more on the density and richness of visual detail rather than being overly concerned with raw pixel count. Isso opens doors for graphical innovations and optimization of development resources, allowing you to create even more immersive and visually stunning experiences without compromising overall game performance.
The future of visual quality on PlayStation 5
After analyzing more than 25 games on PlayStation 5 Pro with the new PSSR, the conclusion is that the update represents a great success. Trata is a direct replacement that solves most of the problems of the first generation of upscalers, without imposing any additional performance costs on the system. While there is still room for future improvements and refinements, in terms of image quality, this is the moment when the PlayStation 5 Pro finally begins to resemble the console it was always expected to be. “PSSR2” technology sets a new standard for upscaling in the PlayStation ecosystem, promising a sharper, more visually stunning future for gamers.