Sony’s AI Upscaling Technology Now Available for All PS5 Models

Sony is set to enhance the standard PS5 with its AI-driven upscaling technology, a feature that was previously exclusive to the PS5 Pro.

In a recent announcement, the company introduced Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR), a new iteration of its PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution technology that has been available on the PS5 Pro since launch. This technology utilizes AI to upscale game visuals, enhancing detail and stability. QSSR is specifically optimized for the standard PS5, thanks to a refined neural network architecture and a performance-tuned implementation developed in collaboration with AMD as part of Project Amethyst.

While PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) will continue to be the premium option for PS5 Pro users, QSSR will still enhance image detail and stability for standard PS5 owners.

The first titles to receive QSSR support are Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei, both of which are getting patches today to include this new graphics option. Insomniac has noted that the technology enhances the detail and clarity of Wolverine’s environments, while Sucker Punch has indicated improvements in fine details and temporal stability for Ghost of Yōtei.

QSSR won’t be limited to just these two games; Sony plans to make it widely available to PlayStation developers, which could lead to more PS5 titles utilizing AI-assisted upscaling in the future. Although QSSR may not deliver the exact same experience as PSSR on the PS5 Pro, its introduction offers developers an additional tool to balance resolution, image quality, and performance on the standard console.

Early tests suggest that QSSR has more modest performance targets on the standard PS5, which lacks the dedicated machine-learning hardware found in the PS5 Pro. This means developers might need to aim for lower internal and output resolutions when implementing QSSR, as opposed to the 4K output typically associated with PSSR on the Pro model.

Daniel Craig, a principal graphics R&D engineer at Sony, mentioned that QSSR can serve as a straightforward replacement for games that already support PSSR, often requiring just a few days of tuning to implement.