PlayStation 5 consoles are getting AI-upscaled graphics.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is bringing AI-upscaled graphics to base PlayStation 5 consoles, after adding a similar feature called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) to PlayStation 5 Pro. The PS5’s version of this is called Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR), and will serve to add “notable improvements to both image detail and image stability on PS5.”
Players won’t have to wait long to try the feature out, as both Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei are already being patched to offer QSSR as a new graphical option.
What is Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR) on PlayStation?
Sony is adding a way for players to AI-upscale their video games, allowing for more detailed graphical fidelity and higher image stability. The feature, Quick Spectral Super Resolution, follows up on PS5 Pro’s PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, and is meant to bring similar graphical improvements to base PS5 consoles.
In-game, QSSR will be featured as an additional graphical option on certain PS5 games. Currently, however, only Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei feature the option. In a PlayStation Blog post, developer Insomniac Games explained the benefits of QSSR in Marvel’s Wolverine:
“QSSR adds more pixel-level clarity and stability to our environments, bringing out extra detail amidst the busy streets of Madripoor, the dense alleyways of Shinjuku, and many other areas across Logan’s epic journey. It’s a perfect companion to the launch of Marvel’s Wolverine, and it brings a great taste of the PS5 Pro experience to our players on PS5.”
Ghost of Yōtei developer Sucker Punch Productions also explained:
“QSSR excels at resolving the fine details in our characters and environments and does so with a level of temporal stability that hasn’t been possible on the PS5 console until now. We’ve long wished that all PS5 players could experience the incredible image quality that PSSR brings to PS5 Pro, and QSSR is a positive step towards that goal!”
AI upscaling features like PSSR and Nvidia’s DLSS serve to improve gameplay performance by bumping up framerates and in-game resolutions by using real-time machine-learning AI. This means that games can outperform in the hardware they’re being played on, however slightly, so long as the features are turned on.
While QSSR serves as a more lightweight version of the PS5 Pro’s PSSR, comparison images in the PlayStation Blog still show noticeable improvements. When zoomed into background models like buildings and foliage, the game maintains a finer level of detail with QSSR turned on.
Sony has noted that QSSR will be “offered broadly to all PlayStation developers,” so it’s likely that these improvements will be felt in more games moving forward.
