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What is PSSR? Rumoured PS5 Pro upscaling explained

Rumours are swirling around the expected release of a PlayStation 5 Pro in the near future. A key one has been spurred on by some leaks and relate to new upscaling technlogy for the console. Here are the basics on PSSR.

Upscaling is all the rage in PC gaming, with Nvidia’s excellent DLSS technology and AMD’s FSR equivalent being key features in lots of gamers day-to-day experiences now.

But, what of consoles? Well, it looks like the more powerful iteration of the PS5 that’s expected to launch fairly soon could be getting upscaling technology. This is our explainer of just what we expect it to be.

What is PSSR?

PSSR stands for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and is rumoured to be Sony’s upscaling and anti-aliasing feature for the PlayStation 5 Pro. Similar solutions from other brands are able to provide higher quality visuals using techniques that don’t require raw graphical power, which the PS5 Pro will aim to provide with PSSR.

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Details relating to the new PS5 Pro and PSSR emerged through reporting on a leak by YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead, which has then been confirmed by outlet Insider Gaming. As such, it remains taking all of this with a pinch of salt until it has been officially confirmed or verified by additional trusted sources.

The information points towards the PSSR upscaling technology aiming to provide support for 4K 120fps and 8K 60fps on the new Pro console. Like Nvidia’s DLSS technology, PSSR looks set to use machine learning (ML) to provide better performance on the enhanced PS5 console. It aims to provide similar results to PC equivalents too.

PS5 (Slim)
PS5 (Slim) – Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

According to analysis of the leaked materials (via Digital Foundry), it’s expected that the ML solution is integrated into the GPU itself. The method is hoping to achieve 1080p to 4K upscaling at a speed of two miliseconds and lines up with speeds offered by AMD’s non-ML FSR2 upscaler. But, Digital Foundry adds, quality is expected to be of a higher standard than the latter solution.

Analysis has also revealed that developer comments suggest the 250MB footprint of the PSSR technology will enable them to add the upscaling to existing PlayStation games. As such, it seems likely many regular PS5 games will get a boost from this technology on the PS5 Pro, not just specific titles launched with a more powerful machine in mind.

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