Sony brings AI graphics upscaling to the regular PS5
Sony is rolling out a new AI upscaling mode called Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR) for the standard PlayStation 5, developed as part of Project Amethyst in collaboration with AMD. QSSR is positioned as a lower-performance tier compared with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) on the PS5 Pro, and will be made available to developers broadly.
Why It Matters
The addition of QSSR could improve image sharpness on many existing PS5 titles without requiring new hardware, offering developers an easier route to deploy AI upscaling on the base console. Because the regular PS5 lacks dedicated machine-learning silicon, QSSR is expected to deliver a lower effective upscale (closer to 1440p) than PSSR’s upscaled 4K on PS5 Pro.
Key Facts
- New tech: Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR)
- Origin: Result of Sony's Project Amethyst work with AMD
- Comparison: PSSR on PS5 Pro described by Sony as the 'gold standard'
- Performance expectation: QSSR likely produces an upscale closer to 1440p on PS5 vs upscaled 4K on PS5 Pro
- Developer deployment: Sony says QSSR is a drop-in replacement for PSSR after a few days of tuning and will be offered broadly to PlayStation developers
Sony announced a new AI upscaling option for the standard PlayStation 5 called Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR). The company said QSSR is a new performance tier of its spectral upscaling work and stems from Project Amethyst, a collaboration with AMD. Sony positioned this mode as distinct from PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), the higher-performance system available on the PS5 Pro.
Early hands-on reporting from Digital Foundry indicates QSSR will not match PSSR’s performance on the PS5 Pro, primarily because the base PS5 lacks dedicated machine-learning hardware. As a result, developers and players should expect QSSR’s output on the regular PS5 to more closely resemble an upscaled 1440p image rather than the upscaled 4K output that PSSR typically provides on the PS5 Pro.
Sony’s principal graphics R&D engineer Daniel Craig told Digital Foundry that while PS5 Pro titles commonly target 4K and scale downward from there, teams working on the standard PS5 need to tune render and presentation targets more flexibly. Craig also said QSSR can serve as a drop-in replacement for titles already using PSSR after only a few days of tuning, which Sony says increases the likelihood developers will adopt it. The company plans to make QSSR widely available to PlayStation developers.
Two upcoming or updated games — Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei — are the first to support QSSR, with patches released to add the option on PS5. Digital Foundry described the potential impact as significant for this console generation, noting that low native resolution and weak upscaling have affected many titles and that QSSR could noticeably sharpen visuals in affected games.
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