Sony is rolling out improved PSSR upscaling for the PS5 Pro. Resident Evil Requiem is the first title to feature it – and many more are set to follow in March.
It’s been hinted at for a while, and now it’s official: Sony has announced an improved version of its proprietary AI upscaling technology, PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution). This will be distributed to PS5 Pro owners in the coming weeks, as PS5 chief architect Mark Cerny explains in the accompanying PlayStation Blog post.
The first title to feature the PSSR upgrade has already been confirmed: the newly released Resident Evil Requiem will be the first game to use the more advanced upscaling version.
Few details known – Capcom still excited
Basically, PSSR is an AI library that analyzes game images pixel by pixel and processes them during upscaling. Until now, the technology has been used in the blog post has been used in over 50 titles on the PS5 Pro.
According to Cerny, the new version relies on both a revised neural network and a fundamentally changed algorithm. However, the chief architect does not provide any specific details in this context.
Capcom engineer Masaru Ijuin, who is particularly excited about the new PSSR generation in the wake of the release of Resident Evil Requiem, commented on this:
For example, each individual strand of hair and beard hair is rendered as a polygon, allowing them to move more realistically in response to body movements and wind. The way light falls through his hair also changes depending on how his strands overlap.
The updated PSSR has enabled us to improve our expressiveness by successfully processing these details and structural features.
Capcom also has other reasons to be happy at the moment, as Resident Evil Requiem is currently receiving rave reviews – including from us.
The PlayStation Blog has provided an example comparison to illustrate how the difference should be noticeable:
System software update in March
Sony has announced that it will release further details on the PSSR improvements in March. Several games that have already been released will then also be converted to the improved version.
At the same time, a system software update is planned that will make the “Improve PSSR image quality” option available in the PS5 Pro settings.
The idea behind this option is quite simple: every PS5 game that currently supports PSSR should benefit from the updated version. Once the system update is released on a date that has not yet been specified, Cerny says you should be able to see for yourself that “some games may have noticeably sharper graphics.”
