Sony has announced a new AI-based upscaling technology for the standard PlayStation 5, bringing some of the image-quality improvements previously associated with PSSR on the PS5 Pro to the original console. Called Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR), the technology will initially be available in Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei.

The folks over at Digital Foundry recently spent around six hours testing QSSR and found that it can make a noticeable difference, particularly in games that start from lower internal resolutions. Marvel’s Wolverine showed the biggest improvement of the two games tested, with better image stability, increased detail, improved handling of small visual elements, and fewer artifacts around moving objects such as foliage.

The difference was less dramatic in Ghost of Yōtei, but that’s partly because the game already produces relatively good image quality without QSSR. This suggests that the technology could be most useful for PS5 games where low rendering resolutions and existing upscaling methods result in noticeably softer or less stable images.

How much difference does QSSR make?

That said, QSSR is based on ideas from PSSR, Sony’s machine-learning upscaler for the PS5 Pro, but getting something similar running on the standard PS5 required major changes. Unlike the Pro, the regular PS5 doesn’t have the same dedicated machine-learning hardware, so QSSR primarily relies on FP16 calculations and a more streamlined neural network.

That also means there is a performance cost. Digital Foundry tested Marvel’s Wolverine in an uncapped performance mode, where QSSR was around 1.5ms to 1.8ms slower than Insomniac’s existing upscaler when taking an internal resolution of 864p and producing a 1440p output. In this particular test, that translated into a difference of around 8 to 10 FPS.

However, the situation changes when the game is targeting a locked 60 FPS. Dynamic resolution scaling can lower the internal resolution to compensate for QSSR’s additional processing cost, allowing the game to maintain a similar frame rate while producing noticeably better image quality.

Upscaling all the way to 4K is much more demanding. Digital Foundry measured a roughly 4.4ms QSSR cost during its Marvel’s Wolverine fidelity-mode testing, suggesting that 1440p is a much more natural target for the technology on the standard PS5.

Interestingly, Ghost of Yōtei showed QSSR performing close to its existing FSR 3 implementation during an uncapped performance-mode test. So, more games will be needed to establish exactly how expensive QSSR is under different conditions.

In any case, the standard PS5 still won’t match the PS5 Pro, which has dedicated hardware for machine-learning workloads and can use PSSR with higher internal and output resolutions. Still, Digital Foundry’s early testing suggests QSSR could provide a substantial visual upgrade for standard PS5 games where existing upscaling solutions struggle.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.