The second generation version of Sony’s PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution has arrived, taking centre stage in the PS5 Pro version of Resident Evil Requiem – confirmed to us by Sony. Let’s be clear here: this is the real deal. Based on AMD’s impressive FSR4, the new PSSR makes good on the idea of bringing a highly competent machine learning-based upscaler to Sony’s enhanced console. This new version not only looks great as a developer-integrated feature in the new Capcom release, but will also be offered as a system level toggle to swap out older PSSR implementations in existing games.
First up, of course, there needs to be some level of caution in making sweeping statements about the new PSSR. This is just one game we’re looking at. Implementations of upscalers can vary in quality from title to title – as seen dramatically in games supporting the first version of the PSSR technology. OG PSSR could look exceptionally good (Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Ghost of Stellar Blade, Ghost of Yōtei etc) but noise and artefacting could be an issue in a range of games. Foliage, fine detail and especially ray-traced content could actually look worse than FSR2 – no mean feat. RT in particular was troublesome: games like Silent Hill f and Silent Hill 2 exhibited unstable lighting and awful processing of reflections.
Mark Cerny announced a while back that the new PSSR would be based on AMD’s FSR4, which should in theory bypass all of these issues – so how does the new upscaler look? Well, in Resident Evil Requiem’s RT mode, we’re upscaling to 4K from a base resolution slightly higher than 1080p. Fine details, such as stitching on character clothing and small text on environmental signage, resolve convincingly on a 4K display. Edge clarity is substantially improved, and the image presents as a legitimately high-quality 4K output at 60fps, aligning with the original promise of PSSR.
It has been noted that the PS5 Pro version does still exhibit some noise in RT scenes – but we can confirm it’s not an issue with PSSR itself, but in Capcom’s denoising solution. You get the same thing on the PC version even when using DLSS 4.5 or FSR4.
Once Sony confirmed with us that the new PSSR is in Resident Evil Requiem, we got to work in comparing the fruits of this Project Amethyst initiative with DLSS and FSR4. The newer DLSS and FSR4 implementations can still retain more apparent resolution in certain motion scenarios: elements in motion can see a touch more aliasing on the new console upscaler, with the underlying circa-1080p input occasionally manifesting in motion more than DLSS or FSR4. However, each upscaler has its pros and cons. Both FSR4 and DLSS can suffer more from ghosting in specific scenarios – the classic TAA-style faint trails on moving objects. The new PSSR avoids this ghosting entirely in Resident Evil Requiem.
Bearing in mind the FSR4 association with the new PSSR, it’s interesting to see these variances. For example, the balance of detail and overall sharpness shifts depending on lighting and content. Sometimes DLSS appears most crisp, followed by PSSR and then a softer FSR4. Text readability suits DLSS, again followed by the new PSSR with FSR4 lagging behind. Elsewhere, distant detail – particularly in Raccoon City – favours FSR4 and DLSS over PSSR. The classic “chain link fence” test also sees the PC upscalers deliver improved outputs.
The thing is, we are applying the same kind of rigour to upscaler comparisons on this console implementation as we do with PC. PC users are typically “lean in” players, in close proximity to the screen, where artefacts are more noticeable. Meanwhile, PSSR is for living room set-ups where the content will likely be viewed at a distance. The first-gen PSSR couldn’t pass muster on many games in this scenario, but this new rendition definitely does.
But this is one game and we need to see more, especially on PSSR implementations where the scaler is dealing with sub-1080p input – something that isn’t the case with Resident Evil Requiem. And content matters too: dark, horror-themed imagery can obscure differences and smooth edges, making it more difficult to thoroughly test the new technology. Even so, with the limited content we have available, Resident Evil Requiem suggests that the new PSSR is comparable to PC upscalers.
We’re also excited about the system-level front-end toggle, an “Enhance PSSR Image Quality” setting in the options. We’re confident that we’ll see a range of title updates that see developers update their games with the new PSSR, but there are bound to be releases that don’t receive the same treatment. Whether they’ll be as effective as native upgrades remains to be seen, but again, we’re looking forward to finding out.
Ultimately though, from what we’ve seen so far, the new PSSR – certainly as presented in Resident Evil Requiem – feels like ML upscaling is finally where it should be on PS5 Pro. It’s delivering sharp, stable and convincing 4K imagery from around one quarter the native pixel count, it’s competitive with PC equivalents and represents a big, big improvement over the PSSR of the past. And the notion that this upgrade may apply to all prior titles that support the older version of the technology is mouthwatering – potentially it’s a system-wide improvement to the console’s library. As soon as we’re able to, we’ll report back with impressions across a wider cross-section of games.