PlayStation brings AI upscaling to the base PS5 with QSSR

[Wendy88]

Sony is bringing AI upscaling to the standard PS5, not just the Pro. The new technology is called QSSR, short for Quick Spectral Super Resolution, and it is a lighter version of the PSSR upscaler that launched on the PS5 Pro. Pure Xbox has a good piece on it, including what it might mean for Microsoft's next console. It is a nice bonus for the millions of people who bought the original console

PSSR works by analysing game images pixel by pixel and using AI to upscale them with more detail and stability than older methods. QSSR does the same job with less processing, so it can run on the weaker GPU in the base PS5. It comes out of Project Amethyst, Sony's collaboration with AMD on machine learning for graphics. The aim is sharper images and less shimmering, especially in motion. Fast motion is where older upscalers tended to struggle most

It is debuting in two big games, Marvel's Wolverine and Ghost of Yotei. Sony says it will make the technology available to all PlayStation developers from here on. That means more games could support it over time, although it will depend on developers adding it

Expectations should be realistic, though. Digital Foundry reportedly found a big divide between a game running QSSR on the standard PS5 and PSSR on the Pro. So it is an improvement rather than a way to get Pro quality on a base console. That makes sense, since the Pro has much more dedicated AI hardware

Pure Xbox points out that this is a sign of where Xbox's next console, known as Project Helix, is likely heading too. AI upscaling is clearly becoming standard across consoles, just as DLSS has on PC. Do you think AI upscaling is a real improvement or just a way to cover for weaker hardware? And does this make the PS5 Pro less tempting?

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