Sony is Bringing New AI Upscaling Technology to the Base PlayStation 5

Sony detailed yesterday a new AI upscaling technology that game developers can use to improve the visual quality of their games on the base PlayStation 5. The new technology called Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR) is now enabled on two PlayStation first-party games, Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei, with Sony hoping to get more developers on board.

Sony’s QSSR technology was developed with AMD as part of Project Amethyst, a collaborative effort to push forward machine learning-based technology for graphics and gameplay. However, the technology is different from PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), the more advanced AI upscaling technology available on the PlayStation 5 Pro.

“PSSR analyzes game images pixel by pixel and uses AI to upscale them with more detail and stability than conventional approaches; until now, its computational demands made bringing that experience to PS5 impossible,” the company explained yesterday.

To develop QSSR for the base PS5, Sony and AMD developed two innovations: A “streamlined neural network architecture” and “a hand-tuned implementation that maximizes performance on PS5.” The result should be noticeable improvements in terms of graphical details in PS5 games that take advantage of the new technology.

You can see a demo of the impact of QSSR in Marvel’s Wolverine below:

“QSSR adds more pixel-level clarity and stability to our environments, bringing out extra detail amidst the busy streets of Madripoor, the dense alleyways of Shinjuku, and many other areas across Logan’s epic journey. It’s a perfect companion to the launch of Marvel’s Wolverine, and it brings a great taste of the PS5 Pro experience to our players on PS5,” said Mike Fitzgerald, Head of Technology at Insomniac Games.

QSSR seems like a well-timed innovation to make current-gen games look better on the PlayStation 5, which is now six years into its lifecycle. It will be interesting to see if Sony and Rockstar Games also use QSSR as part of their joint promotion efforts for the upcoming GTA 6, which is already being marketed as “playing best on PS5.”