Sony has revealed its new QSSR upscaling tech for the base PS5, with tech analysts confirming an 'exceptional' quality boost for Marvel's Wolverine, while Ghost of Yotei 'saw less dramatic improvements'

Sony has unveiled Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR), its innovative AI upscaling technology designed for the base PS5. This new machine-based upscaling tech promises significant image-quality enhancements, according to analysts at Digital Foundry. QSSR differs from PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) with two key innovations: a streamlined neural network architecture and a hand-tuned implementation to maximize PS5 performance.

While PSSR remains the gold standard on PS5 Pro, QSSR brings notable improvements to both image detail and stability on the base PS5. Titles like Marvel's Wolverine and Ghost of Yotei were among the first to employ QSSR. The tech significantly boosts image quality, improving temporal stability, detail level, sub-pixel integrity, and reducing artifacts caused by moving foliage.

However, the impact on Ghost of Yotei was less dramatic, as the game already boasts impressive image quality. An analyst from Digital Foundry showcased a Wolverine cutscene in Performance Mode uncapped with QSSR enabled, revealing a noticeable visual upgrade, albeit at the cost of a frame rate hit of 8 to 10 frames per second. Despite the lower frame rate, the frame time cost of QSSR is deemed reasonable for the exceptional results it delivers from a low base resolution on hardware lacking ML acceleration.

The efficiency of QSSR becomes apparent in 60fps graphics modes with dynamic resolution scaling, where performance remains practically identical with or without the upscaler enabled, resulting in a better overall experience. While QSSR may cause slight frame dips in Ghost of Yotei when enabled at 120Hz VRR, the imperceptible differences make it almost negligible compared to the marked improvement in visual quality over PSSR.