Home NewsSony Patent Unveils Secret of PS5 Pro’s PSSR 2.0

Sony Patent Unveils Secret of PS5 Pro’s PSSR 2.0

by Bruno Pferd

Key Takeaways

Created with AI - we're still experimenting, so apologies if it misses the mark

  • The PlayStation 5 Pro features an artificial intelligence upscaling technology called PSSR, which can deliver sharp, smooth images in 4K resolution.
  • Some games have experienced visual glitches with the initial version of PSSR, leading to Sony developing a significant upgrade: PSSR 2.0.
  • PSSR 2.0 is designed to maintain high frame rates and sharp internal resolution, especially in action-heavy games like shooters and racers. It will feature real-time AI adjustment to prevent frame rate drops and resolution reductions.
  • The upcoming PSSR 2.0 could potentially enable more games to achieve 4K at 120fps, optimize resolutions like 1440p and 1080p at extremely high update rates, and reduce render times in fast-action games. The technology may reach game development studios between the beginning and end of Q1 2026.

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Sony equipped the PlayStation 5 Pro with significantly more powerful hardware than the original console, including a beefier GPU and faster memory. However, its most significant advancement may be its artificial intelligence upscaling technology, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). Instead of rendering each pixel at the highest possible resolution, PSSR renders images at a lower native resolution and then employs an intelligent algorithm to upscale them to 4K. This process, similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS or AMD’s FSR on PC, delivers a sharp, smooth image, tailored specifically for the console. The initial version of PSSR, however, has presented challenges. Some games, such as Silent Hill 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, exhibit severe visual glitches, like noisy reflections and shimmering vegetation. In these instances, PSSR can make the PS5 Pro’s image quality worse than the base PS5 in certain modes.

To address these issues, Sony is developing a significant upgrade: PSSR 2.0. A patent filed with WIPO details this new feature, designed to maintain high frame rates and sharp internal resolution, especially in action-heavy games like shooters and racers. While it remains unclear whether PSSR 2.0 will be integrated into the PS5 Pro’s firmware or software development kit (SDK), its integration could enable more games to reach 4K resolution at 120fps and boost lower resolutions like 1440p and 1080p to super-fast refresh rates, while also reducing render times. The patent reveals that PSSR 2.0 will feature real-time AI adjustment, ensuring a steady frame rate without sacrificing internal resolution, leveraging technology from AMD’s FSR4. Mark Cerny, the system architect behind the PS5 Pro, is collaborating with Sony on this development.

The patent describes a method for preventing frame rate drops and resolution reductions in PS5 Pro games without requiring developers to lower the game’s base resolution for PSSR 2.0. The core innovation is real-time quantization. When a game faces an overload of data, potentially causing frame rate dips, PSSR 2.0 may temporarily reduce the precision of its convolutional neural networks (CNN)—a machine learning system used to enhance image resolution—to maintain consistent performance. According to a patent from Sony Interactive Entertainment, discovered by Tech4Gamers and detailed by Wccftech, PSSR 2.0’s dynamic adjustment of AI precision in real-time allows it to maintain performance without dropping native resolution. This is achieved through real-time quantization and by incorporating elements from AMD’s FSR4 technology, leveraging AMD’s expertise in this area. The system continuously monitors CPU and GPU load, and during demanding moments, it slightly reduces the precision of AI calculations. This stabilizes frame rates without forcing the game to lower its internal resolution. Once the demanding moment subsides, the AI returns to maximum precision, ensuring optimal visual sharpness while correcting visual errors and artifacts present in the current version. The result of this patented efficiency is that PSSR 2.0 could:

Revolutionizing PS5 Pro Gaming with PSSR 2.0 for Enhanced Resolutions and Smoother Frames

Enable more games to achieve 4K at 120fps. Optimize resolutions like 1440p and 1080p at extremely high update rates. Reduce render times, increasing fluidity in fast-action games. This updated PSSR architecture may reach game development studios between the beginning and end of Q1 2026. The aim is for the technology to improve both upcoming games and address issues in already-released titles bearing the “PS5 Pro Enhanced” label, potentially bringing the PS5 Pro’s performance closer to that of a high-end gaming PC. With these potential improvements on the horizon, the question remains: will PSSR 2.0 finally resolve the visual issues of the PS5 Pro?

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Sony Patent Unveils Secret of PS5 Pro's PSSR 2.0 PS5 Pro 6

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