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The PS5 Pro is well and truly out of the bag and coming November 7 for $700, with PS5 Pro pre-order details out now. Now that we know the full PS5 vs PS5 Pro specs, the most exciting feature may be the one with no clock speeds or read rates attached: PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR.
This AI-driven upscaling method has been positioned as Sony's latest answer to the Nvidia DLSS tech and AMD FSR tech that benefits hundreds of games on PC. It is, simply put, super sampling, which conventionally uses AI to upscale and improve image quality without the usual performance cost, while also using machine learning to generate frames to further reduce performance impact.
The exact methodology varies slightly between DLSS, FSR, and now surely PSSR as well, but the key takeaway is that we've repeatedly seen such super sampling techniques lead to dramatic frame rate boosts. With help from features like this, you may be able to play games at higher resolutions and graphics settings while still maintaining a better frame rate than you would normally get in the graphics-to-performance tug-of-war.
Performance varies between systems and GPUs, with the likes of DLSS3 being exclusive to Nvidia's 40XX RTX GPUs, as well as specific games, but it's a proven benefit. New-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X were already equipped with some level of automatic super sampling (in this case, thanks to the AMD architecture), but Sony's PSSR seems to be a substantial push to bring the tech to console.
This is especially relevant since new-gen consoles traditionally split games into fidelity and performance modes, letting users prioritize graphical detail or frame rate and responsiveness. (Most users go for performance mode, and so do I.) Super sampling could help bridge that gap, folding in more graphical bells and whistles without tanking FPS.
In the PS5 Pro reveal presentation, lead system architect Mark Cerny described PSSR as one of the console's "big three" features, paired with a stronger GPU and advanced ray tracing. "We added custom hardware for machine learning and an AI library," he explained. "PSSR analyzes the game images pixel by pixel and can add an extraordinary amount of detail which boosts the effective resolution of the games."
In a PlayStation Blog post, Sony platform business group CEO Hideakin Nishino adds: "We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail."
Yep, that sounds like super sampling, all right. Cerny talks up games showing "something like [fidelity mode] levels of detail but at double the frame rate," and that sounds like the (best-case) effects of super sampling. Altogether, Sony bragged about the PS5 Pro's capabilities by comparing The Last of Us Part 2, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Ratchet & Clank running on regular ol' PS5s, and the difference genuinely is noticeable. PSSR may not sell you (or, frankly, me) on a $700 mid-gen upgrade, but it is some seriously promising tech.
