PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), an upscaling technology that Sony Interactive Entertainment introduced last November with the launch of the PS5 Pro, will be succeeded by an improved iteration that delivers visual quality on par with FidelityFX Super Resolution 4, AMD’s new cutting-edge ML-powered upscaling technology for Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs, according to new information that PS5 and PS5 Pro lead architect Mark Cerny has shared with the gaming press.
“Our target is to have something very similar to FSR 4’s upscaler available on PS5 Pro for 2026 titles as the next evolution of PSSR,” Cerny told Digital Foundry in a new interview before going on to confirm that AMD developed FSR 4 in collaboration with Sony.
“The neural network (and training recipe) in FSR 4’s upscaler are the first results of the Amethyst collaboration,” he explained. “And results are excellent, it’s a more advanced approach that can exceed the crispness of PSSR. I’m very proud of the work of the joint team!”
Here’s a peek at what PSSR2 may mean for PS5 Pro owners when it launches next year:
And here’s a look at how FSR 4 compares with DLSS 3 and DLSS 4, NVIDIA’s options for GeForce gamers:
“We’re 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,” PlayStation said of the new technology when it was introduced in September 2024.
Future games that will support PSSR include METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER, per remarks fromthat Yuji Korekado (Creative Producer at Konami Digital Entertainment) shared ahead of the PS5 Pro’s launch:
“In Metal Gear Solid Delta, the innovative PSSR technology allows for the trees and the lush vegetation of the game’s iconic jungle terrain to become more vivid, and enhances the sense of realism of infiltrating through a natural environment. Additionally, we are able to deliver a smoother gameplay experience with better framerates throughout the entire game.”
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Sony Engineer Reveals PSSR 2.0 Secrets in SIGGRAPH 2026 Talk
A fascinating look behind the curtain.
a new SIGGRAPH 2026 talk from Sony principal software engineer Daniel Craig goes into a lot more detail about how the upgraded model works under the hood
By asking the neural network to do less, the Sony and AMD engineers behind PSSR managed to address key limitations found in the original implementation, where the system attempted to handle everything from temporal accumulation to complex HDR colour blending.
new PSSR architecture transitions from a colour-predicting network to a kernel-predicting network (KPN). The neural network now focuses strictly on identifying edges and distinguishing detail from noise, while conventional GPU operations handle the actual HDR colour blending and final reconstruction.
source advances.realtimerendering.com
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