Sony has announced that it’ll be rolling out an upgraded version of its PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling technology for its PS5 Pro console. PS5 Pro lead systems engineer Mark Cerny says that it has been working on a “different” approach to not only the neural network but also the overall PSSR algorithm, and the update will roll out in the coming weeks.
To give PS5 Pro owners an idea of what to expect, Capcom’s Masaru Ijuin revealed how the recently released Resident Evil Requiem will benefit from the upgraded PSSR. Resident Evil Requiem uses an upgraded version of RE Engine, and through it, each strand of hair and beard is rendered as a polygon, Ijuin explained. This allows hair to not only move realistically in response to body motion and wind, but light also changes depending on how it passes through the digital follicles.
“The upgraded PSSR has allowed us to elevate our expressiveness by successfully processing these details and textural particularities, which are traditionally difficult to upscale because of their intricacy,” Ijuin said on the PS Blog. “We hope you will experience this unprecedented level of horror and visual fidelity, and the new gameplay feel it delivers.”
Sony added that the advances made in the new version of PSSR originated from its Project Amethyst partnership with AMD, and there’ll be a further six months of refinement for PS5 Pro players after the update goes live. “We look forward to more news in March, when multiple existing games upgrade to the improved PSSR,” Cerny said. “Once the system update releases next month, try it and see; some games may have noticeably crisper graphics.”
