Sony is allegedly making a major upgrade to its PlayStation spectral super-resolution technology, informally known as PSSR2, with the goal of both improving visual quality and reducing the performance burden of AI-based super-resolution technology.

It has been reported that Sony is currently training a higher image quality neural network, which is lighter and requires less frame time when super-resolution processing.Although Sony has not officially named it PSSR2, internal documents show that the changes are significant enough to deserve this label.

Currently, the minimum internal resolution of PSSR when performing 4K super resolution processing is 864p, which is already more conservative than Nvidia's DLSS super performance mode, which can be processed at a minimum from 720p.However, Sony has determined that when the resolution threshold is below the 864p, the image quality will drop significantly.According to sources, for PSSR2, its goal is to maintain and even improve visual fidelity while using a lighter neural network, enabling faster super-resolution processing and have a smaller impact on frame time.

One of the biggest challenges with existing versions of PSSR is its impact on frame rates.For example, in "God of War: Ragnarok" running on PlayStation 5 Pro, enabling PSSR moderately improves performance in high-demand scenarios, but limits the maximum frame rate. The original game frame rate can reach 80 to 90 frames per second, while the frame rate after PSSR is enabled is limited to around 70 to 75 frames per second.Sony is trying to overcome this bottleneck with updated AI-based super-resolution technology.

It is said that the updated PSSR algorithm will support 4K resolution at 120Hz refresh rate, 1440p resolution at 120Hz refresh rate, 1080p resolution at 120Hz refresh rate, and even 8K resolution at 60Hz refresh rate, depending on hardware limitations and game optimization.The purpose is to provide consistent high refresh rate options at various resolutions for a smoother gaming experience.

Additionally, sources say Sony is exploring a feature called MFSR that could become a higher quality alternative to traditional temporal anti-aliasing (TAA).Even if players do not enable PSSR in order to improve performance, this method can also improve the image quality of the PS5 Pro enhanced game by replacing TAA with Sony's AI enhancement reconstruction technology.