PS5 Pro’s AI Upscaling Got a Major Upgrade. Your Games Look Better Tonight.
Sony just pushed one of the most meaningful visual updates the PS5 Pro has seen since launch. And if you own any of the supported games, you’ll feel the difference right away.
The upgraded PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution technology — better known as PSSR — is rolling out tonight as part of the latest PS5 system software update. Digital Foundry got early access to test it, and their verdict is encouraging: the “new upscaler delivers the kind of upgrade we were looking for from PS5 Pro.”
That’s a big deal. PSSR has always been promising, but earlier versions showed real weaknesses. Now those rough edges are getting smoothed out in a meaningful way.
What PSSR Does and Why It Matters
Here’s the short version of how this tech works. Your PS5 Pro renders a game at a lower resolution than what you actually see on screen. Then AI steps in, studies each frame, and rebuilds the image at a higher resolution in real time.
The result? Better-looking graphics without asking more from the hardware. And critically, without dropping your frame rate.
Think of it like taking a blurry photograph and having a very smart AI fill in the missing detail. That’s essentially what PSSR does, dozens of times per second.
The problem before this update was consistency. Players noticed shimmering edges, flickering textures, and visual artifacts that broke the illusion. So while PSSR showed potential, it sometimes made games look worse than native rendering in motion.
The Update Fixes the Biggest Complaints
Sony and AMD tackled those problems head-on. Digital Foundry confirmed that shimmering, flickering, and other visual artifacts have been addressed. Games now look crisper and more consistent during actual gameplay, not just in still screenshots.
This upgrade comes from a joint effort between Sony and AMD called Project Amethyst. It’s the first major improvement to PSSR since the PS5 Pro launched. And it’s closely related to AMD’s FSR 4 upscaling technology available on PC — essentially the same underlying AI improvements, now coming to PlayStation.
The update starts rolling out in phases on March 17th at 1AM ET. Sony also confirmed that these improvements will carry forward into AMD’s next FSR update when that releases.
Which Games Support the Upgrade
The upgraded PSSR first appeared in Resident Evil Requiem in February. Now it’s expanding to a solid lineup of major titles.
Games getting the updated PSSR immediately include:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Silent Hill 2
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Alan Wake 2
- Control
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Nioh 3
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
Plus, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Cyberpunk 2077 will receive a dedicated patch with the PSSR improvements in the coming weeks. Crimson Desert will also launch with the upgraded tech on March 19th.
Already own a PS5 Pro game not on this list that supports PSSR? Sony says you can manually toggle the updated upscaling on or off, though the company notes that “results may vary by title.”
Why This Is Genuinely Exciting
AI upscaling has become the most important battleground in visual fidelity right now. Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR already changed what PC gamers expect from their hardware. Now console players are getting access to the same generation of improvements.
What makes this update significant isn’t just the visual quality boost. It’s the signal that Sony and AMD are actively developing PSSR as a living technology, not a launch feature left to age. The Project Amethyst collaboration produced something that reportedly matches the quality jump PC players experienced moving to FSR 4.
For PS5 Pro owners who invested in the hardware specifically for visual improvements, this update delivers what the premium price tag promised. Better image quality, same hardware, no performance cost.
That’s the dream of AI upscaling working exactly as intended.
