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Digital Foundry: Over 20 games tested with PSSR 2.0 Upgrade
- Thread starter Seomel
- Start date
Radical_3d
Member
This video Is making the Outlaws sale even more attractive. And it's ok to get it digital since the disc version is literally useless.
666
Battlebus imprisoning me \m/ >.< \m/
Text version:
www.digitalfoundry.net
PS5 Pro's New PSSR System Override Is Just As Good As We Hoped
Over 20 games tested.
www.digitalfoundry.net
Vick
Member
AI Summary:
There are three main ways in which the new PSSR2 is enabled in PS5 games:
Important note: No Sony first-party title is currently included in the PSSR2 whitelist, although some games (e.g., Gran Turismo 7) allow manual activation of the new PSSR version.
PSSR1 amplified global ray tracing noise (RTGI), particularly with Lumen-based rendering.
PSSR2 significantly reduces this effect, improving titles such as Silent Hill.
PSSR1 often produced noisy and blurry vegetation details.
PSSR2 noticeably improves foliage rendering in Avatar, Hogwarts Legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and Star Wars Outlaws, although some imperfections could remain during motion.
Particle effects, such as confetti in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, appear sharper with less ghosting.
Flickering and artifacts in reflections and fabric surfaces are reduced in games like Astro Bot and Ratchet & Clank.
PSSR2 delivers performance equivalent to — or slightly better than — PSSR1, with an estimated improvement of about:
100 μs (0.1 ms), roughly 5% faster.
A practical example in Hogwarts Legacy shows an almost imperceptible frame-rate difference, confirming that visual improvements do not negatively affect performance.
This is particularly notable compared to other upscalers such as DLSS 4.5, which often introduce a measurable performance cost.
PSSR2 Implementation Models
There are three main ways in which the new PSSR2 is enabled in PS5 games:
| Method | Description | Example Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Whitelist | Games explicitly approved and enabled by Sony with PSSR2 active by default. | 11 titles (excluding Sony first-party games) |
| Optional Toggle | Manual activation of PSSR2 through a menu option in games originally using PSSR1. | Most titles not included in the whitelist |
| Patch or Native Release | Games updated or released with PSSR2 already integrated by default. | Resident Evil Requiem, Crimson Desert |
Important note: No Sony first-party title is currently included in the PSSR2 whitelist, although some games (e.g., Gran Turismo 7) allow manual activation of the new PSSR version.
Quality Improvements in PSSR2
- Motion stability: Reduction of breaking artifacts and distortion, clearly visible in the tunnel sequences of Gran Turismo 7.
- Higher sharpness and detail: Assassin's Creed Shadows shows improved texture definition, especially at distance.
- Reduced visual noise: Removal of the characteristic noise present in PSSR1, often mistaken for film grain.
Issues Resolved and Areas of Improvement
• Unreal Engine 5 RTGI Noise
PSSR1 amplified global ray tracing noise (RTGI), particularly with Lumen-based rendering.PSSR2 significantly reduces this effect, improving titles such as Silent Hill.
• Foliage and Vegetation
PSSR1 often produced noisy and blurry vegetation details.PSSR2 noticeably improves foliage rendering in Avatar, Hogwarts Legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and Star Wars Outlaws, although some imperfections could remain during motion.
• Particles and Dynamic Details
Particle effects, such as confetti in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, appear sharper with less ghosting.
• SSR Details and Moiré Artifacts
Flickering and artifacts in reflections and fabric surfaces are reduced in games like Astro Bot and Ratchet & Clank.
Remaining Issues and Observed Regressions
- RTGI holes in Dragon's Dogma 2: Problems persist with global ray tracing reconstruction at low internal resolutions, causing visible occlusion gaps during camera movement.
- Sparkling artifacts in Black Ops 6: PSSR2 does not fully eliminate white pixel artifacts in certain scenes, particularly darker areas and cutscenes.
- Subjective visual changes in Star Wars Jedi Survivor: Some reflections appear noisier after the blur removal, with a dotted texture pattern that may not appeal to all players.
- Rain disappearance in Assassin's Creed Shadows: In certain scenarios, rain effects may vanish or appear less visible due to excessive PSSR filtering history.
Performance Impact
PSSR2 delivers performance equivalent to — or slightly better than — PSSR1, with an estimated improvement of about:100 μs (0.1 ms), roughly 5% faster.
A practical example in Hogwarts Legacy shows an almost imperceptible frame-rate difference, confirming that visual improvements do not negatively affect performance.
This is particularly notable compared to other upscalers such as DLSS 4.5, which often introduce a measurable performance cost.
Final Considerations and Recommendations
- PSSR2 represents a clear improvement that fulfills the PS5 Pro's promise in terms of visual quality.
- The limited whitelist remains an issue: out of roughly 80 games using PSSR1, only about 12–13 have PSSR2 enabled by default.
- No Sony first-party titles have yet received an official update.
- The manual toggle is useful for advanced users, but broader whitelist adoption and default activation are desirable to maximize benefits.
- Remaining regressions are minor and likely fixable through future patches.
- PSSR2 allows developers and players to use lower internal resolutions while maintaining high image quality through effective upscaling, as demonstrated by Alan Wake 2.
Conclusion
The transition to PSSR2 represents a substantial improvement that enhances the visual output of the PS5 Pro without degrading performance. The currently limited official adoption appears to be more a matter of policy and QA testing than a technical limitation. Users are encouraged to enable the PSSR2 toggle where available to benefit from superior graphical quality.
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Tobimacoss
Member
Yuuuuuuuuuuuge difference. The old PSSR was basically useless.Bruh...
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Been playing Space Marine 2 with a buddy going through the story and it's a massive difference, especially the foliage.
analog_future
Resident Crybaby
Bruh...
Yeah, the improvements are very impressive. Crazy that this is a free upgrade with no loss to performance.
Another comparison they shared:
I can say that PSSR2 reall
It's like this on literally every comparison. If pro would had launched with PSSR2 people would had understood. Typical Sony has no messaging to it's base,and rushes a platform that is literally their test bed for Ps6.
viveks86
Member
HeWhoWalks
Gold Member
It definitely wasn't useless, but 2.0 is a major step forward.
sncvsrtoip
Member
99% would notice noise in games like Silent Hill F, old pssr was often terrible, new one looks solid and pro is not such a waste now.
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saintjules
Gold Member
Next on my list of games to resume. Glad that my semi-retiring of games worked out!
ShadowkillXNA
Member
Sarah and Phil must be very relieved they retired before having to face Cerny's big PSSR.
Horseganador
Member
The few responses indicate that the improvements in the new PSSR are enormous.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Some games actually perform better as well.
Topher
Identifies as young
There was a big difference even on PSSR 1 over base PS5. I need to jump back in and check it out with PSSR 2.
No.....it wasn't
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Bojji
Member
It was mostly better than FSR2/3 used in many games on base PS5 (much better in some aspects).
And for example with FF Rebirth - PSSR absolutely destroyed TAA they used that blurred the image to oblivion (game would look much better with FSR2/3 on base consoles, I don't get why they didn't use it).
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Outside of being able to run native 4K on the PC, it looks just as good.
Here are two shots from PC (maxed) and PS5 Pro (speed mode). Which is which?
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Topher
Identifies as young
Yep. Far from perfect, but the improved clarity alone made it a valuable upgrade to me.
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
Wow, you can actually see that it's meant to be a tree now.Another comparison they shared:
PaintTinJr
Member
It isn't, or wasn't for me, so long as you disable you network connection in the PS5 menu before starting the game you can play the game without a Ubisoft account or the internet.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Lots of wins up in this little bastard.
Shifty1897
Member
It is super noticeable, they zoom in because most people have a hard time seeing the difference on a phone and with YouTube compression.
MazingerDUDE
Member
One thing intriguing about PSSR2 not covered in the video is the texture quality improvement seen in certain instances.
A similar thing was observed in FF7, and Alex suspected in DF video that the developers might have changed the mipbias when they worked on the PSSR2 patch,
which of course is not the case as the game was never patched, it was just whitelisted.
And this is not just PSSR1 blurring textures,
As the same thing happens vs PC DLAA (check out the dirt on dude's arm)
These 'blurred textures' seem more like bug to me, and PSSR2 somehow manages to fix it.
Bojji
Member
One thing intriguing about PSSR2 not covered in the video is the texture quality improvement seen in certain instances.
A similar thing was observed in FF7, and Alex suspected in DF video that the developers might have changed the mipbias when they worked on the PSSR2 patch,
which of course is not the case as the game was never patched, it was just whitelisted.
And this is not just PSSR1 blurring textures,
As the same thing happens vs PC DLAA (check out the dirt on dude's arm)
These 'blurred textures' seem more like bug to me, and PSSR2 somehow manages to fix it.
Could Sony be forcing negative LOD bias on system level in those whitelisted games (right now we know they were not patched)? You can do that in drivers on PC so I don't see Sony not having some control over that.
kevboard
Member
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Something that this guy does a lot better in showcasing in his videos.
Pixel Análise
Welcome to Pixel Análise, your source for detailed graphics analysis. Here, we examine every visual aspect with precision — from texture and shadow quality to resolution, lighting, and framerate. This channel mainly features: • Gameplay comparisons and details • Graphical comparisons •...
www.youtube.com
viveks86
Member
Isn't the first GIF from outlaws? That isn't one of the 11 whitelisted games... And I don't think Sony would mess around with negative LOD as a system level override for games not in that list...
Yeah it was way better than FSR 2. I thought it was generally pretty good. DF's complaints were generally very overstated. But the new version is an even bigger leap over the old one than the old one was over FSR 2.
FUBARx89
Member
One thing intriguing about PSSR2 not covered in the video is the texture quality improvement seen in certain instances.
A similar thing was observed in FF7, and Alex suspected in DF video that the developers might have changed the mipbias when they worked on the PSSR2 patch,
which of course is not the case as the game was never patched, it was just whitelisted.
And this is not just PSSR1 blurring textures,
As the same thing happens vs PC DLAA (check out the dirt on dude's arm)
These 'blurred textures' seem more like bug to me, and PSSR2 somehow manages to fix it.
Rebirth thing is a load of shit. It's how the game handles textures. It's a crapshoot if it's going to load the dirt and sword textures on Zak at the start. Does it on Quality, performance and Versatility mode.
Here it is loading the textures properly on quality mode. Then on a re load immediately fucking up. Here is versatility mode doing exactly the same. DF need to pull their heads out of their arses.
Considering the game has a chapter selection and "open world" they should get off their arses and actually check things properly. Rather than the very first area.
Tifas hair is quite frankly shocking at some points and DF has never once picked up on it. All fuzzy and busted and see her scalp sometimes. Was never like that on quality mode and it's been a problem ever since versatility mode came out.
First thing I checked on rebirth and it's still a problem.
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Dust-by-Monday
Member
YouTube compression kills the video quality so they zoom in or slow footage down to show you how the game really looks. You're still likely to notice the upgrade when playing the real game uncompressed on your TV/Monitor. I know it's been a night and day difference to my eyes especially games like silent hill 2 and high on life 2
gundalf
Member
Bruh...
That is a significant change, if this tech comes to the PS6 Portable it will be a huge deal.
viveks86
Member
Yeah I think they can comfortably run PS6 games at 540p or even 480p and still look decent on a tiny 1080p display with PSSR. Should be able to handle quite a bit of ray tracing too, like RTGI. The problem, ironically, is going to be playing PS5 games. Without ensuring near 100% support for low power mode, I don't know how they are going to do BC. They might have to build some system level override to force the resolution down.
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gundalf
Member
Interesting problem I haven't considered, although there is a good reason for that, on PS5 I'm exclusively physical and PS6P will be digital only for sure.
viveks86
Member
Noticed that in the FF7 breakdown as well. When the source is too blurry, especially in the distance, it creates this canvas-like pattern, like halftones, to artificially boost detail that isn't there. Interesting side effect...Very clear improvements in most aspects. But this dot pattern that can be seen in some games is curious (but I doubt it's very visible without big zoom). I wonder if this can be fixed with game specific patches:
gundalf
Member
The question is, will it be visible when playing several feet away from the TV?
viveks86
Member
It isn't visible. At least I couldn't notice any of it in my testing at normal viewing distance. So it's more of a technical observation than a practical one. Still interesting to see what compromises these algorithms make on one aspect to boost another aspect.
Kindjal
Member
I agree, I've been playing with a friend and the clarity difference is astounding. I wasn't sure if I was just misremembering because it was so noticeable.
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Depends on your viewing distance and how big your tv is.
HitmanMaul
Neo Member
I'd have preferred they didn't add the toggle to force devs to just patch their games. Now the system that was supposed to help us bridge the gap between graphics options...has yet another toggle\option to fiddle with.
Nintendo's Witch
Member
I think it might be the biggest leap I've seen so far. It looks so fucking clean.
Guessing they'll continue to focus on Pro with grand orgy come gta 6.Saying you're short on time for Xbox then proceeding to test 20 PS5 Pro upgrades
simpatico
Gold Member
These PSSR1 pics.... this is really what was available before last week? I'm a bit gobsmacked. The 4k TV standard really screwed over the console makers. PS5 Pro could probably rock some games at native 1440p. But everyone is roped in to the fool's errand of gaming at 4k in the current year. As a society I think we were so burned by not being able to game at 4k, we used up all the RAM in the world just to create AI upscaling to fake it a little better.
Radical_3d
Member
It's useless:
Game-Breaking Bug Forces Star Wars Outlaws Players to Start Over
People ponied up $110 just to be saddled with busy work.
gizmodo.com
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