PlayStation's initial foray into developing its own upscaling technology with PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) was, unfortunately for PlayStation, very hit and miss. It's never a good thing when the new technology that is supposed to make games look better, on the latest and greatest hardware, look worse than it does without that tech on the old hardware. Thankfully, though, it seems like PSSR 2, the upgraded and enhanced version of the upscaler is capable of delivering "overall, a much better image," across multiple titles, according to Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie. Despite it still having some remaining issues.
That comes from the outlet's latest test on over 20 titles, each of which supports PSSR 2 in one of three ways. Firstly, and perhaps the most obvious one, are titles that get specific PSSR 2 patches from their developers. Secondly, and a little less obvious though just as convenient for users, are the games that have been whitelisted by developers. In this instance, it's not a direct patch to the game that enables PSSR 2, but your PS5 Pro's latest software update is forcing the new upscaler over PSSR 1.
Third, and the one that players not in-the-know could miss, is by manually enabling the 'Enhance PSSR Image Quality' setting in your console's visual settings. If you want to use PSSR 2, you'll need to do this even for games that already support PSSR 1. Because if they haven't been patched to use PSSR 2 by default, and they are not one of the games (of which there are currently only 11) that have been whitelisted, you'll be stuck on PSSR 1 if you don't enable that setting.
Digital Foundry tested a little over 20 titles for this report, and while the outlet still sees issues in certain games like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, in other cases, like Gran Turismo 7, it's clear how improved PSSR 2 is over its predecessor, delivering "greater stability, especially in motion," according to Mackenzie.
PSSR 2 is also able to deliver "minimal noise" across multiple titles, specifically those built on Unreal Engine 5, as RTGI noise was a significant issue for titles built on UE5 using PSSR 1. Games like Silent Hill f look "completely different" for the better thanks to this improvement.
But as previously stated, there are remaining issues. The aforementioned Star Wars Jedi: Survivor gets called out for its ray-traced reflections looking "sharp and noisy in motion," and both Jedi Survivor and Dragon's Dogma 2 feature "dot patterns" that, once again, make things look off in a noticeable way.
Overall though, at least for DF's testing, PSSR 2 is far and away the upscaler to use when playing any of the supported titles on your PS5 Pro. It's definitely an improvement, and it seems lik PlayStation is taking steps in the right direction as it continues down the path of developing its own upscaler technology.
But all of that doesn't solve the real problem PlayStation has when trying to sell PSSR 2, a PS5 Pro, and eventually, the PlayStation 6, to players, according to Alderon Games' founder.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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