And that bodes well for PS6

While it’s still extremely early days for Sony’s proprietary machine learning-based upscaler PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), it’s already beginning to look like the Japanese giant’s done an outstanding job. An in-depth Digital Foundry comparison, which pits the tech against AMD’s alternative FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) – the technology PSSR has been designed to replace – shows some remarkable improvements in image quality, when compared like-for-like in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

The tech experts stress this isn’t a perfect comparison, and it still needs to try more titles, but it looks like PSSR solves many of the shortcomings of FSR, like “fizzle” appearing around characters when they’re in motion. It also does a much better job of accurately resolving particle effects, perhaps best evidenced by the confetti in Rift Apart’s parade scene, which actually looks much busier with PSSR due to FSR phasing objects in and out of existence.