Next-gen PlayStation could hit 60 fps at 8K with PSSR upscaling as PS5 Pro manages 60 fps at 4K

The rumored PlayStation 5 Pro is apparently set to use a fresh take on upscaling from Sony (PSSR) and it could push 4K gaming at 60 frames per second - or indeed 8K at 30 fps.

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The PlayStation 5 Pro is getting some pretty crazy stoking of the hype machine right now (Image Credit: Sony)

In case you missed it somehow, there's been some major spillage on the purported specs of the PlayStation 5 Pro recently, which has included info on PSSR. The tech is likened to DLSS or FSR and is an AI-powered upscaling feature, a pepped-up version of TAAU (Temporal Anti-Aliasing Upscale).

PSSR stands for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, in case you were wondering (let's hope it doesn't cause ghosting artifacts).

According to new documents aired by Insider Gaming (the source of one of the previous leaks), the next-gen PlayStation will look to hit 120 fps in 4K, and a smooth 60 fps in 8K, driven by PSSR. (When 8K displays will be more prevalent perhaps - the PS6 is expected to launch in 2027).

The hope is that with the PlayStation 5 Pro, PSSR will manage 4K at 60 fps and 8K at 30 fps as mentioned, but those are internal development goals and it is still not clear if they will be met. In other words, we must treat the idea of fluid (upscaled) 4K gaming from the PS5 Pro with a good deal of caution.

We should also note that only 4K is supported by Sony right now with PSSR, but 8K is planned in a future version of this tech.

Right now, 4K performance isn't at this level either. An example case study for an unnamed first-party game is provided, showing the standard PS5 running at 60 fps in 1080p in performance mode, with 30 fps achieved in 1800p fidelity mode. In comparison, the PlayStation 5 Pro using PSSR attains 60 fps at 1440p.

A compelling compromise

That's still very cool, with PSSR allowing the PS5 Pro to hit an enticing compromise between getting a more detailed image - close to fidelity mode - but keeping that 60 fps smoothness, rather than dropping down to a noticeably choppier 30 fps. The best of both worlds, in short.

One way or another, it looks like PSSR will be a nifty addition to the library of tricks for getting PlayStation games to run more smoothly.

The PS5 Pro is expected to launch later this year, if the rumor mill is right. The mentioned recent spec leaks paint a picture of a powerful upgrade for the PS5, with a step up to a GPU with 60 CUs. Overall, the Pro version is expected to offer 33.5TFLOPs of raw performance, triple that of the base PS5, no less.

To say console gamers are excited would be an understatement (well, except those who just bought a PS5, perhaps - though you can bet the PS5 Pro will not come cheap, mind).