PlayStation update makes enhanced PSSR the default on PS5 Pro, but only for supported games

The update, system software 26.06-14.00.00, enables the setting Enhance PSSR Image Quality by default, according to Engadget. Titles built around the original version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution will now use Sony's newer upscaler without the owner having to locate what the report describes as a fairly obscure toggle.

The change is bounded. Games that do not already support PSSR are not affected, and the update does not add AI upscaling across the PlayStation library. Not every game carrying a PS5 Pro Enhanced badge uses PSSR in the first place.

The enhanced PSSR and its system-level override were introduced in March. Sony calls the technology upgraded or enhanced PSSR rather than PSSR 2.0, and the newer version takes a different approach to both the neural network and the overall algorithm. Until this update, PS5 Pro owners who wanted the enhanced model applied to games built on the original PSSR had to enable the option themselves.

PSSR is Sony's machine-learning upscaler for the PS5 Pro. It lets games render at a lower resolution and then be upscaled to a higher output resolution, allowing developers to aim for better visuals without the full performance cost of native rendering at that higher resolution. The first release was not always clean: Engadget's PS5 Pro review noted shimmering textures in some games and distortion around fine text, artifacts that are hard to ignore once spotted.

According to Sony, the enhanced version delivers fine detail clarity, image reconstruction and stability in motion. Developers who have used it report less flickering and fewer afterimages, along with more refined detail in hair and foliage. The work grew out of Project Amethyst, Sony's graphics research effort with AMD, which has also fed into AMD's machine-learning graphics on PC.

Games that support the newer version use it by default, but owners are not locked into it for older titles that were not built for it. If unexpected visual effects appear, the override can be turned off under Settings, Screen and Video, Video Output, Enhance PSSR Image Quality, keeping PSSR 1 games on their original technology. Games need to be running in Pro or Quality mode for the improvements to apply.

Sony did not explain why it took roughly six months to enable the setting by default, and it has not claimed that every PSSR title will look better in every circumstance.

The same update adds features outside upscaling. It introduces an on-screen voice chat indicator that displays the name of the person speaking, with an option to choose where the indicator appears. The Welcome Hub gains a Community Activity widget, in which Trending Now lists 10 multiplayer games or modes attracting large numbers of players, and Top 10 lists the most popular games in the user's region over the past week.

Editor's Summary

Sony's PS5 system software 26.06-14.00.00 turns on Enhance PSSR Image Quality by default, extending the enhanced PSSR upscaler to PS5 Pro games built on the original version of the technology, while titles without PSSR support remain unchanged. The update also adds a voice chat speaker indicator and new Welcome Hub community widgets, and owners can still disable the override if they see unexpected visual artifacts.