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[Lunatic_Gamer]

A surprise update has landed for developer Housemarque's unique PS5 roguelike- bestowing PS5 Pro owners with a nifty resolution boost up to 1728p. The upgrade in image quality speaks for itself, directly translating the Pro hardware's higher GPU clocks to a greater pixel throughput in each frame. But what's the impact to performance - if any - and are there any other changes?

00:00 Introduction
01:34 PS5 Pro Res Boost Explained/Comparisons
05:30 Other Possible Upgrades
06:28 Base PS5 Frame-Rate Revisited
07:48 PS5 Pro Frame-Rate Tests
10:15 Conclusion

The upgrade significantly enhances the game's visuals and performance on the PS5 Pro console. Key points include:

- Resolution Boost: Increased pixel count by up to 2.5 times compared to the base PS5. To cut to the chase, the PS5 Pro update gives us a boost to 3072x1728 at peak, with dynamic resolution scaling in place to adjust to GPU load. The lowest figure on record on PS5 Pro meanwhile is 2400x1350. Even so, that maximum possible 1728p on Pro is surprisingly frequent.

- Performance Enhancements: The performance mode maintains a near-locked 60fps, with only rare drops in demanding scenes, thanks to the PS5 Pro's additional GPU power.

- Visual Settings: The upgrade retains Returnal's core visual features, with no significant changes to ray-tracing effects or other settings. The focus is on resolution and performance rather than adding new graphical features.

Overall, the PS5 Pro upgrade makes Returnal one of the best-looking and smoothest-running titles on the console, addressing previous image quality and performance shortcomings.

Returnal's PS5 Pro upgrade delivers a huge resolution boost and improved performance

One of the best PS5 exclusives looks and plays better on PS5 Pro. Digital Foundry reports.

www.eurogamer.net

 

[rickybooby87]

Thomas Morgan seems miffed about some missed opportunities regarding advanced rendering techniques (RT, etc.). Honestly, I think they chose the correct path regarding a patch, it looks cleaner. I prefer overall IQ over adding advanced features which would more than likely result in a softer image.

 

[Skifi28]

For the relative GPU power between the machines, the pixel count increase is quite impressive.

 

[vkbest]

Summary is wrong. Performance is not 1440p, its using DRS between 1350p and 1728p, most time 1728p. No mention for PSSR too

 

[Fess]

- VRR Stuttering Issue: There's a persistent variable refresh rate (VRR) stuttering problem on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, which can cause periodic stutters every eight seconds in VRR-enabled games, including Returnal. This is a system-level issue unrelated to the patch itself.

A system-level periodic stutter every 8 seconds? Where is that coming from?? Some 59.9hz thing that eventually builds up to a frame?

 

[Physiognomonics]

Even at its lowest (which happens very rarely), it still outputting 56% more than PS5. Also those 55s sustained drops on PS5 (vs locked 60fps on Pro) mean there would be room for a DRS with a lower minimum resolution (like 900p) on PS5.

I am quite impressed still by the boost the Pro is getting here vs PS5. There is much more than those improved Tflops in play. The doubled GPU (L0 & L1) caches are surely helping a lot. It was the right decision to faver 2.5x resolution improvement (most of the time) instead of added RT effects. The game was so blurry on PS5!

 

[Karim]

I'm a bit confused, PSSR is just used as AA or to wholly reconstructed the resolution? The summary it's not very clear.

 

[Portugeezer]

Missed opportunity for a 120hz mode.

 

[Fabieter]

Thomas Morgan seems miffed about some missed opportunities regarding advanced rendering techniques (RT, etc.). Honestly, I think they chose the correct path regarding a patch, it looks cleaner. I prefer overall IQ over adding advanced features which would more than likely result in a softer image.

It was less work compared to implementing ray tracing on top of it. So yeah Sony didnt allocated a lot of budget for the Pro patch.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Holy shit i spotted that vrr stutter when I tried it earlier. This is a system issue? That kind of sucks. Any communication on if Sony is aware?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

- VRR Stuttering Issue: There's a persistent variable refresh rate (VRR) stuttering problem on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, which can cause periodic stutters every eight seconds in VRR-enabled games, including Returnal. This is a system-level issue unrelated to the patch itself.

Timestamp for this in the video?

Holy shit i spotted that vrr stutter when I tried it earlier. This is a system issue? That kind of sucks. Any communication on if Sony is aware?

I thought it only impacted games with unlocked framerates... I'll hold off until Sony fixes this if this is the case.

Massively disappointing.

 

[rsouzadk]

The game employs dynamic resolution scaling (DRS), ranging from 2400x1350p up to 3072x1728p — roughly a 2.5x improvement over the base PS5. It's unfortunate, however, that ray tracing is not included.

 

[omegasc]

That summary isn't right. Even mentions a Quality mode. Smells like AI got it all wrong or is having acid hallucinations

 

[Traxtech]

What's the deal with him mentioning modes? Returnal doesn't have modes lol

AI summary?

 

[Gonzito]

Great game but too difficult for me. Never finished because of being exhausted of repeating the same over and over

 

[rickybooby87]

It was less work compared to implementing ray tracing on top of it. So yeah Sony didnt allocated a lot of budget for the Pro patch.

Oh, agreed. I just think the trade off wouldn't have been worth it.

 

[Horseganador]

A big update for PS5 Pro, a more stable frame rate, and a significant boost in free resolution. Saros is sure to make better use of the machine.

 

[Skifi28]

Holy shit i spotted that vrr stutter when I tried it earlier. This is a system issue? That kind of sucks. Any communication on if Sony is aware?

There is no system issue. Some games have stuttering, some don't. It's game/engine dependant like stuttering has always been. Last of us 2 has stuttering with an unlocked framerate while MH Rise doesn't. If it was a system issue all games would exhibit the problem, which they don't.

 

[QLQ]

VRR stuttering issue? first time I heard of this. I platinumned the game and dlc, over 80 hours using VRR and never had an issue.

 

[Fabieter]

Oh, agreed. I just think the trade off wouldn't have been worth it.

Give us some options for future proving the game without further patching. I dont know why some devs don't give more options in their pro patches.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Great game but too difficult for me. Never finished because of being exhausted of repeating the same over and over

Same thing happened to me. Hopefully this upcoming spiritual sequel they are working on plays differently.

 

[scydrex]

This game have quality mode 30fps? Don't remember that. VRR stuttering never saw that. Also the resolution seems off.

 

[kevboard]

VRR stuttering issue? first time I heard of this. I platinumned the game and dlc, over 80 hours using VRR and never had an issue.

VRR stutter is a PS5/Pro firmware issue not an issue of the game.

many games on PS5/Pro have VRR stutters after half an hour of gameplay.

 

[adamsapple]

VRR stuttering issue? first time I heard of this. I platinumned the game and dlc, over 80 hours using VRR and never had an issue.

DF have talked about it before too. It's a system level issue, not a game specific one, per their previous testing.

 

[kevboard]

There is no system issue. Some games have stuttering, some don't. It's game/engine dependant like stuttering has always been. Last of us 2 has stuttering with an unlocked framerate while MH Rise doesn't. If it was a system issue all games would exhibit the problem, which they don't.

it only happens on PS5/Pro and only happens after half an hour, and also happens on many engines and games.

it's a system issue. just because it doesn't affect every single game doesn't mean it's not the fault of the system.

the only correlating factor is the PS5/Pro. different screen manufacturers, different devs, different engines, doesn't happen instantly, but only happens on 1 system.

 

[Bojji]

it only happens on PS5 Pro and only happens after half an hour, and also happens on many engines and games.

it's a system issue. just because it doesn't affect every single game doesn't mean it's not the fault of the system.

the only correlating factor is the PS5 Pro. different screen manufacturers, different devs, different engines, doesn't happen instantly, but only happens on 1 system.

I'm pretty sure it's on normal PS5 as well.

 

[kevboard]

I'm pretty sure it's on normal PS5 as well.

oh, yeah... you're right.

 

[yamaci17]

I'm pretty sure it's on normal PS5 as well.

you see there's this thing... I think it is called... magical ps5

 

[roque-swarm]

you see there's this thing... I think it is called... magical ps5

Doesn't stutter on my PS5

 

[QLQ]

DF have talked about it before too. It's a system level issue, not a game specific one, per their previous testing.

Never seen it.

 

[QLQ]

VRR stutter is a PS5/Pro firmware issue not an issue of the game.

many games on PS5/Pro have VRR stutters after half an hour of gameplay.

Never noticed it.

 

[adamsapple]

Never seen it.

That's fine, lots of folks don't notice fps drops either. Other channels besides DF have also pointed them out.

 

[Spukc]

Never noticed it.

Because it's not a thing.

 

[Bojji]

That's fine, lots of folks don't notice fps drops either. Other channels besides DF have also pointed them out.

Yep.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Because it's not a thing.

It seems to be a thing tho:

Yes, your PS5 VRR is having stuttering problems, but no one knows exactly what's causing them

It's not you, your PS5 does have a VRR problem

www.techradar.com

But it sounds like one of those problems many people don't notice until being told. Just like tv bleeding, banding etc

 

[Killer8]

I think the game is close to perfect now on Pro.

Seems like there's disappointment about it missing the PC's ray-tracing effects but the implementation had a lot of flaws on PC.

You can see during the segment talking about the water that although small puddles have more ripples with RT, larger bodies of water can look really weird. The excessive mirror-like reflectivity of the RT water sits at odds with the rest of the scene, whereas the non-RT water blends in better with the environment's lighting:

Technically better but not artistically. There is also some distracting lighting pop-in visible within the reflection at 5:48 onwards.

If you go back to Alex Battlestar Galactica's original PC video, you can also see other issues with the RT shadows implementation. Vegetation is not accounted for in the RT shadows so you miss out on shadows projected from the swaying jungle canopy above you:



Some scenes also look plain worse compared to the non-RT lighting:

The sorest point of the PS5 version compared to PC was the image quality and this Pro patch has addressed that.

 

[DanielG165]

I remember that Returnal kind of kicked the base PS5's ass, but it still managed to maintain good performance overall. For the PS5 Pro to offer those that own it a nice boost in both performance and resolution is a good use of hardware, in my eyes. Returnal is demanding, especially with full RT implementation; it rocked my PC pretty hard when I played it. Even with the PS5 Pro's extra GPU headroom, throwing in RT would likely result in worse image quality, and inconsistent performance. Not great.

You're getting a sharper final image here, and a better/more stable frame rate. That's a good update. Not everything has to be overwhelmingly different with mid gen console updates for games; we saw this already with the PS4 Pro and One X. Sometimes, little improvements and QoL changes makes the experience in a particular title considerably better.