How DLSS, FSR and PSSR upscaling work, and when to use them

Modern games are hard to run at full 4K. Every extra pixel costs work for the graphics chip, and effects such as ray tracing multiply that cost. Upscaling is the most common answer: the game draws a smaller image, then software stretches it to the size of your screen and tries to make it look like it was drawn at full size.

This guide explains how that works, how the three best-known systems differ, and how to decide when to turn them on.

The basic idea

Say your TV is 4K, which is 3840 by 2160 pixels, about 8.3 million of them. If the game renders at 1440p instead, it draws roughly 3.7 million pixels per frame, less than half the work. The leftover performance can go into a higher frame rate or better effects. The upscaler then fills in the gap between what was drawn and what the screen needs.

Simple scaling, the kind a TV does, just blurs the picture. Game upscalers do something smarter, because the game can hand them extra information.

What the upscaler gets to see

Temporal upscalers use several inputs at once:

• The current low-resolution frame.
• Frames from the recent past.
• Motion vectors, which tell the upscaler where each object moved between frames.
• Depth information, so it knows what is in front of what.

Because the game slightly shifts, or jitters, the camera each frame, every frame samples slightly different spots. Over several frames, the upscaler can collect real detail and combine it into a sharper image than any single low-resolution frame contains. This is why a good upscaled image can look better than a plain image at the same low resolution.

DLSS, FSR and PSSR compared

DLSS is Nvidia's system for GeForce RTX cards. According to Nvidia's page, its Super Resolution feature uses AI, motion data and earlier frames to upscale a lower-resolution image. It works on RTX 20, 30, 40 and 50 Series cards. Nvidia groups other features under the same name: Frame Generation (RTX 40 and 50 Series) and Ray Reconstruction, which replaces hand-tuned noise cleanup in ray-traced scenes with an AI network.

FSR is AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution. Earlier versions used hand-written algorithms and ran on a wide range of graphics cards. The newest version, FSR 4, uses machine learning, as DLSS does. We could not load AMD's own page while preparing this guide, so check AMD's site for which cards support which version.

PSSR stands for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. It is Sony's upscaler for the PS5 Pro, which has hardware to run machine learning. As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Sony confirmed an upgraded PSSR rolling out on February 27, 2026, first in Resident Evil Requiem, with other PS5 Pro games following in March through a system update and a setting. The report says the new version is based on AMD's FSR 4 and came from a Sony and AMD collaboration called Project Amethyst.

The three are cousins. All take a low-resolution frame plus motion data and rebuild a larger one. The main differences are which hardware runs them and how the rebuilding is done.

Quality modes

Most games offer presets with names such as Quality, Balanced and Performance. The exact internal resolution varies by game and by version, so treat these as general rules:

• Quality mode draws the highest internal resolution and gives the smallest speed gain.
• Performance mode draws far fewer pixels and gives the biggest gain, with more risk of visible flaws.

The higher your output resolution, the better lower presets look, because the upscaler has more to work with. Performance mode at 4K usually looks better than Performance mode at 1080p.

Trade-offs to know about

Upscaling is not free quality. Things to watch for:

• Ghosting: a faint trail behind fast-moving objects, because old frame data lingers.
• Shimmering: thin lines, fences and foliage flicker in motion.
• Softness or oversharpening: depends on the game and its settings.
• Added work for developers: a bad integration can look worse than the same technology done well in another game.

Upscaling also differs from frame generation. Upscaling makes each frame cheaper to draw. Frame generation inserts extra frames between real ones, which raises the number shown on screen but not how quickly the game reacts to your input.

When to turn it on

• If you play at 4K, start with Quality mode. It often looks close to native.
• If you already hit your target frame rate at native resolution, you may not need it.
• If a game stutters or you want ray tracing on, a Balanced or Performance preset can be the difference between playable and not.
• On a console, try both modes if the game offers a choice, and keep the one that looks cleaner to you on your own screen.

Reviews of a specific game will tell you more than any general rule, since results differ from title to title. Check recent reviews and current settings guides before judging a game by its default preset.