Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

A surprise to be sure - and a welcome one. Out of the blue, Sony has released QSSR - Quick Spectral Super Resolution - a refactoring of PS5 Pro's PSSR for the standard PlayStation 5. In this video, Rich and Oliver share their initial thoughts on the technology. We've got image quality comparisons from Marvel's Wolverine, we've got early performance testing from a PS5 dev kit, comparisons with PSSR and much more.

00:00 Introduction
01:29 What is QSSR?
05:28 QSSR vs IGTI
11:13 QSSR vs. PSSR
16:51 QSSR performance
26:04 Will QSSR be in GTA 6?
28:35 Concluding thoughts
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The progress in PS5 emulation for PC is becoming extremely rapid - so just how viable is it and should Sony be worried? Meanwhile, Rich, Oliver and Will discuss a range of topics: can PS5 Pro run PSSR and FSR frame gen together? Will PCs eventually replace consoles? Can a Project Helix console replace both a gaming PC and an Xbox console? And... would the Project Helix concept have changed if Xbox had won the console generation?

00:00 Introduction
00:41 PlayStation 5 Emulation on PC gathers pace
13:55 Q1: Why can't PS5 Pro run PSSR and FSR 3.1 frame gen together?
21:27 Q2: Will PC eventually replace console gaming?
27:25 Q3: Will Halo move onto the Call of Duty engine?
34:02 Q4: Will Project Helix replace both PC and console?
39:09 Q5: Would Project Helix be different if Xbox Series won the console generation?
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An extremely busy week at the Foundry but the Direct cannot be stopped - the team discuss the latest news as the "Xbox Reset" enters Phase Two and Halo is shipped off to Activision. Meanwhile, Rich, Oliver and Tom join forces to run the rule over Silent Hill Townfall, becauise the show moves on to discuss the implications of the next-gen consoles' respective GPU TFLOPs numbers. And finally, ending the show on a high note, Rich revisits 007 First Light path tracing, finding a night and day improvement in performance over the original release.

00:00 Introduction
01:12 News 1: Halo Studios decimated as Halo moves to Activision
17:26 News 2: Silent Hill: Townfall tested on PS5, PS5 Pro, and PC!
36:54 News 3: Rumour says PS6 at 40 teraflops, Xbox Helix at 56 teraflops
48:28 News 4: 007 First Light gets path tracing performance boost
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Stellar Blade on Switch 2 enforces the use of frame generation to target 60fps - and Capcom is offering the same feature with a toggle in the upcoming Dragon's Dogma 2 port. So how does it work and what have we learned from testing it in Stellar Blade? Beyond that, Tom, Rich and Oliver discuss whether next-gen hardware should be delayed, why Nintendo is avoiding DLSS in its own Switch 2 titles and whether Valve should release an ARM-based handheld. And finally, what's the point of chromatic aberration?

00:00 Introduction
00:44 Supporter Q1: Is frame gen a good fit for Switch 2 games like Stellar Blade?
17:18 Supporter Q2: Could a next-gen hardware delay be a good thing?
25:03 Supporter Q3: Does Digital Foundry need to produce a “frame health” reference?
32:28 Supporter Q4: Is Nintendo avoiding DLSS so they can switch to AMD for Switch 3?
37:44 Supporter Q5: Should the next gen Steam Deck be ARM-based?
43:15 Supporter Q6: What’s the point of chromatic aberration?
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In a bit of a slow week for news, the team goes hands-on with a bunch of cool games to present their findings - principal amongst them being 007 First Light's visually stunning, but incredibly taxing path tracing upgrade. Redemption Road's 12-minute Kingmakers gameplay deep dive impresses the panel before Tom delivers his thoughts on Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave on Switch 2, with Oliver testing Diablo 4 also on the Nintendo hybrid. Meanwhile, reliable leaker Kepler_L2 says that we're only looking at one new GPU launch in 2027 - and it looks like the desktop version of the same GPU slated to appear in Microsoft's Project Helix...

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00:00 Introduction
01:17 News 1: 007 First Light gets PC path tracing patch
18:28 News 2: Kingmakers resurfaces in extended trailer
26:44 News 3: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave impressions!
39:34 News 4: Diablo 4 tested on Switch 2
47:49 News 5: Rumour: new Nvidia, AMD GPUs won’t be released until 2028
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