A new patent filed by PlayStation indicates that the company is exploring its own methods and technologies to implement frame generation. The technology is currently widely available on modern GPUs from AMD and Nvidia. However, since console hardware was finalized before frame generation was released to consumers, the modern consoles are simply not equipped to implement it.
The patent is titled “Generation Super Sampling”, and its description doesn’t imply that PlayStation is doing anything radically different when compared to DLSS and FSR-based frame generation developed by Nvidia and AMD, respectively. PlayStation’s implementation makes use of a generative model that can take information from a rendered frame to create new ones that can then be interpolated in real time while a game is being played. The bigger change when compared to other implementations is how PlayStation’s tech predicts frame changes.
Nvidia’s frame generation in DLSS is able to take motion vector information from the engine powering the game to predict changes in frames. PlayStation, on the other hand, is seemingly also able to pull data from the user’s controller. This method would allow the company to have more accurate predictions for when frames would change, and as a result, the frame generation would likely be much smoother than other implementations. However, PlayStation has also noted in its patent filing that it needs to limit latency caused by frame times.
The same patent can also be further applied to multi-frame generation. “In some embodiments, the predictions are not limited to an immediate next image in the image stream. The decoder system may be trained to predict any number of images before or after the input image.”
As for why a console plugged into TVs – which traditionally have 60 Hz panels, with some going as high as 120 Hz – would need frame generation, it is possible that a developer might want to have higher visual fidelity while still offering players smooth frame rates. While current-generation games tend to offer the choice between “Performance” and “Quality” modes, allowing players to pick whether they want higher frame rates or better visuals, respectively, the fact that Quality limits a game to 30 FPS often serves as a deal breaker for many.
With frame generation, future game developers could potentially target 60 FPS while still offering high-quality 4K visuals with only light use of technologies like FSR or PSSR.
It is worth noting, however, that a patent being filed doesn’t necessarily mean that a company plans to implement these features. Patents are often filed as part of a company’s typical research and development efforts, especially in the tech world where companies are constantly trying to figure out their next-generation hardware releases.
PlayStation itself is no stranger to filing patents for potentially useful technologies. In August, the company had filed one for a “Large Language Model Powered Social Integrity System”. The patent describes a method by which a pseudo account could be created that can “mimic a potential victim’s demographic messaging behavior while seeming completely legitimate to an anti-social (AS) user. This can entail mimicking the messaging behavior of minors and presenting that behavior where AS users look for it. The AS account establishes communication with the pseudo account.”
