A new PlayStation 5 firmware beta has arrived for anyone who’s part of Sony’s beta programme. The platform holder emailed those who signed up to notify them that a new update is available for testing.
The new firmware brings a couple of notable features, especially for players who own the more powerful – and more expensive – PS5 Pro. For starters, the firmware makes Sony’s upgraded PSSR 2.0 upscaling technology the default option for all games, rather than only those that support it.
PS5 Pro launched alongside a new form of AI upscaling developed by Sony called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). The initial version of the tech wasn’t especially well-received, with some saying it made the image blurry.
Sony later released an upgraded version, PSSR 2.0, which debuted alongside Resident Evil Requiem in March. Since then, a number of games have adopted it, but many games did not, leaving them to use the older 1.0 version.
When PSSR 2.0 arrived, Sony released a firmware that added the option for PS5 Pro owners to force-toggle version 2.0 on at the console level, whether or not the games natively supported it. Now, the new firmware beta makes that the default option – though you can still turn it off.
The firmware beta also adds the ability to turn off Bluetooth entirely. This is only available “in certain countries or regions” for PS5 and PS5 Pro. When turned off, Bluetooth also disables HDMI link, as well as the console’s Rest Mode.
The feature is chiefly designed for esports venues and situations when multiple consoles are present. Turning off Bluetooth on nearby consoles makes it easier to pair controllers and other peripherals to the console you want to connect to.
The beta programme is only available in select regions, but if you want to see if you can join it yourself, you can use this code shared by Reddit user nextgen_currentgen.
