Skip to main content

Watch Bloodborne running at 60fps on PS5 - with 4K AI upscaling

A vision of the next-gen upgrade everybody wants.

Bloodborne is one of the most celebrated platform exclusives for the PlayStation 4, but similar to the original Demon's Souls on PS3, there's the sense that momentum for the series has tailed off, despite enormous critical acclaim. There was never a sequel to the game, and not even a PlayStation 4 Pro upgrade was delivered. In the here and now, if you play Bloodborne on PlayStation 5, you have a 1080p experience at a wobbly 30 frames per second that is barely improved over the PS4 original. However, today, we can show how the game looks running flat out at 60fps via backwards compatibility, along with an additional pass of AI upscaling taking the action up to 4K. Put simply, you've got to see this.

The story behind the video is actually a bit of a saga. Back in May 2020, Digital Foundry showcased an unofficial unlocked fps patch for Bloodborne, coded up by Lance McDonald. McDonald tapped into changes to the code of Dark Souls 3's PS4 Pro patch that enabled an unlocked frame-rate, bringing them into Bloodborne and essentially allowing the game to run at up to 60fps. But the problem was that the game was never designed to run on PS4 Pro, it couldn't tap into all of the power of the machine - boost mode was as far as you could get. A locked 1080p60 was off the table while even 720p60 had issues, presumably because having removed the GPU bottleneck, CPU limitations became the issue. McDonald's patch was released publicly a while ago now and could be run on development PS4 hardware and exploited retail machines.

Bloodborne's unlocked fps patch as it runs under back-compat on PS5... with an extra pass of AI upscaling for a 4K presentation!Watch on YouTube

A few weeks back, we received footage from someone who we understand to have taken McDonald's patched rendition of Bloodborne and had somehow managed to get it running on what we can safely assume to be PlayStation 5 development hardware. We've not actually seen the console running the game, but there are two definitive pieces of evidence in the capture we have that confirm that this is indeed running on Sony's new console. First of all, trophy notifications are of the PS5 style, while performance is essentially a flat 60 frames per second from start to finish at 1080p with just the occasional dropped frame - something we had never seen before. This was legit, it was indeed Bloodborne running faster and smoother than we'd ever seen before and it looked great, but we wanted more.

Regular readers and viewers of Digital Foundry may have noticed that we're excited by the arrival of AI techniques in gaming and we've used AI upscaling ourselves for everything from YouTube thumbnails to restoring old development footage in our colossal Final Fantasy 7 retrospective, so why not see if we could deliver the complete Bloodborne upgrade package? With 1080p60 video in the bag, why not shoot for 4K too? Thus began a week of experiments using a tool called Topaz Video Enhance AI, which uses a number of different AI upscaling models - and it turned out that most of them could deliver appreciably higher detail.

4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
The proof of the pudding - comparing our AI upscaled footage with the original 1080p input. Results are sometimes revelatory - and it's even better in motion.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
In some scenarios, the AI scaling model doesn't quite know what to make of the detail and how to enhance it. Some detail can even be lost even if the result is cleaner overall.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
Another nice upscale - interestingly, HUD elements almost always look native after the upscaling process. Ground texture detail seems to give the upscaler some issues.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
The AI doesn't quite know what to make of the face of this abomination - but look at the phenomenal improvement in hair rendering resolution.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
Upscaling ground textures here - a mixed bag but clearly cleaner overall.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
Another fine result - and it's interesting to see how chromatic aberration on the left there is dealt with in the upscaling process.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
A cleaner image on the left here, but interesting to see how ground detail is so different in the mid-distance. The AI model can occasionally smear and reduce detail in this mode, while still 'looking' like a higher resolution overall.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
AI upscaling can have issues when dealing with sub-pixel detail at 1080p, transparent elements and fog. The image still impresses though.
4K AI Upscaling
1080p Basic 4K Upscale
Clearly a higher resolution, but fascinating how the cobbles here lose some of their perceived 'depth' in the upscaling process.

However, these AI upscaling techniques also served to emphasise some of Bloodborne's graphical issues: poor anti-aliasing with obvious shimmering, alongside some Unreal Engine 3-style specular aliasing. We settled on a model that could address most of the specular issues and reduce the AA artefacts, but in some scenarios would lose a little detail - the screenshot gallery above shows all of the advantages and disadvantages of this upscaling process. The overall result with this model has some similarities with TAA, curiously enough - raw, untreated pixels are nicely handled, but perhaps look over-processed on occasion (heavily stylised, even?) but there is much more stability in motion. What I found fascinating was that just about every AI upscaling model I tested was able to recognise the UI text and scale it in such a way that it looked virtually as good as native resolution rendering.

Processing each image took around 0.5 to 0.6 seconds per frame using an RTX 3090, so I do hope that Topaz Labs gets to grips with Nvidia's tensor cores at some point for a less prolonged experience. With that said, playing the output video at the end of the lengthy process was pretty sweet - it was great to see the game at a higher perceived resolution than it had ever been seen running at before. A proper Bloodborne patch would likely look quite different to this, but it's an interesting vision of how the game could look running on next generation (current generation?) hardware.

How the Lance McDonald Bloodborne unlocked fps patch runs on a PlayStation 4 Pro.Watch on YouTube

All of which leads us onto some obvious questions. There's money on the table here for Sony in bringing Bloodborne to PlayStation 5, so why haven't we seen an upgrade? After all, if Lance McDonald is able to patch the game for higher frame-rates, why can't Sony? The truth is, there are a number of logistical, technical and perhaps even corporate challenges here. First of all, if Lance's patch were rolled out as an official update, frame-rate would be unlocked on all systems - not just PlayStation 5. Based on our experiences with the patch as seen on PS4 and PS4 Pro, this would actually make the game a worse experience overall. Getting the game to recognise that it's running on PS5 and only remove the fps cap then would likely require that the whole project is remounted and upgraded to operate on the latest cross-generation SDK. It's possible, but it's certainly not easy for a game that celebrated its sixth birthday yesterday. It's likely that the codebase has not been touched at all for some time.

Perhaps the way forward is for Sony to renew the franchise in exactly the way it has done with Demon's Souls - to deliver the original code and assets to a talented development studio like Bluepoint Games and to rebuild, remaster or remake the game specifically for PlayStation 5. It's not a simple undertaking, it would take years to deliver, but the end result would undeniably be worth it. In the here and now, the McDonald patch running on PS5 with video captures enhanced with our AI upscaling is the best we'll get - but we can't help but think that this is not the end of the Bloodborne story.

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com