How To Make Your PS5 Games Look Better In Just A Few Steps

While getting ahold of a PlayStation 5 has been a bit of a gamble, more and more people have successfully tracked Sony's elusive console down. But while the hardware can certainly push some impressive visuals (depending on other factors, such as the TV it's connected to), you might still be able to squeeze a little more graphical power out of it, provided you know where to look.

Much like how you can improve the look of your games on the Nintendo Switch, you can do the same with your PS5. Also, just like the Switch, most of these adjustable settings default to Automatic or will be set by the console itself — so all you have to do is find and change them. Of course, whether or not any of these settings can be changed or will be effective once you adjust them will depend on your TV. Because if your set doesn't support 1440p, no amount of console settings will change that.

Once you're ready to try out some new settings and your PS5 is on and hooked up to your TV, here's what to do:

1. In the PS5 menu, open Settings and then choose Screen and Video.
2. Select Video Output to access the options below. You can also choose Video Output Information from this menu to see your current settings.
3. Resolution will likely be set to Automatic, but you can set it to 1440p to check if your TV supports it. If not, you'll have to stick with the highest resolution option that does work.
4. Variable refresh rate (VRR) support also depends on the TV, but if it is available, you can also turn on Apply to Unsupported Games to use it with games that weren't made with VRR in mind.
5. 120 Hz Output can be turned on to allow for the higher 120 Hz frame rate, though not all games (or TVs) will support this option.
6. High Dynamic Range (HDR) can be set to On When Supported so that only games that offer HDR will run in HDR, or Always On to display all games in HDR.
7. Deep Color Output can be turned on to smooth out image rendering from your PS5.

Whether or not you can use all (or some) of these options ultimately comes down to what your TV can handle, but feel free to mix and match until you find the best combination.

If you display your PS5 games in 4K, you may encounter visual issues like screen flickering. If this happens:

1. Open the Settings menu on your PS5 and select Screen and Video.
2. Select Video Output, then choose 4K Video Transfer Rate.
3. First, set the transfer rate to -1 at either 120 Hz or 50/60 Hz RGB. Note that if you choose 50/60 Hz RGB, DeepColor formatting will need to be set to either YUV420 or YUV422.
4. If -1 doesn't stop the screen from flickering, change it to -2 (again at either 120 Hz or 50/60 Hz RGB. For 50/60 Hz RGB, adjust the DeepColor format to YUV420.

Please be aware that while adjusting your video transfer rate may fix your flickering problem, it's not a guarantee. Flickering in 4K could also be caused by several other issues, such as the cables you're using, the connector port on the PS5 or TV, or even your system software.