PS4 firmware 5.50 update launches with supersampling in tow

By Eric Abent/March 8, 2018 9:32 am EST

It's a big day for PS4 owners, as Sony has made the latest firmware update available to everyone. This brings the PlayStation 4's system software to version 5.50, and it brings a bunch of new features along with. We covered many of these features when system software 5.50 was in beta testing, but as a bit of a refresher, let's go through some of the most exciting features landing today.

The biggest feature in this update is arguably supersampling for PS4 Pro. This allows PS4 Pro owners to put their console's extra power to use, even if they don't have a 4K TV. If you're playing on a 1080p or 2K display, your PS4 Pro will now supersample your in-game visuals, resulting in sharper images and better graphics fidelity in general.

While supersampling is a very exciting arrival, it's one that only applies to PlayStation 4 Pro owners. One nifty new feature that's available to everyone is the PS4's new parental controls. Using these, parents and guardians can monitor their children's total play time on the console, setting playable times so kids can't stay up all night playing video games.

Kids will receive an on-screen notification when their play time is up, with any excess time recorded in the PlayStation app or on PlayStation's website. If your child needs a little more enforcement than what PS4 notifications will provide, you can also have the console automatically log them out when their limit has been reached. On the other hand, you can extend play time on a day-by-day basis, allowing them to play longer if it's the weekend or if they've already taken care of everything else they need to do for the day.

Finally, this firmware update is also delivering new ways to sort your library. Once the update is applied, you'll see new tabs that show you all of the software installed on the system, purchases made by individual users, and all of the PlayStation Plus games that have been downloaded. PS4 firmware 5.50 is heading out to consoles today, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.