Why Your PS5 Graphics Look Bad (How To Fix It)

The PS5 targets 4K resolution and up to 120 FPS, but at times, image quality can look washed-out and blurry when playing games, especially if you are sitting at a distance from the screen. If you are having these issues, then do not worry.

In this article, I am going to go over why your PS5 graphics look bad and how you can fix the issue.

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Why Does My PS5 Graphics Look So Bad

The PS5 is designed to automatically communicate with your TV to provide the best graphics possible however if your TV is older than 2019 the optimization settings will not work well. Several settings like HDR, 4:4:4 Color sample, HDMI 2.1 & Variable refresh rate have to be set up correctly for the graphics to look good.

If you have a TV from 2019 or newer the PS5s automatic settings should work well, but don’t worry in this guide I will explain exactly how to set up your TV correctly to work with your PS5.

You do need an HDMI 2.1 cable to get the best graphics for your PS5, the cable that came with your PS5 is a 2.1 HDMI cable if you need a replacement buy one for a bargain on Amazon here.

Is your PS5s remote play quality worse than your expectations? I recommend you read my guide here on how to play PS5 remote play better than ever.

How Can I Improve My PS5 Graphics

  • Go to additional settings on the TV and click HDMI Ultra HD Deep Color settings (or enable Deep color)
  • Use a HDMI 2.1 cable and force it to turn on (if accesible) otherwise you need to reboot the TV and get a blank screen
  • Enable SIMPLINK (HDMI-CEC) to improve the communication between the PS5 & TV
  • For a OLED TV the black level control should be set to ‘auto’
  • If you have a 2020/2021 TV turn on HGIG Mode & Dynamic Tone Mapping (when enabled the TV disables it’s dyanmic tone mapping & lets the console & game display HDR imagesas intended
  • Set TV to ‘game mode

All these settings should be turned on for the best picture quality possible, now I will discuss the best PS5 settings to make your PS5 graphics look beautiful.

Best PS5 Settings For Good Graphics

  • In PS5 HDR calibration ensure the 4 circles during ‘adjust display area’ fit correctly on the screen
  • In Adjust HDR adjust the symbol so the sun is barely visible
  • In PS5 Video Output keep resolution to automatic
  • Set HDR to automatic
  • Set Deep Color Output to automatic (if this is off it turns off HDR)
  • Set RBG range of automatic
  • If you have a OLED TV in ‘screen & video’ set the TV to dim screen while inactive every 5 minutes to prevent screen burning

PS5 HDR Calbiration

Make sure the 4 circles during ‘adjust display area’ correctly fit on the screen to ensure you see the entire picture without anything being taken off

Adjust HDR

You have to adjust the symbol that looks like a sun until it is barely visible. This process helps the console understand what your consoles peak brightness is, what kind of shadow detail your TV can handle that the PS5 can deliver a display your TV can handle

PS5 VIDEO OUTPUT information

Click on video out information to know what the TV is capable off

Keep resolution to automatic, if your 4K TV is set to 1080p automatically you have a problem it could mean you switched HDMI cables for something longer and it’s not an ultra-high-speed cable or your TV needs a reboot so your TV & PS5 can communicate

4K VIDEO TRANSFER RATE

Chroma subsampling is how much color is being sent to the TV with the different bands being 4:2:0 4:2:2 4:4:4

4:2:0 is delivering the least color information with 4:4:4 giving the most if your TV supports 4:4:4 it will pick that setting. if they’re not connecting well you could get frame drops or the screen sometimes goes black or it could flicker.

120 FPS will automatically drop to 4:2:0 -1 drop you to 4:2:2 -2 drops you to 4:2:0, to see if 120 FPS is good for gaming & if buying a 120 FPS monitor/TV is worth it please read my dedicated guide.

HDR

Set to automatic. the PS5 forces HDR on everything, the only option is turning it off or it automatic

Adjust HDR

Allows you to adjust HDR calibration, use this setting if your move your TV from a dark room to a bright one or vice-versa how well you can see details depends on ambient light

DEEP COLOUR OUTPUT

Set to automatic (if this is off it will shut down HDR)

RBG RANGE

Leave on automatic

SCREEN AND VIDEO

You should dim the screen while inactive if you have an OLED screen and set it to 5 minutes to prevent screen from burning

ACCESSIBILITY

Check this setting if you have vision or auditory problems you can boost the font size, make fonts bolder, and set up audio prompts to make navigating the menu easier.

The PS5 also has an issue where it does not display non-HDR content properly. In SDR mode, the PS5 renders darks at a higher brightness than intended. This means that if you are playing something like Demon’s Souls on a PS5 using SDR mode then your OLED TV will look more like an LCD TV.

Curious about how to use picture & picture mode for your PS5? If so please read my detailed guide.

After you’ve changed the settings, head into the game presets and select the performance or resolution mode option. Set this to resolution mode to favor image quality and higher resolution. When playing games such as Call of Duty that support 120 FPS, you can change this to performance mode to get a smoother experience.

This is why your PS5 graphics look bad and how you can fix the problem. If you want your games to look even better then you can check out our article on how to enable ray tracing on PS5.