Ghost of Yōtei PS5 performance settings: best graphics, frame-rate, and HDR options

Use Performance mode on a standard PS5 with a 60Hz television. It is the practical choice for a 60-fps target. If you have a 120Hz display with VRR, Balanced or Ray Tracing Balanced gives a sharper presentation at a 40-fps target. On PS5 Pro, start with Ray Tracing Pro: it targets 60 fps while adding ray-traced global illumination and PSSR reconstruction. With a 120Hz VRR display, VRR Uncapped can raise output above 60 fps, although the result varies by scene.

Best Ghost of Yōtei settings at a glance

There is no single best graphics mode for every television and console. Ghost of Yōtei assigns different rendering budgets to frame rate, resolution and ray-traced lighting, so the right choice depends first on your PS5 model and display refresh rate.

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These are starting points, not permanent commitments. You can change the graphics mode from the game’s display settings and keep separate comfort controls such as motion blur and camera sensitivity unchanged.

How the standard PS5 modes trade image quality for speed

The launch version of Ghost of Yōtei on the standard PS5 offered Quality, Performance and Ray Tracing. Resolution is dynamic in all three, so the figures below describe approximate targets rather than a guaranteed output at every moment. Busy scenes, effects and camera movement can cause the renderer to adjust its internal resolution.

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Quality mode

Quality spends more of the console’s rendering budget on a sharper image. It is the most suitable option for a screenshot-first playthrough or for a large 4K screen viewed from a distance where fine detail is especially noticeable. The 30-fps target produces slower camera and input updates than the faster modes. If you are sensitive to judder during pans or want the most immediate response in sword fights, Quality is unlikely to be your most comfortable setting.

Performance mode

Performance is the sensible default for a standard PS5 connected to a 60Hz television. Its dynamic resolution is closer to 1080p, but the 60-fps target makes camera turns, traversal and combat feel substantially more immediate. It does not include ray-traced lighting. The lower internal resolution is most visible in distant architecture, foliage and fine edges; the trade is deliberate rather than a fault with your display.

Ray Tracing mode

Ray Tracing keeps the slower cadence of Quality while moving the resolution target to around 1440p and adding ray-traced lighting. Choose it when the way light interacts with environments matters more to you than rapid response. It is a visual-choice mode, not a high-frame-rate option.

What Patch 1.1 adds: Balanced and Ray Tracing Balanced

Patch 1.1 introduced Balanced and Ray Tracing Balanced. Both target 40 fps and require a display capable of 120Hz. A 40-fps signal divides evenly into a 120Hz refresh cycle, allowing each game frame to be shown for three refreshes. That cadence is visibly smoother than 30 fps while giving the renderer more time per frame than a 60-fps target.

Do not select either Balanced mode expecting a dedicated 120-fps mode. Ghost of Yōtei does not provide one. On a 60Hz television, the 120Hz-dependent options are not the appropriate choice; use Performance, Quality or Ray Tracing instead.

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PS5 Pro graphics modes

The PS5 Pro has a separate set of targets that combine higher-resolution rendering with more advanced lighting. The approximate internal resolutions reported for Pro modes are still dynamic. They should be read as the renderer’s intended range, not as a fixed number of pixels delivered in every frame.

Why Ray Tracing Pro is the best Pro starting point

Ray Tracing Pro is the broadest compromise on PS5 Pro. It aims for the responsiveness of a 60-fps mode while enabling ray-traced global illumination. Its internal render is reconstructed with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), which Sucker Punch says improves architectural and foliage detail and motion stability. The result is not equivalent to native 4K in every scene, but it is designed to preserve fine detail while the Pro’s ray-tracing hardware handles more demanding lighting.

“As a native PS5 game, we knew we wanted to improve image quality by leveraging some of the platform’s newer technology.”

— Adrian Bentley, programming director at Sucker Punch

Choose Pro Quality instead if your priority is the cleanest 4K presentation and you are comfortable with a 30-fps cadence. Pro Performance is the straightforward non-ray-traced 60-fps alternative. Pro Ray Tracing is for players who want ray-traced lighting but do not need the faster target offered by Ray Tracing Pro.

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VRR and Uncapped output on a 120Hz display

Patch 1.1 added two VRR behaviors named Smoothed and Uncapped. Smoothed favors a steadier presentation within the mode’s intended range. Uncapped allows the renderer to run above its normal cap when the scene has spare performance. Variable output is useful only when your display can synchronize its refresh rate to the game.

In testing reported by Ghost of Yōtei Guide in 2026, PS5 Pro Ray Tracing Pro with VRR Uncapped reached roughly 70–90 fps depending on the scene. Ray Tracing Balanced was reported to vary around 40–60 fps. Those ranges are observations, not guarantees: combat effects, traversal areas and camera views can change the workload. If you notice distracting fluctuations, a capped or Smoothed option may look steadier even when its peak frame rate is lower.

Enable 120Hz Output and VRR on PS5

1. Open Settings on the PS5 home screen.
2. Choose Screen and Video, then Video Output.
3. Set 120 Hz Output to Automatic.
4. Set VRR to Automatic.
5. Start Ghost of Yōtei and select the desired Balanced, Ray Tracing Balanced or Ray Tracing Pro option. If the game exposes VRR behavior, choose Smoothed for steadier pacing or Uncapped for the highest variable output.

Your television or monitor must support HDMI 2.1 VRR on the HDMI input used by the console. If the PS5 passes through an AV receiver or soundbar, the receiver, soundbar, television input and every cable in that path must support the required 4K/120Hz bandwidth. A certified Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1 cable is sensible only when the connected devices also support those features; a new cable cannot add VRR to an incompatible display.

If 120Hz or VRR is unavailable

• Check the display’s specifications for HDMI 2.1 VRR and 120Hz support; some models provide those features on only one or two inputs.
• Connect the PS5 directly to the compatible HDMI input temporarily, bypassing an AV receiver or soundbar.
• Confirm that 120 Hz Output and VRR are both set to Automatic in the PS5 Video Output menu.
• Try the cable supplied with the PS5 or another certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable.
• Open the PS5 video-output information screen to verify the negotiated refresh rate and VRR status before changing the game mode.

If the display remains limited to 60Hz, use Performance, Quality or Ray Tracing. Balanced modes depend on the 120Hz capability and will not provide their intended cadence on a 60Hz-only setup.

HDR: calibrate the display before changing the game slider

Ghost of Yōtei uses the PS5’s system-level HDR calibration and then provides an in-game brightness slider plus two contrast choices. There is no universal brightness number that is correct for every television or monitor. Panel peak brightness, black level, room lighting and the display’s own HDR picture mode all change the result.

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1. On the PS5, open Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output and run the system HDR adjustment for the connected display.
2. Follow the console’s calibration prompts until the symbol in each pattern is barely visible at the intended threshold. Do not raise the value simply to make the test screen brighter.
3. Launch Ghost of Yōtei and open its display or HDR settings.
4. Adjust the in-game brightness slider while looking at a scene containing both a bright sky or snow and dark interiors or shadows.
5. Test both available contrast choices in representative gameplay, not only in a menu. Keep the option that preserves shadow detail without making highlights look gray or clipped.
6. Recheck a daytime exterior, a night scene and a high-contrast interior before settling on the setting.

Because the game’s slider is applied after the console calibration, changing the television’s HDR picture mode later can invalidate your earlier adjustment. If you switch between a bright-room and dark-room preset, repeat the check rather than copying a number from another display.

Common HDR symptoms

Motion blur, camera sensitivity and comfort controls

Graphics mode controls the rendering budget and frame-rate target. Motion blur, camera sensitivity and other visual-comfort controls change how movement feels without changing those targets. If Performance feels uncomfortable because pans look too smeared, reduce motion blur before abandoning the 60-fps mode. If the camera feels too fast or too slow, adjust camera sensitivity independently. These controls cannot turn a 30-fps mode into a 60-fps mode, but they can make your chosen cadence easier to tolerate.

• Motion blur: Lower it when fast camera turns produce a soft trail or when you prefer a clearer view of moving targets.
• Camera sensitivity: Lower it for more deliberate aiming and raise it if traversal feels sluggish.
• Visual-comfort options: Change them after selecting the graphics mode so you can identify whether discomfort comes from frame cadence or from camera effects.

Decision guide for different players

You use a standard PS5 and a 60Hz television

Select Performance first. It is the only practical starting point here if smooth motion is your priority because the Balanced targets require a 120Hz display. Move to Quality when distant detail and image sharpness matter more than responsiveness. Pick Ray Tracing only when its lighting treatment is worth accepting the slower cadence.

You use a standard PS5 and a 120Hz VRR display

Try Balanced for a sharper middle ground, then Ray Tracing Balanced if ray-traced lighting is more important than the additional image-quality budget of the non-ray-traced option. Enable VRR Automatic at the system level. VRR can smooth supported variation, but it cannot make a 40-fps target behave like a fixed 60 fps.

You use a PS5 Pro with a 60Hz display

Ray Tracing Pro remains the strongest all-round starting point because its target is designed around 60-fps play and ray-traced lighting. VRR Uncapped has no practical benefit on a 60Hz-only screen, so leave the display at its normal refresh capability and judge the capped presentation. Choose Pro Quality for a screenshot-focused experience or Pro Performance for a simpler non-ray-traced 60-fps image.

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You use a PS5 Pro with a 120Hz VRR display

Start with Ray Tracing Pro and test VRR Uncapped in a representative area. Keep it if the variable output feels smooth; switch to Smoothed or a capped behavior if changes in frame rate are distracting. The reported 70–90-fps range is scene-dependent, so evaluate traversal, combat and effects rather than relying on a single benchmark location.

You capture screenshots or short clips

Use Quality on the console tier you own when maximum sharpness is the priority. Pause on the same scene in each mode before deciding: foliage, distant structures and thin edges reveal dynamic-resolution differences more clearly than a close-up character shot.

Why the image can change during play

Dynamic resolution lets the game preserve its chosen frame-rate target by adjusting internal rendering resolution as workload changes. A quiet landscape may look sharper than a crowded battle with volumetric effects, even though the graphics mode has not changed. This is expected behavior for the modes documented above. It also explains why a television’s information panel may continue to report the same output resolution while fine detail inside the frame varies: the console can reconstruct or scale an internally rendered image before sending it to the display.

On PS5 Pro Ray Tracing Pro, PSSR is part of that reconstruction strategy. Its purpose is to recover architectural and foliage detail and improve stability during motion, not to guarantee native 4K pixels in every frame. Treat the advertised internal figures as targets used by the renderer, not as a promise that every scene will match them exactly.

Recommended setup checklist

• Identify whether the console is a standard PS5 or PS5 Pro.
• Check whether the active display input supports 60Hz only, or 120Hz with HDMI 2.1 VRR.
• Choose Performance for a standard PS5 and 60Hz display.
• Choose Balanced or Ray Tracing Balanced on a standard PS5 only when a 120Hz display is available.
• Choose Ray Tracing Pro as the first PS5 Pro test.
• Enable 120 Hz Output and VRR as Automatic in Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output when the display supports them.
• Run the PS5 HDR calibration before adjusting Ghost of Yōtei’s brightness and contrast.
• Use representative bright, dark, combat and traversal scenes to judge changes.
• Adjust motion blur and camera sensitivity separately from graphics mode.
• If VRR fluctuations are distracting, use a Smoothed or capped behavior instead of chasing the highest peak frame rate.

Version context

Ghost of Yōtei launched on PS5 on October 2, 2025. The Balanced modes and the Smoothed and Uncapped VRR settings described here were added in patch 1.1. If an option is missing, update the game and then recheck the console’s display capabilities; the mode list can differ between the launch configuration and the patched game.

Quick Recap

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120HzGhost of YōteiGraphics SettingsHDRPS5PS5 ProVRR