I went into the PlayStation Meeting today as a sceptic, believing that the hardware may not be up to the task of powering a 4K display. The good news is that several hours later, I emerged from the event impressed with the quality of the experience and respectful of the wizardry utilised to make this GPU punch above its weight.
However, a trio of the Sony first party efforts looked seriously impressive: Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone and Infamous First Light. All use the same cutting-edge upscaling technique. Previously we've talked about the 4x4 checkerboard process, where a 2x2 pixel block is extrapolated out into a 4x4 equivalent - next-gen upscaling, if you like. It allows developers to construct a 2160p 4K framebuffer from half the pixels - a much closer fit for the Pro's GPU prowess.
Speaking to developers on site, several aspects of the checkerboard technology came into focus. Up until now, we've seen it as a software post-process upscale, but in actual fact, it's one of a number of new custom features backed into the PS4 Pro's GPU and as such comes with zero cost to game developers. We also understand that while it is a hardware feature, game-makers do seem to have a certain level of control - which may perhaps explain why different games exhibit varying levels of artefacting.
But the key takeaway is this - while the PlayStation 4 Pro GPU lacks the horsepower to render out challenging content at native 4K, the presentation we've seen on a number of titles clearly shows a worthwhile, highly desirable increase in fidelity over 1080p - one that does put a 4K screen to good use. Switching between full HD and checkerboard 4K, the increase in detail is simply stunning.
However, there will be full 3840x2160 resolution software. Speaking to Naughty Dog at the event, we were told that The Last of Us Remastered - just like its base PS4 version - will have a 30Hz mode that features enhanced image quality. The existing PS4 game features higher resolution shadows maps and those are joined by a full, native 4K pixel count on the PS4 Pro. This drops down to a lower resolution at 60fps, where we're told to expect improved performance compared to the original release on base hardware.Speaking to developers on site, several aspects of the checkerboard technology came into focus. Up until now, we've seen it as a software post-process upscale, but in actual fact, it's one of a number of new custom features backed into the PS4 Pro's GPU and as such comes with zero cost to game developers. We also understand that while it is a hardware feature, game-makers do seem to have a certain level of control - which may perhaps explain why different games exhibit varying levels of artefacting.
To its credit, Sony understands that a certain level of scepticism will persist here and to that end, several Sony developers on site told us that lead architect Mark Cerny will be going into the specifics of the custom hardware features in the next few weeks. Enticingly, we were also told that there was more to the GPU enhancements mentioned than just the checkerboard upscaler, so the details there should be fascinating.
MUCH MORE HERE:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-three-hours-with-playstation-4-pro
The PS5 Exists.
