Sure, performance is nearly orthogonal to visual effects/quality in this discussion (especially since the graphics comparison for things like textures and reflections is being made with the Series S quality mode, which is not 60fps), because as Digital Foundry noted, the Switch 2 version is often CPU-bottlenecked. 

The point being made is that "in between PS4 and PS4 Pro" isn't taking in account the full picture, when in certain aspects (texture quality, some reflections, static image quality) the Switch 2 version is exceeding the Series S (and by extension the last generation versions of the game.) In one aspect (outdoor shadow quality) it is lagging behind the last gen versions. And then there are features where, like with Series S but not to its extent, it is exceeding the last generation consoles.

The Series S can also be said to be "way closer" (at least in terms of GPU) to the Xbox One X/PS4 Pro than PS5/Pro and Series X if you are only looking at raw capacity to output pixels. What both the Switch 2 and Series S have is the capacity to play modern games that the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro wouldn't be able to play. Not just because they are HDD-first platforms, but because there are certain features of modern GPUs that are essentially pre-requisites to run certain games. (See: Alan Wake 2 and mesh-shaders, as an example. Or any game with mandatory RTGI.) 

Its coming to Switch and not PS4/Xbox One, I think that is enough evidence of it was probably always targeting lower specs (due to Switch) and in some cases we have to ignore this "60 fps target" for portability. Thats what the biggest sports games have done for quite sometime with even Madden joining the fray. Fifa and NBA have done this fir awhile. 

Targeting lower spec is because of Switch is  kind of weird assumption. It also can't hit 60fps on Steam deck, and Switch 2 which are 6-9x more powerful then OG switch.

Sure, but still cherry picking data.  The S2 also has significantly lower NPC density.  At the end of the day I predicted ps4 to ps4 pro....  which is exactly where DF is placing performance....  people can be upset all day by that, but that doesn't change facts.  

And I stand by my original comment, cyber without RT isn't a demanding game, because it isn't.

DF also noted the S2's CPU very much is last generation in performance.  At the end of the day the S2 is ps4/pro tier hardware.  

No offense, but you didn't actually address the post that was written, and just re-asserted your position. 

It's no more cherry-picking to identify the significant ways in which the Switch 2 is exceeding the last generation platforms in Cyberpunk 2077 than it is to identify the ways in which it isn't (especially as the prior are more numerous, and cumulatively significant, than the latter.) 

Digital Foundry didn't even make the hard statement you are suggesting they did anyway. Richard was very measured in his statement, and contextualized it pretty well, with a healthy degree of uncertainty. It never was a general statement of the relative performance of the Switch 2 compared to the PS4 and PS4 Pro nor even of Cyberpunk 2077 but how it measured up in a particular area (internal resolution.) 

This is the language used, 

[After making the internal resolution comparison] "I guess you can say that Switch 2 falls possibly in between PS4 and Pro, though ideally I'd like more data here. And of course, some idea of how much computational load DLSS is putting on the Switch 2's GPU, which is going to be far less with the TAA solutions used by the PlayStation consoles"

And again, I would like to mention that there are cross-platform titles (including, native resolution, this one) where the PS4 Pro and One X have higher internal resolution than the Series S. So, any argument that depends solely on internal resolution here likely also would have to apply to the relative difference between Pro/One X and Series S. 

I think it's fair to say that if series S CPU was similar to Ps4 pro then basically they would be very similar in what they offer in most games with them trading blows depending on the game. It's the CPU that makes it a step up.

Yeah while it is fair to say that PS4 Pro has more raw pixel pushing power than Switch 2, this doesn't tell the whole story, as they are two different machines with very different strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Switch 2 has significantly more RAM than PS4 Pro, and we see this at work in Cyberpunk where textures are higher resolution on Switch 2 than PS4 Pro, or indeed Series S. It also has much faster internal storage and dedicated decompression hardware, resulting in faster asset streaming, plus hardware support for stuff like DLSS, mesh shaders, and ray tracing which PS4 Pro does not have.

So while it is more or less true to say that Switch 2 is between PS4 and PS4 Pro in power, it's also more complicated than that and depending on the game in question Switch 2 can do better in some ways, such as better image treatment, higher res textures, etc.

Not just the CPU. It is also the feature-set. The PS4 Pro would struggle to run the handful of current generation games that have mandatory RTGI or mesh-shading. 

This is a 6500xt (slightly better than Series S' GPU) running Alan Wake 2. 

This is an RX 590 (moderately better than PS4 Pro's GPU.)  

Both are using similar CPU's (Haswell i7's.) 

On paper these GPU's are "similar" (other than power-draw of course) but the feature set does matter in many current gen only titles, and that is why the 6500xt is outclassing the RX 590 here. 

Good point, but this probably the only game where is a GPU with mesh shaders support is a must. I was talking about the general ball park of most games.

The main reason that is the case is because the first third of this generation was mainly a cross-platform period. Also the PS5 has its bespoke Geometry Shader engine that requires a bit of extra work to implement. 

As more fully dedicated current-generation games release though, one should expect it to pop up more. 

But mesh-shading isn't the only new feature anyway. Mandatory RTGI  would be hard to implement on these old architectures in a performant way. Switch 2 and Series S have (or will in a month, in Switch 2's case) games with it though. 

Games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Star Wars Outlaws are unplayable on GCN without workarounds that basically remove their lighting systems and replace them with nothing.