Taylor R | Unsplash
Suspicions of an announcement about a possible PS5 Pro were felt after a catchy title was placed "by mistake" and then changed, something that internet users have not overlooked to talk about. There was nothing left to do but wait to see that video that was scheduled for that day at a specific time.
Taking into account the improvements that the PS4 Pro had compared to the original version, it is something that has excited many more than anything because of the increase in capabilities that could result in much more realistic graphics and greater fluidity. This case follows the same pattern, although it would be necessary to go over what Mark Cerny, who is an important video game designer and console architect, said.
We know that Sony console generations tend to last about 7 years. What is interesting is that during those years there are some releases in between that aim to offer improvements to the base console. For example, throughout PlayStation's history, there have been releases of Slim versions (PlayStation became PSOne). The same happened with Playstation 2, transitioning from a Fat version to a Slim one. It also happened with PlayStation 3, where besides creating a new Slim version, there were different variants in how the console was built.
PlayStation 4 also had Fat and Slim versions, but from that point on a new version was born; the so-called Pro version, which, as I was telling you, improved the console's technical capabilities, unlike the other versions that only improved the architecture for better cooling and size.
In this context, the PlayStation 5 Pro seems to promise a lot, especially because of what has been presented, including technologies that manage to highlight the existing quality even more.
One of the peculiarities of the current PS5 is the ability to choose between two modes called Fidelity and Performance RT. On one hand, the fidelity mode enhances the graphical appearance but reduces the frame rate (FPS). On the other hand, the performance mode includes a reduction in graphical quality with higher smoothness, in addition to adding RayTracing, which provides reflections and lighting that simulate how light interacts with the environment realistically.
Possibly for many players, this has created quite a bit of uncertainty or hesitation about which mode to prefer. With this new version of the PS5 Pro, it is expected that this decision will be left behind, as technical capabilities will no longer be an impediment to enjoying quality and smoothness simultaneously.
According to Cerny, the new PS5 Pro has greatly improved compared to the current one. For this reason, he mentions that there are three ways in which each aspect has been improved, calling them "The big three."
The changes made are impressive. On one hand, the GPU has been increased to 67% of computing units and the memory speed has been increased by 28%. This allows the rendering speed to increase by 45%, enabling the loading of models and graphics in a much shorter time.
Impressive improvements have also been made in Ray Tracing in a much more advanced way, performing complex calculations of ray tracing at double or even triple the speed of what PlayStation 5 can achieve.
I believe this is one of the most visually important points, as the novelty in this generation is not only the 4K resolution, but the hyper-realistic reflections accompanied by much more natural graphics, similar to reality.
AI makes a comeback, this time through what is known as PSSR; or what is equal to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. This technology allows access and analysis of each pixel and enhance them through scaling adding a higher level of detail in high resolutions.
It is possible that these additions will be made on new games, almost certainly, although it is not known if it will apply to those that have been on the market for a while. Perhaps they will add these new features through updates as has already happened before.
These three new technologies together will make graphics surprising again, and obviously, provide a much more enjoyable experience when playing.
I believe that these updated versions in each generation contribute their own. At least until the next version is released that should change everything, such as a supposed PlayStation 6, which will arrive someday, maybe in three or four years.
What is being talked about a lot is the price. It has been announced that the PS5 Pro version will cost $699.99 dollars or €799.99 euros. Considering that it will not come with the vertical stand and that some users argue that without a hard drive, it seems a bit expensive to think about changing the console. However, there will be those who do not see any inconvenience in it and agree to purchase this new version.
Possibly we should see this console in operation and analyze if these changes are worth it or not. The idea of acquiring a next-generation console is always very attractive, but prices could make our decision swerve. Even towards a brand opposite to the one we have been talking about today.
In my opinion, this is something that Sony should delve into, especially to retain players and attract new fans. It is about ensuring that these changes are truly worth it.
- Main image edited in Canva.
- Screenshots taken from YouTube, in the presentation made by Mark Cerny for PlayStation.
- I have used Hive Translator to translate from Spanish to English.