Official Playstation 5 thread

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marees

Senior member
Apr 28, 2024
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PlayStation 5 Pro: what does the PS4 image enhancement feature actually do?​

To what extent do legacy PS4 games improve on a 4K screen?

PlayStation 5 Pro arrives complete with a somewhat enigmatic feature - the ability to enhance the image quality of older PS4 software. A toggleable menu option suggests that the new console has the ability to 'improve the resolution of select PS4 games' but there's no explanation of what it actually does.

In general, you should expect to see improvements in PS4 games without a PS4 Pro version, and lower-res PS4 Pro enhanced games, and the improvements should be most obvious in games that present clear, sharp edges without effects like film grain or chromatic aberration.

The PS5 Pro claims the enhanced mode is selective - so what games does it apply to? In my testing, it seems like it doesn't apply to PS4 software that outputs above 1080p resolution. Native 4K PS4 Pro titles like Persona 5 Royal and Mantis Burn Racing look identical across both modes, as does 1440p software like Uncharted 4. Overwatch 2, which renders at 1080p internally but has a 4K UI. Likewise for Marvel's Spider-Man, which uses a temporal upscaling technique to hit a 4K resolution. However, some PS4 Pro-enabled software like Rage 2 is visibly changed by the PS5 Pro enhancement process. This game has a 1080p UI and 1080p 3D rendering on PS4 Pro, and it does appear to be enhanced on PS5 Pro. Again, games that are higher res do not seem to get a bump.
Click to expand...

interesting point of comparison is LS1, which is the machine learning-based spatial upscaler available in the Lossless Scaling PC app. In a title like Granblue Fantasy: Relink, which uses TAA, it achieves a sharper, perceptibly more detailed image without the artifacts we'd usually see with sharpening. Comparing LS1 and Sony's enhanced upscaling technique, I'd say Sony's technique slightly edges out LS1 in clarity here, but it's close. Texture detail also looks clearer and sharper without edge ringing - just look at the floorboards here as one example. That inner surface detail appears more pleasing, not just geometric detail. This is an area where LS1 appears substantially better than the Pro.

The Pro's enhancement process is comparable to LS1 on text and 2D elements. Both do a substantially better job than 1080p with a naive upscale to 4K, though both exhibit noticeable artifacts and can struggle with different kinds of problems. For instance, Sony's solution has greater difficulty differentiating this line from the background than LS1.

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfo...the-ps4-image-enhancement-feature-actually-do
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
7,794
6,487
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The new PlayStation 5 Pro is for hardcore gamers and big-screen TV owners who want an edge on graphics for $700​

❌ 📺 Only worth it if you have a big-screen TV

Trying out the PS5 Pro on multiple TV sizes – 55 inches, 65 inches, and 98 inches – I was able to appreciate the extra detail of the PS5 Pro on the larger TVs. The same rule of thumb applies to monitors. Anything beyond the popular 27-inch monitor size will display the extra pixels and ray tracing more clearly. Otherwise, you can get by with performance mode and wait for the Sony PS6 release date in a few years.

https://www.theshortcut.com/p/ps5-pro-hands-on-review-48-hours
Seems like the biggest advantage of the PS5 Pro is framerate from reviews I have seen.
 
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SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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Couldn't you play in performance mode, if you wanted 60 fps ?

Are there games where the pro delivers 120 fps ?
Not in games like Elden Ring or Final Fantasy XVI for example, which don't run 60 fps. That's why I bought the PS4 version of Elden Ring to play at 60 fps in BC mode and why I didn't buy FF XVI period.
 
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marees

Senior member
Apr 28, 2024
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Not in games like Elden Ring or Final Fantasy XVI for example, which don't run 60 fps. That's why I bought the PS4 version of Elden Ring to play at 60 fps in BC mode and why I didn't buy FF XVI period.
This is interesting

PS5 Game Boost - what does it do?​

We had no idea what to expect from Game Boost, except that we would expect to see some level of improved performance on legacy games. Looking back to PS4 Pro, you got a marginal increase to GPU performance (typically around 15 percent max in line with the increase in GPU clocks but seemingly no access to the extra compute units) but a whopping great 30 percent increase to CPU clocks, meaning you could actually play Assassin's Creed Unity smoothly.

As PS5 Pro's GPU clocks are much the same as the standard model, we must assume that Game Boost is instead using all of the new compute units in the way that PS4 Pro did not as the increases are substantial. You can read about my impressions in attempting to run Elden Ring at 60fps elsewhere, but the bottom line is that a lot of the PS5 games I tested showed an increase of around 30 to 35 percent in extra performance.

In many cases (like Silent Hill 2, for example), that's enough to make a wobbly 60fps mode run much more consistently. The biggest boosts may come from 120Hz game modes - Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition seemed to show anything from a 30 to 50 percent performance improvements in like-for-like content.

 
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Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,012
867
126
This is interesting

PS5 Game Boost - what does it do?​

We had no idea what to expect from Game Boost, except that we would expect to see some level of improved performance on legacy games. Looking back to PS4 Pro, you got a marginal increase to GPU performance (typically around 15 percent max in line with the increase in GPU clocks but seemingly no access to the extra compute units) but a whopping great 30 percent increase to CPU clocks, meaning you could actually play Assassin's Creed Unity smoothly.

As PS5 Pro's GPU clocks are much the same as the standard model, we must assume that Game Boost is instead using all of the new compute units in the way that PS4 Pro did not as the increases are substantial. You can read about my impressions in attempting to run Elden Ring at 60fps elsewhere, but the bottom line is that a lot of the PS5 games I tested showed an increase of around 30 to 35 percent in extra performance.

In many cases (like Silent Hill 2, for example), that's enough to make a wobbly 60fps mode run much more consistently. The biggest boosts may come from 120Hz game modes - Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition seemed to show anything from a 30 to 50 percent performance improvements in like-for-like content.

I tried Assasins Creed Odyssey after playing it to death a few years ago. I am going to start a new game and replay it. It looks freaking AWESOME on the PS5 Pro. I can't wait to try other PS4 era games now.
 
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jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
15,385
5,892
136
Deal doesn't appear to be live yet but the Slim is going to be $379/$429 until Christmas.

Course that means that the price gap between the Slim and Pro is now $320, lol.
 
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Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,012
867
126
Deal doesn't appear to be live yet but the Slim is going to be $379/$429 until Christmas.

Course that means that the price gap between the Slim and Pro is now $320, lol.
I wonder how much i can get for my old PS5 with drive. Prices are all over the place.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,272
658
126
I wonder how much i can get for my old PS5 with drive. Prices are all over the place.
I easily got $400 on marketplace with 2 games and 2 controllers. One controller had a lot more visible wear compared to the other.
 

jpiniero

Lifer
Oct 1, 2010
15,385
5,892
136
Interesting... Sony removed the video. Premature or Sony having second thoughts about doing the temp price cut?
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,272
658
126
Well so much for the PS5 disc drive. Finally got my room set up after moving and I go to install the disc drive in the pro and it snaps and breaks a metal piece off of the drive. Not sure what it's used for but it also ended up scratching the metal portion of the inside of the console. Waste of $80 and now I can't even go out to a store to buy a new one because the disc drives are sold out but the consoles are not lol
 

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sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,272
658
126
Happy to report my disc drive still works without that stupid pin that broke off. Looks like it is just used as a guide which is pretty pointless considering you don't see it when attempting to install the disc drive. The plastic cover plate also secured the drive in so it should not move.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
8,152
6,867
136
That makes the Pro an even harder sale. $350 (or more considering how hard the disk drive is to come by right now) for what you get is asking a lot.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,165
6,038
126
Seen PSVR2 on sale for $350, if it drops to $300 I think I'd snag it as an impulse purchase.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,272
658
126
Looks like I missed the sale on the 55 inch C4 Tv. I now have a Pro, TV stand and new recliner in the basement but no TV because I figured I'll just buy it this week since it wasn't a Thanksgiving or Black Friday sale price. It was $1199 way before Thanksgiving so I figured it would stay at that price. Now it's back up at $1400. Lame.