Sony, PS4 Pro: A powerful purpose

The age of mid-generation console upgrades is finally here. At the PlayStation meeting on September 7, Sony announced two new models for the PlayStation 4. A slimmer, quieter model will replace the standard PS4 while the second one, the PS4 Pro, will feature a significantly more powerful GPU. The main purpose of the PS4 Pro is to provide more power for 4K gaming as well as upgraded graphics for 1080p. It should be noted that the PS4 Pro is not powerful enough to run most big budget games at native 4k and utilises a checkerboard rendering technique for this purpose.

The biggest draw will still be the benefits to 1080p users in the form of graphical bells and whistles as well as improved framerate. The differences will vary from game to game but supersampling alone should give a major boost to the image quality. Since the event was streamed online, it was harder to make out the increased graphics fidelity. Those expecting upcoming PS4 games to jump from 30 fps to 60 fps will also be disappointed since most developers will use that extra power to improve visuals. But in certain cases, there will be choices available to the player.

While playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, if a 4K TV is connected the game will use checkerboard rendering to display it at 4k. But if the game detects a 1080p TV, players can either select 1080p/30fps with all graphics on ultra, or choose the unlocked framerate option with lower graphics. While all upcoming games such as Battlefield 1, Final Fantasy XV and Watch Dogs 2 will support a compulsory Pro mode; already released games need to be patched. Older games that are not being patched will not receive any upgrades.

The PS4 Pro is still a PS4, which means all games, accessories, online player pool, OS and so on will be the same. To avoid giving Pro owners an unfair advantage, multiplayer games will run at the same frame rate on both models. The slim and Pro cost $299 and $399 respectively. Judging by the initial Rs 39,990 launch price of the PS4 in India (which also cost $399) it’s safe to assume that the slim will cost Rs 29,990 and the Pro will set you back Rs 39,990.

It was shocking to see the lack of an Ultra HD blu-ray player in both new models, especially when the Xbox One S has one. Microsoft’s mid-generation upgrade — Scorpio will also be more powerful than the PS4 Pro, with 6 Teraflops as compared to 4.2. I can only assume that Sony wanted to price the console no more than $399  After all, the console industry has shown that any system over $399, like the PS3 and Xbox One, will have trouble selling to the mainstream market.

While not providing native 4k gaming or a guaranteed jump to 60 fps on HDTVs, Sony is positioning it as a “good enough” console for the mass market at a cheap price point. Microsoft on the other hand is advertising Scorpio as a true 4k gaming machine. The new standard model and the Pro will launch on September 15 and November 10 respectively. We currently have no information on their release dates for India.