According to the presentation and the PlayStation blog, the PlayStation 5 Pro has three major overhauls: a larger GPU, upgraded ray tracing, and machine learning-powered upscaling. The console’s GPU now contains 67% more Compute Units than the base PS5 and 28% faster memory, which purportedly leads to an overall improvement of 45% when rendering gameplay. The ray tracing systems have been upgraded, casting rays at up to triple the speed that the base PS5 is capable of. This creates much more realistic and dynamic lighting and reflection effects.
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The biggest highlight is the addition of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution — or PSSR — an AI-powered upscaling system that improves graphical clarity pixel by pixel, granting the console’s already impressive graphics a new level of sharpness and detail. When compared to the Fidelity and Performance processing modes on the base PS5, the PS5 Pro’s operation has double the overall power of the former, and sharper and crisper graphics than the latter. All of this upscaling is accomplished without impacting the framerate of games.
Besides the “big three” highlights, the PS5 Pro will also feature Game Boost improvements for over 8,500 backward compatible PS4 games. For those that don’t get the full extent of the hardware improvements, Enhanced Image Quality tech will still provide a modest improvement. As for PS5 games, many major releases like “Horizon Forbidden West,” “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart,” and “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” will be receiving free software updates to better utilize the PS5 Pro’s capabilities. Those that receive updates will also receive a “PS5 Pro Enhanced” label on their respective store pages and boxes.
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