I have a theory on how the PS5 Pro could actually outclass PCs

Without a doubt, nan PlayStation 5 Pro is nan astir powerful crippled console we’ve ever seen. It’s group to motorboat adjacent week, promising “45% faster rendering” connected nan backmost of a beefier graphics paper and faster memory. It won’t beryllium capable to outclass a due gaming desktop packing 1 of nan best graphics cards — not moreover close. But nan PS5 Pro could person an separator complete PCs successful 1 area.

I opportunity “could” because we really don’t know. AMD pointed maine to Sony, and Sony hasn’t returned my petition for remark astir nan specifics nether nan hood of nan PS5 Pro. I person immoderate hints, however, and if you’ll indulge a small speculation, I person immoderate absorbing theories astir really nan PS5 Pro mightiness person an separator complete moreover powerful gaming PCs.

The PS5 Pro’s concealed weapon

Sony

Some discourse is important here. There are 3 pillars of nan PS5 Pro’s performance, according to Sony — a faster GPU, amended ray tracing, and AI-assisted upscaling done PSSR. We cognize each astir that stuff, but it doesn’t precisely springiness nan PS5 Pro an precocious manus complete PCs.

But Sony’s lead systems architect, Mark Cerny, has said there’s different facet of nan PS5 Pro that Sony isn’t highlighting successful property releases. The technologist has hinted that nan PS5 Pro has ray tracing features that “no different AMD GPUs” person yet. It’s sewage a instrumentality up its sleeve, truthful to speak.

There’s a batch to break down successful a quote for illustration that. Cerny is referring to ray tracing features, and successful a measurement that’s not bound to circumstantial games, but circumstantial graphics cards. He’s not talking astir ray-traced ambient occlusion aliases reflections — modern AMD GPUs tin grip those. Rather, it seems for illustration Cerny is referring to rendering features that different aren’t disposable connected desktop AMD graphics cards, moreover those arsenic powerful arsenic nan RX 7900 XTX.

Now, Sony says nan PS5 Pro will beryllium capable to boost aliases stabilize nan capacity of complete 8,500 games, but just awkward of 90 games person due PS5 Pro enhancements, astatine slightest astatine nan clip of writing. That intends a ample swath of games will spot a capacity uplift purely from nan larger GPU, but developers request to do immoderate level of activity specifically to “enhance” their games for nan PS5 Pro. It seems those enhancements mostly halfway astir amended ray tracing and PSSR.

Those 2 facts are important to support successful mind. The PS5 Pro has ray tracing features that nary AMD graphics paper presently has, and astatine slightest immoderate of those features require circumstantial developer integration for afloat support. With those established, we tin move onto nan nosy worldly — denoising.

The value of denoising

AMD

Don’t expect Sony to talk astir denoising pinch nan PS5 Pro. It doesn’t get successful nan weeds for illustration that. But nan PS5 Pro is simply a console that’s packing “advanced ray tracing,” and that requires denoising. You tin deliberation of denoising arsenic cleaning up a messy ray-traced image. In nan image above, you tin spot a noisy image successful nan top-left corner. The denoising algorithm comes successful and cleans up nan grainy messiness and leads to nan image you spot connected nan right.

Ray tracing useful by taking samples of ray rays for each pixel. These sprout retired into nan scene, bounce around, and refract, hopefully ending astatine a ray source. They don’t always, though. These misses lead to immoderate pixels having nary accusation astir lighting. There are ways astir this.

You tin return much samples per pixel, though astatine a detrimental costs to capacity (usually successful offline rendering). Or, you tin adhd weights to a segment to make it much apt that nan ray terminates astatine a ray source. Regardless, you’ll still beryllium near pinch immoderate magnitude of sound that you request to cleanable up.

There are a batch of ways to grip denoising, usually looking astatine erstwhile frames aliases neighboring pixels to fig retired what nan image is missing. However, we’ve besides seen AI applied to nan denoising process done Nvidia’s Ray Reconstruction. Similar to upscaling, AI is really good at denoising. You tin spot for yourself successful nan image supra really overmuch a quality AI-driven denoising makes, and without immoderate driblet to performance.

Nvidia

My mentation — and it’s conscionable a mentation — is that nan PS5 Pro is utilizing immoderate benignant of AI-driven denoising. It’s afloat speculation, but I person a mates of reasons why it mightiness beryllium true.

The first is PSSR itself. Sony says that PSSR is “AI-driven,” which apt intends that there’s an AI exemplary moving successful existent clip connected nan console, upscaling your games. It’s besides a characteristic exclusive to PS5 Pro-enhanced games, suggesting it needs circumstantial integration for illustration Nvidia’s DLSS  and can’t activity universally for illustration AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution.

Second is that we cognize that AMD is moving on AI-powered upscaling and denoising pinch a azygous algorithm. The institution has been guardant that its adjacent type of FSR upscaling will see an AI backbone, and its astir caller published investigation says it’s capable to do some upscaling and denoising pinch a azygous model. Further, conscionable this week, AMD said it’s moving difficult to bring nan adjacent type of FSR to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, suggesting nan merchandise is correct astir nan corner.

If these aren’t nan exclusive ray tracing features that Cerny was talking about, I’m not judge what is. If correct, that would springiness nan PS5 Pro a limb up complete PCs. We person Nvidia Ray Reconstruction, but that’s only disposable successful 5 games, and only astatine precocious graphics settings that GPUs arsenic powerful arsenic nan RTX 4060 would struggle to run. Meanwhile, we already cognize astir 87 PS5 Pro-enhanced games, and that’s earlier nan console is moreover here.

Still up successful nan air

Digital Trends

The PS5 Pro isn’t present yet, and moreover erstwhile it is, Sony apt won’t people dense method specifications astir really it handles denoising. Right now, we person 2 dots — AMD’s investigation connected AI-powered denoising and upscaling, and nan features we cognize astir connected nan PS5 Pro — and I’m trying to link them. That doesn’t mean it’s a consecutive line.

It would beryllium a very absorbing application, however. Unlike a PC, wherever these devices are often utilized to get framework rates successful nan triple digits, a console is targeting either 30 frames per 2nd (fps) aliases 60 fps. Shortcuts for illustration upscaling and denoising show up successful a different context, bringing nan consoles up to par without axenic hardware advantage. Even if it’s still a ways down thing for illustration nan RX 7800 XT, we cognize there’s a ample GPU successful nan PS5 Pro.

Hopefully, it won’t beryllium agelong until we spot AMD’s AI-powered denoiser and upscaler connected PC. Not only will that unfastened up broader support successful games, it’ll besides springiness america a chance to stack up nan value against nan PS5 Pro to spot what’s really going connected nether nan hood.