Beyond the controversial aspect of piracy concerning Marvel’s Wolverine, we were able to glean some interesting information about Sony’s next console: the PS5 Pro.
Last month’s major Insomniac Games hack was a disaster for Marvel’s Wolverine. As well as for the studio and the video game industry as a whole. Although the full impact of this incident remains difficult to assess, it nevertheless revealed some juicy information about Sony’s future PS5 Pro. Particularly concerning some of its technical characteristics. Here’s what’s new to learn about the console.
The PS5 Pro and a technology that changes everything
According to documents leaked following the Insomniac Games hack, it appears that the PS5 Pro is equipped to support AI (Artificial Intelligence) upscaling. The slide in question details some of the technologies the game could feature or are currently being explored. Among them, we find cinematic quality facial animation, but not only that. There is also mention of better destruction, damage and regeneration in real time, but also global illumination. Or even dynamic weather conditions and vegetation, as well as deformable surfaces.
The game, featuring one of Marvel Comics’ most beloved heroes, will include also AI upscaling based on machine learning, with a base framerate of 60 frames per second in ray tracing performance mode. Since the classic PlayStation 5 does not have hardware dedicated to AI upscaling, it is very likely that this feature will be exclusively supported by the PS5 Pro. It is also unlikely to support AMD FSR. Since this technology is not based on machine learning, unlike NVIDIA DLSS.
Another recent leak already suggested that the PlayStation 5 Pro would support AI upscaling. Mentioning that the console would have dedicated hardware for this. While this entire leak may not be entirely accurate, the details regarding the console’s processor appear credible. The rumored Zen 2 processor makes sense, as other chips would significantly increase manufacturing costs.
AI upscaling, or artificial intelligence upscaling, is a technology used to improve visual quality. To understand this easily, let’s imagine that you have a low-resolution photo or video. And you want to make it sharper, clearer. As if it had been taken or filmed in high resolution. In the context of video games, as with the previously mentioned PS5 Pro, AI upscaling can take a game running at a lower resolution and make it visually similar to a game running natively at high resolution. Thus improving the visual experience without requiring more powerful hardware.