Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2019]

[tuna]

For the time, good enough.
The same can't be said about Shenmue 3.

What better real time facial animation had you seen in 1999.

 

[PSman1700]

120+ FPS on a 2060, first world problems i guess

 

[techuse]

120+ FPS on a 2060, first world problems i guess

120+ fps but the subjective experience of a poorly paced ~40 fps title.

 

[PSman1700]

Yeah first world problems i assume.

 

[Shortbread]

Sony's latest PS5 details: the Digital Foundry analysis

There's welcome confirmation of hardware-accelerated ray tracing features in the PS5 graphics core, along with an example from EA chief studio officer Laura Miele of how the technique may be deployed - specifically in calculating more realistic ambient occlusion and ray-traced shadows. We've seen these features in some of the Nvidia RTX-supported titles on PC and as a first step into real-time hardware ray tracing, it may not match up to what we're seeing in PC games like Control, but as with any console, expect to see developers get more from the technology as the generation progresses. In the meantime, a look at Nixxes' RTX implementation for Shadow of the Tomb Raider may give some idea of the kind of effect Miele is referring to.

In truth, the shift to solid-state storage is hugely important, not just in terms of access times and loading speeds but because it brings mass storage - and a colossus increase in data - much closer to the CPU and GPU than we've ever seen before. In its Scarlett trailer, Microsoft even refers to their SSD as 'virtual RAM' - and the implications here in leveraging the processor in ways we've never seen before becomes a little clearer. More detail and more variety resulting in richer and more compelling worlds. The sky's the limit.

It's an essential feature as I strongly suspect that the kind of expanded storage options we have on current generation machines won't be available on PS5 or indeed Project Scarlett - external storage is likely not fast enough, nor is the USB standard wide enough in bandwidth terms to match the consoles' bespoke SSD solutions, relegating it to back-up status only. Sony isn't taking about how much SSD space we'll get, but 1TB seems likely - akin to today's PS4 Pro or Xbox One X - but having to accommodate games that will be delivered on 100GB Blu-ray, a doubling of the standard disc size for titles of this generation.

There are some further takeaways from the Wired article that I enjoyed - specifically, the confirmation that the bizarre Brazilian patent for a new console-like (if rather extraordinarily shaped) design is indeed a PlayStation 5 development kit. Sony's designs for development hardware always make a statement, but rarely reflect the look of final consoles. However, with that said, doubling down on cooling does seem to be a key aspect of the dev kit design - more so than anything we've seen before.

Beyond that, those hoping for more on the processing power of the PlayStation 5 were left wanting. Microsoft produced teaser images for the Project Scarlett processor, which gave a vague idea of the system configuration, but Sony is keeping its powder dry for now. The confirmation of eight Zen 2 cores in the initial reveal really tells us all we need to know about the CPU side of the equation - this is a true generational leap. However, the graphics side of the equation remains unknown. The teraflop war is irrelevant now, as we saw in our apples-to-apples GCN vs RDNA compute face-off, not to mention how key Xbox One X titles have stacked up against PS4 Pro equivalents. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mark Cerny double down on the philosophy seen in the Pro, with innovative solutions and smart design just as important as raw shader count, if not more so. As a consequence of this, a smaller processor means a more cost-efficient box - and Sony got the balance just right between performance and build cost with PS4.

 

[PSman1700]

 

[orangpelupa]

I just hope they keep the superfluous vents design of the devkit for the retail units.

You know how loud PS4 vanilla is? Turns out PS4 PRO can be LOUDER than that.

Yes it often goes as loud as vanilla PS4, but on some occasion, super easy to trigger on D2 shadowkeep vendor screen (forgot which vendor), the fan goes to 11 or something.

Its crazy loud, louder than a hairdryer. It's sounds like a real vacuum cleaner.

 

[Jupiter]

By separating the singleplayer from the multiplayer you can save a lot of space in some games. This is especially the case with multiplayer titles. Games like Battlefield, Battlefront, GTA V etc. got 10 to 30 GB bigger after time. However, with most other games it will have only a minimal effect at the beginning. Especially if the games have just been released. As it was said in the DF video games usually share the same assets for the singleplayer and multiplayer parts.

 

[Boxercide]

Are these 4K Blu-Ray players?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Are these 4K Blu-Ray players?

The Wired article states: "Either way, physical games for the PS5 will use 100-GB optical disks, inserted into an optical drive that doubles as a 4K Blu-ray player.", which I take as a yes.

"Blu-ray 4K", "HD Blu-ray" and "4K Ultra HD" are all official marketing terms for players able to play 4K Blu-ray movies. If there was no intention to replay 4K movies they would have dropped the 4K as there is no such thing as a 4K Blu-ray data disc format, 4K is a video resolution and in the reference to being able to decode H.265 encoded formats.

 

[goonergaz]

The 4K UHD was confirmed somewhere - Japan I think.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

The 4K UHD was confirmed somewhere - Japan I think.

I also managed to confirm it using my powers of English! :sly:

 

[goonergaz]

I also managed to confirm it using my powers of English! :sly:

Lol, I just meant it categorically stated UHD for anyone wishing to try and think otherwise...like the original doubt about SSD

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I feel sorry for DF, they need clicks and views off an article and video based off a Wired article that contains very little useful info. However, we're in the home straight now (that will mean something to Americans) and information will begin to trickle out intentionally or unintentionally and the articles and videos will roll and roll until Richard and Co will be able to afford solid gold cars and solid gold toilets!

No, seriously, I want more hard news as well and would much rather have it filtered through DF than bloody Wired! I wonder if Microsoft will have DF deliver the details of Xbox 4 as they did Xbox One X!?!?!

Sony's media strategy of late, from PS5 tech reveals through wired to Shawn Layden's departure via a tweet, is just perplexingly weird.

 

[PSman1700]

I think DF covers the details very nicely, and has a realistic view of what to expect.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think DF covers the details very nicely, and has a realistic view of what to expect.

Unless people are leaking, they are guessing. Occasionally products come out with no comparable basis to existing technology and that is likely the case for both the solid state tech in PS5 (and Xbox 4) and the hardware RT. RT hardware itself is brand new, so predicting the trajectory of this technology from a single data point (Nvidia's launch hardware) is impossible. The new consoles are not even based on Nvidia tech which largely invalidates this point of reference as a basis for speculation as the chances that both Nvidia and AMD have taken a similar approach in this field is staggeringly unlucky unless some industrial espionage is at play.

As for what to expect, they really don't say. Which does re-inforce a fundamental lack of knowledge and kudos to Microsoft and Sony or keeping this stuff quiet just a year out from launch.

 

[PSman1700]

Occasionally products come out with no comparable basis to existing technology and that is likely the case for both the solid state tech in PS5 (and Xbox 4) and the hardware RT.

Well i think it's likely not to be the case, it will mostly be AMD hardware with some customization, possibly. The days of Cell and Emotion Engine etc are over, and that's a good thing.
All in all i think DF did a nice job of realistically covering the details surrounding the next-gen consoles.

Btw, i think they would have gotten as much views if they would have said the PS5 would crush anything and would contain the best tech ever. We like that here but for them it could damage their reputation in the long run.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Well i think it's likely not to be the case, it will mostly be AMD hardware with some customization, possibly

Then we disagree. If AMD's RT solution is like Nvidia's that would be an amazingly suspicious coincidence and from what Sony have said about the performance of their solid state tech, we know it's nothing like what exists on PC so it's likely exploiting bespoke console architecture. There is a reason that no amount of money can eliminate loading times on PC and that is the fundamental PC architecture itself, which is a collection of abstracted arbitrated buses that come with a collection of bottlenecks.

The days of Cell and Emotion Engine etc are over, and that's a good thing.

I do not disagree with this!

 

[PSman1700]

Impressive!

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Witcher 3 Switch-version. I do think they have done a great job there, even though the differences are easy to spot.