The size of that box suggests some considerable silicon in it.
Sony VR Headset/Project Morpheus/PlayStation VR
Well that seems to say quite clearly that 90fps is preferable to 60fps re-projected to 120fps.
Cost is going to range from $299 to $399 max. If Sony wants a quick adoption rate - then $299 is it. $349-$399 is going to be a bitch to pitch to console gamers on the virtues of VR gaming.
More silicon for more processing means more heat. But it looks low power and doesn't seem to have any vent.
Watching this video from October it seems like I am wrong and it is doing the 3d audio.
If you look there is a light like on the ps4 itself and a grove so there may be cooling of some type in the box. I can't tell as its to far away.
This one is from oct , which I think is newer than the picture I posted earlier in the thread.
ps the guy from toms hardware doing the interview is horrible. They need to get a new guy for video stuff
The box would be doing "3d audio" in the sense of mixing down the multi-channel output into a virtual surround stereo mix. There's really nothing terribly interesting going on there (filters, pans, etc) - that's the same thing that's done with most USB surround headphones, dolby headphone, etc. It doesn't require much horsepower. The really intensive part of sound is the environment propagation aspect and that can't be offloaded to an external box.
Yeah, that would require calculation of positions of sound emitter & all objects [and their properties] that can bounce that sound & players position.
Not for scanout.
Yes, but he has also said that negative affects of reprojected 60>120 scanout look minor when all positives are taken into consideration.
I think that someone from Sony talked about a-la "TrueAudio" approach to sound in PSVR [placing mono sound emitters really into the 3D space and rendering it correctly in relation to the users two ears].
Big silicon means heat. Lots of small components means no heat. Unless it's a fashion statement, that box is that big because the motherboard is that big to fit on the required components. I probably shouldn't have said silicon as that means processing power - I really meant components. Maybe big components are cheaper to buy and use, so the box is mahoosive to keep costs down versus something like an Amazon TV stick which is dinky and does a lot?
Ah okay, it makes sense it would need many small components, it needs tranceivers for multiple types of signals, power regulators, the cheapest memory is an external, on a board with as few layers as possible.
Maybe the features are all on a separate chip. An early prototype would be using either many off-the-shelf components or an fpga while waiting for the final custom integration.
The box is currently the same size as the very first one they have shown in 2014, which had a powerful frame rate interpolator, which is gone now. Since they didn't decide which feature they'd keep until recently, a custom chip integrating everything would be very late, if at all. Maybe it's not even worth the R&D expense of making a custom chip for launch either.
I think a good point of reference is the PS4 southbridge area, it's local memory, and the connectors area with all the tranceiver chips and analog thingies.
Maybe the features are all on a separate chip. An early prototype would be using either many off-the-shelf components or an fpga while waiting for the final custom integration.
The box is currently the same size as the very first one they have shown in 2014, which had a powerful frame rate interpolator, which is gone now. Since they didn't decide which feature they'd keep until recently, a custom chip integrating everything would be very late, if at all. Maybe it's not even worth the R&D expense of making a custom chip for launch either.
I think a good point of reference is the PS4 southbridge area, it's local memory, and the connectors area with all the tranceiver chips and analog thingies.
If I'm Best Buy I'd want demo units in the store to drive traffic inside, while I'm skeptical of the size of the consumer VR market at this time I feel pretty strongly that VR will generate a lot of interest in the same way that Mario 64 did for 3D graphics.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Eh!?!? Mario 64 wasn't even the first nor the first popular game with 3D graphics...?
People went to stores at the time to see the game, a lot of interest in 3d graphics for lay people centered around that game.
Why are we assuming they are sending only 5.1/7.1 and downmixing?
They are using the HDMI port as a custom data channel, Richard Marks said they can customize it any way they want and send any data they want, which is how they later had a separate TV output frame buffer in addition to the headset data (everybody said wha? how?). So they would have 10.2Gbps raw bandwidth available, and the 120Hz headset data is only using 5.97Gbps.
If they really want, I don't see why they couldn't send a hundred mono streams to the external box and offload a large part of the binaural processing, at least a much bigger offload than a simple downmix.
That would really be "best case scenario" for offloading PS4 work. But that will also mean spending $ on custom hardware in the box. Maybe they have lots of extra audio processing chips laying around from their unsold $1000+ premium Walkman devices.
Doesn't have to be very custom, an off-the-shelf DSP can do that job. Maybe a few tensilica cores would be super powerful and perfect for that kind of processing.
I am very curious about their statement about the external box having been significantly upgraded to be more powerful. Maybe that's a new development? I'm confused as I thought they did the opposite when they removed the FRC.
I can't watch the video at work, but...
http://www.cgmagonline.com/articles/news/playstation-vr-needs-external-processing-unit/
I am very curious about their statement about the external box having been significantly upgraded to be more powerful. Maybe that's a new development? I'm confused as I thought they did the opposite when they removed the FRC.
I can't watch the video at work, but...
http://www.cgmagonline.com/articles/news/playstation-vr-needs-external-processing-unit/
*MrFox is confused*
Now I'm curious to see what the little not-so-little box actually does.
As for demo units... Am I the only one who feels slightly uneasy at the thought of walking into a department store and trying a VR set knowing that thing has touched God knows how many faces? It will be a bacteria breeding ground in there. No thanks.
I won't even touch filthy demo gamepads as I imagine all those filthy teenagers grabbing them with their filthy unwashed hands.
Maybe I have a problem.
As for demo units... Am I the only one who feels slightly uneasy at the thought of walking into a department store and trying a VR set knowing that thing has touched God knows how many faces? It will be a bacteria breeding ground in there. No thanks.
I won't even touch filthy demo gamepads as I imagine all those filthy teenagers grabbing them with their filthy unwashed hands.
Maybe I have a problem.
upnorthsox
Veteran
Holy crap!! This like it being put on a tee and told to swing away.........ok.....well for a self professed slut, you sure do seem awfully skiddish about the touch of filthy strangers.....
Problem...of course, but we already knew that.
upnorthsox
Veteran
What Sony needs most right now is flexibility in what could be a rapidly changing sector. They'll also be bringing the lower powered processing platform to the table so anything they can do to support/alleviate that would be a big win.
Given that, imo simply reusing the vita processor would make the most sense. At this point it'd be as cheap for them as a custom processor and would integrate easily into the existing toolchain. It's also setup to handle motion sensors, camera, audio, and would give them headroom for additional functionality. It could also extend out the Vita platform much further than currently anticipated. If not that, then a snapdragon which is used in the Experia's would also make sense.
Depending on how their contracts are written, it could pick up the place of diminishing Experia orders and thus be much cheaper overall than would be expected. It also already in an AR/VR device https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/wearables/odg-r-7-glasses
The rumors of an AMD console win are also intriguing. It's been assumed that this is the NX, but we've had no confirmation of that. So could AMD have given Sony a deal they couldn't pass up? Given their current state its certainly possible.
Probably the least desirable option would be a some kind of DSP that has a narrow set of functions and limited programmability. Why restrict yourself like that?
Given that, imo simply reusing the vita processor would make the most sense. At this point it'd be as cheap for them as a custom processor and would integrate easily into the existing toolchain. It's also setup to handle motion sensors, camera, audio, and would give them headroom for additional functionality. It could also extend out the Vita platform much further than currently anticipated. If not that, then a snapdragon which is used in the Experia's would also make sense.
Depending on how their contracts are written, it could pick up the place of diminishing Experia orders and thus be much cheaper overall than would be expected. It also already in an AR/VR device https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/wearables/odg-r-7-glasses
The rumors of an AMD console win are also intriguing. It's been assumed that this is the NX, but we've had no confirmation of that. So could AMD have given Sony a deal they couldn't pass up? Given their current state its certainly possible.
Probably the least desirable option would be a some kind of DSP that has a narrow set of functions and limited programmability. Why restrict yourself like that?
Very true. Don't forget teenagers spend their entire day mastubating, because they can.
Hey Hey Hey!!!!!Holy crap!! This like it being put on a tee and told to swing away.........ok.....well for a self professed slut, you sure do seem awfully skiddish about the touch of filthy strangers.....
Problem...of course, but we already knew that.
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