PS5 Pro rumors: A boon for PSVR 2?
Leaks about the possible PS5 Pro promise a significant performance leap. Could this help the PSVR 2 achieve more details or image sharpness?
Wouldn't that be great? Finally, no more washed out reprojection on the PSVR 2, just VR gaming at a crisp native 120 hertz? The rumors of a more powerful "Playstation 5 Pro" have recently rekindled hopes that such a scenario could become reality. After all, Red Matter 2 showed how much the PSVR 2's sense of presence benefits from 120 frames per second.
If the rumor from Keytogaming.net is true, Sony's PS5 Pro (Project Trinity) could be in development since early 2022 and running on a whopping 30 Workgroup Processors (WGP) by November 2024. The available standard model has only 18. The memory is also said to be significantly faster at 18 MT/s (Megatransfers per second). High frame rates at high resolutions could thus be kept more constant. Raytracing should also benefit.
Hardware boost for the PSVR 2
But would the upgrade really be a boon for the PSVR 2? I would say no.
Maybe it's my old-fashioned attitude as a console gamer, but mid-generation hardware upgrades still bother me. They undermine one of the main advantages of Playstation 5 and PSVR 2.
Dynamic Foveated Rendering in action: the targeted right area offers full detail, while the blurry left half of the image saves processing power. | Image: Vertical Robot
If I have to upgrade every two to three years, I might as well play VR on the PC (even if there are hardly any big exclusives there anymore). Given the supply chain problems of recent years, product cycles have shifted anyway. Sony should give its current flagship console a few more years this time around.
I, for one, am thankful that since February 2023, there is finally a "rounded" console feel to VR again, where almost everything works the way I want it to. No fiddling with the drivers, no jerky "forgetting" of the Guardian as it sometimes happens when starting up the Quest 2. Of course, this "round" console flair also includes a decent optimization for a single platform.
This gives me the chance to avoid sloppily adapted implementations and gives developers the security of being able to plan complex projects for the long term. Playstation VR 2 already uses advanced dynamic foveated rendering thanks to its advanced eye tracking. This can significantly reduce the load on the graphics chip.
Reprojection? Yes, please!
Sure, in direct comparison, the clarity of Red Matter 2 looks much more pleasant. Nevertheless, I don't have the slightest problem playing with a well implemented reprojection. The fast roguelike shooter Synapse, for example, recently showed me how little I mind the rendering technique that doubles 60 frames to 120 Hz by generating intermediate frames.
Even when replaying the launch titles Resident Evil Village or Horizon Call of the Mountain, I barely noticed the choppiness of the picture after a few minutes. Human perception, as we all know, is amazingly adaptable. Not all PSVR 2 users feel the same way. Some complain of blurriness or nausea in VR games that rely on the render trick for performance.
The implementation of AMD's FSR upscaling technology could also bring performance benefits in the future. Hubris producer Koen Van den Steen recently predicted on Reddit that more Unreal Engine 5 titles could take advantage of this technology in the future.
In a Q&A session on Reddit, Van den Steen also mentioned that Sony is working on improving the reprojection technology. "I think the PS VR 2 will get better every update from now on, a good example will be future improvements to their reprojection system which they are working on right now," Van den Steen said.
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