The PS5 Pro is officially headed our way in November. While we’re still waiting for the local pricing and release date, I have already predicted the hardware could set you back around R22,000 or more without any additional disc drive.
Spending R22,000 on a console is a lot to ask so I hope it has more than meets the eye. The PS5 on its own has been a great generation for gaming but there are things that still irk me. So here’s a list of features I hope Sony has thought about when it comes to the PS5 Pro.
Higher Bandwidth HDMI Port
The PS5 has a limited-bandwidth HDMI port that has a bigger impact on your game visuals than you think. The HDMI port on the PS5 is capped at 32Gbps compared to the standard 40Gbps found on HDMI 2.1.
Sony claimed at launch that the company would release a software update to unlock the bandwidth on the PS5 HMDI 2.1 port. In 2024, the port is still locked. With the PS5 Pro, I hope Sony fixes this. Mainly because the 32Gbps bandwidth limits the potential of 4K 120Hz modes on the console.
This is related to the colour signal the PS5 can output to your TV when running at 4K 120Hz. Currently, any time your console kicks into 4K120Hz, the colour signal on your TV is locked into 4:2:2. This means HDR colour depth gets reduced limiting the range you’ll see across games.
Sure, you can argue that “I can’t see the difference” but when you put a 4:2:2 image next to a 4:4:4 image, there’s a big difference. Here’s an example:
I hope the PS5 Pro comes with its full 40Gbps HDMI port unlocked. If you’re spending a premium on the console, 4K 120Hz should offer the full-colour depth as the industry standard. Something the Xbox Series X/S has had since launch.
Keep in mind that 4K 120Hz doesn’t always mean running a game at 120Hz. Often, games kick the console into this mode even if you haven’t selected the visual mode in the settings. High Frame Rate modes included in God of War, Ratchet and Clank and Avatar also use 120Hz even though they run at 40FPS. So when playing these games, HDR colour is limited too.
Dolby Vision Gaming
Another game-changing feature when it comes to better game visuals is Dolby Vision Gaming. Dolby Vision has been the go-to for movies and TV shows given its greater colour depth and ability to automatically adjust your TV to suit the scene. Essentially, tone mapping with Dolby Vision is better and developers can accurately deliver scenes the way they intended.
Dolby Vision Gaming would add some great benefits to the PS5 Pro by unlocking enhanced HDR across games. We have already seen this tech across Xbox and PC. Most modern TVs have Dolby Vision Gaming modes to help reduce latency caused by increased bandwidth and once set up, games offer higher visual fidelity.
Sony’s rollout of Dolby Atmos was excellent. The feature adds 3D sound to supported systems and the addition of Dolby Vision Gaming would be the cherry on top of the $700 console.
Improved Remote Play
Sony’s PlayStation Portale is a handy device that lets you play PS5 games without the need for a TV nearby. However, the remote play quality leaves much to be desired. In fact, I don’t think Sony has improved the Remote Play tech since the PS4. This results in low bitrate visuals across the feature when using the mobile app, PC app and the R4,500 PlayStation Portal.
Remote Play is a mixed bag. If the visuals aren’t pixelated, the game lags and stutters. There’s also a clear latency issue across the board. This boils down to Sony’s hardware in the PS5 being unable to keep up with the data stream. Something I hope the PS5 Pro can fix.
At the moment, Remote Play standards are incredibly high across the industry. Steam can stream 4K HDR at 120Hz to TV apps and other remote-play devices. Cloud gaming, while relying on the internet, does the same thing. Sony’s Remote Play feels dated. The PS5 Pro would be the perfect opportunity to fix this.
Rely Less on AMD FSR
I know this is a long stretch but while AMD FRS has its benefits, the PS5 has shown that not all of them are good. Recent games have really struggled with AMD FSR resulting in either blurry images or oversharpened textures.
This is all because AMD FSR upscales the image to a higher resolution and uses AI to generate additional frames across games when the hardware isn’t powerful enough to do it.
As the PS5 has aged, we have seen more reliance on AMD FSR and games have started to show some rough edges. When you’re playing Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and the reflections get noisy, that is AMD FSR. When you’re playing Black Myth: Wukong and there’s an obvious oversharpening of textures, that is AMD FSR.
I am hoping that the PS5 Pro can rely less on AMD FSR to deliver visuals. That way, we get more native content that looks cleaner than noisy games that take away from the visuals.
Of course, PlayStation has its own AI-driven upscaling built into the PS5 Pro so we don’t know what compromises this tech includes either. Too early to tell if PSSR is cleaner than AMD FSR or whether the console uses a combination of both.
These features are a bit technical but through my time with the standard PS5, they are features I have thought about. Given the console’s $700 price tag, I do hope Sony delivers more than just a bit more frames and resolution.
