Support NeoGAF

[Wishmaster92]

Totally worth it even if you have a 1080p set. At the very least it removes the smudge present in all games. I strive for the best console iq so i wouldn't be satisfied playing my games on a normal ps4 anymore knowing i can play the awesome exclusives with much better image quality.

This iq difference is huge to me:

I mean look at this. The sharpness on the original ps4 version of deus ex is...disgusting. It would bug the shit out of me knowing the upgraded console can produce a noticeable cleaner picture.

 

[g11]

I upgraded to the Pro over Black Friday because after trading in my OG PS4, the sale price and some gift cards I had, out of pocket it was less than the cost of a new game. I haven't received it so I can't really say but I can't imagine feeling like I got screwed on it.

Still, whether or not it's worth it is subjective. If money is tight, stick with the Slim or just wait until you can afford it. The price difference if you're just buying in on either one isn't huge IMO but if it is to you, then obviously it's not worth it.

 

[Brandon F]

Running a PRO on a 2014 Sony 65XBR850B set. 4K but no HDR.

At first I shrugged and felt like there was no real difference trying out Skyrim, Ratchet, and Infamous. These games looked nice before anyway and I was not versed enough to even notice what I should be focusing on re: differences.

I did some direct comparisons with my old PS4 and while the above three seemed slightly improved, there was NO mistaking the difference with RoTR, BF1, CoD IW, and more recently DX Mankind Divided. The clarity and sharpness on display is impressive. Hitman also looks phenomenal and runs better.

That said for 1080p owners, eh... I'd wait for a tv upgrade first.

 

[jax]

Do you have or are planning to buy a 4K or PSVR? If so,yes. If not, no, it's not worth it.

 

[Lion Heart]

1080p owner, big hell yes get the Pro.

Honestly games like WD2 and BF1 are huge upgrades. Even Deus Ex the second it first loaded up I noticed how clean it was. You can't go back.

It actually gets you motivated to play more, at least it did for me. Everytime I boot up a game I think "whoa that's so clean". You will have the next three years of awesome IQ.

 

[Goose_Se7en]

I owned a PS4 since March of 2014 and I played on a 55" 1080p set and got a Pro on launch day and did notice improvements to IQ (especially in the games that ran at a higher res and then downsampled on 1080p) but I wouldn't say it was "OMFG 😱 this is so noticeable".

I noticed because I specifically was looking out for it and because I've been gaming for years, along with the help of threads on Gaf to help me spot these improvements. Fast forward to this past Friday and my 65" Samsung KS9000 comes in and I'm blown away. Now I feel like the PS4 Pro is completely worth the price of admission, even on day one.

OP, I can definitely tell you that you made the right choice in getting a base PS4 especially while gaming on a 1080p set. What I'm trying to get at is this, did I notice a difference in IQ while playing games on base PS4 to PS4 Pro? Yes. Is Joe/Jane gamer going to notice it? Probably not. Sony wasn't selling us the PS4 Pro based on supersampling on 1080p sets, just like MS wasn't selling Xbox One S on the promise of marginally faster fps on some games due to a slight boost in clock speeds to the CPU/GPU.

Sony is selling the Pro based on the fact that it could do 4K/Faux4K and HDR on 4K tvs.

In short, you did the right thing in not getting the Pro. $399 isn't worth "omg, so clean, pixels so smooth, oh much supersampling".

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Do you like the idea of stable framerates and zero aliasing?

 

[TAJ]

So worth it.
I'm obsessed with VR now and most of the games show very noticeable improvements on Pro.
I have a 90" TV so even though it's 1080p the IQ difference on non-VR Pro stuff is night and day.

 

[nowheretorun]

Running a PRO on a 2014 Sony 65XBR850B set. 4K but no HDR.

At first I shrugged and felt like there was no real difference trying out Skyrim, Ratchet, and Infamous. These games looked nice before anyway and I was not versed enough to even notice what I should be focusing on re: differences.

I did some direct comparisons with my old PS4 and while the above three seemed slightly improved, there was NO mistaking the difference with RoTR, BF1, CoD IW, and more recently DX Mankind Divided. The clarity and sharpness on display is impressive. Hitman also looks phenomenal and runs better.

That said for 1080p owners, eh... I'd wait for a tv upgrade first.

Do you have or are planning to buy a 4K or PSVR? If so,yes. If not, no, it's not worth it.

Agreed to both of these.

I play on a 1080p Projector @ 68" and sit @ 7-8ft away. My personal opinion that at this size screen and distance, gaming images look big and clean enough (including non-pro patched ps4 games) as well as having the picture framed. I wouldn't want to be having to constantly move my head to see what was going on in the corners of the screen lol!

Anyway, last night did some side by side 'switching' tests. Now I'm old and my eyes aren't perfect so I also had my son here who has amazing eyesight! (Eagle Vision).

The Last Of Us
= A little difference in cleanness of jaggies BUT ONLY when stopped to look at. In motion you couldn't tell at all. At all!

Skyrim
= A 'slightly' and I mean 'slightly' ever so softer a picture.
= In still shots, you could tell on 'some' parts the higher resolution textures but not on everything.
= Pro had a bit more foliage.
= We would say the water was the standout difference in quality between the two and 'sometimes' looked slightly aliased on the base Ps4 but you could hardly tell.
= The softer look of the base Ps4 kind of looked more natural and fitting with the look of the game.
= Runs Smooth As Fuck on Base Ps4 and a Stutter Fests on Pro

Ratchet & Clank
= Practically no difference what so ever. Either in still or in motion as the game was very clean anyway after the latest update using the new AA.

Uncharted 4 Multiplayer
= Probably the biggest difference in quality between the two (which is pretty fucking funny when you consider it's only going from 900p to 1080p - perhaps this says that 4K supersampling isn't as good as a 'real' resolution bump?) as in when you switched HDMI source between the Pro & Base Ps4, you noticed a slightly blurrier difference overall. Some flowers and trees were easy to spot this difference. Other textures there wasn't much in it.
= It was a cleaner, sharper image on the Pro 'although' some parts looked slightly jaggier on the Pro (street lights on The Auction House, as an example)
= HOWEVER, in motion and once your eyes had adjusted (20 seconds) you couldn't really give a shit. It made no improvement to the gameplay or your perception of IQ at all.

Conclusion

- Without a 4K TV & HDR its not worth it at all. If you already own a ps4 and don't intend to buy 4K TV with HDR, then it's a waste of money. If you don't own a ps4 and you're looking to buy one, then obviously a Pro is the way to go (because it does have some other benefits to some).

- I would also say who knows what is going to happen in the future with 1080p settings on the Pro and this right here, is the big 'who knows'.

- If you take into account the 'many' comments on how much better supersampling is and how 'cleaner' the picture is on a 1080p set, then, 'subject to other peoples tv size & sitting distance', I really am now starting to question whether or not I'm going to even bother with a Gaming PC. At the very least note the fact that I'd be doing it purely for 60fps/mods/exclusives because in terms of IQ, I really can't see a difference is worth that amount of extra money (if this represents what people are saying about supersampling etc) Some comments are way hyperbole imo and downright misleading imo but we all having differences so not gonna read too much into it.

Looked at Steam before and compared the following games to PSN prices, noting if I did do a Gaming PC and bought these on Steam, I wouldn't be able to share them with my son on his PS4.

The Witness £29.99 Steam vs £14.99 PSN.
Dirty Rally £39.99 Steam vs £15.99 PSN.
Dark Souls 3 £39.99 Steam vs £29.99 PSN.
The Witcher 3 GOTY £34.99 Steam vs £34.99 PSN. (considering giving this another go).

I feel I need to buy a 65" 4k & HDR Tv to truly get any Pro PS4 value and I'm even starting to think that I may even need this for a Gaming PC too.

I'm sure a Gaming PC will produce 'much' better IQ on the above games as well as frame rate so I'm not full on saying that a Gaming PC and PS4/PS4 Pro are even comparable but I've never owned one so I have no 'sure proof' evidence of 'how much better' they would be using my 1080p PJ and my screen size and sitting distance. So all I'm saying is there is now a doubt in my mind and I really have to consider do I want to spend that much more money for improved frame rates. After all, I probably only game 10-20 hours a week at best. Again, I don't know but surely better AA techniques and improved LOD will do more for Gaming PC IQ than a resolution bump/hdr but like I said, I've never owned a Gaming PC so I just don't know 'how much'...

 

[Ferr986]

1080P TV user. Only worth it if you can get the Pro for cheap (trading your old PS4 or something).

Not worth it at full price right now IMO.

 

[Tailzo]

I'm not too impressed. Screen goes black a few times during games (PSVR is hooked up)

My OG PS4 that is dying now does that.

Uhm, when I look at the TV, and see what goes on in the PSVR helmet, it's like the TV has lost the signal for a short moment sometimes. Screen goes black and the TV looks for HDMI for 1 sec or two.

Should I be worried?

 

[FirmBizBws]

I've only played one of my pro enhanced games so far but I would say just off of the storage space alone it was worth it even if I don't see much of a graphical improvement

 

[foxbeldin]

I sold my PS4 for a PS4 Pro and i don't have a 4k screen. Cost me $200. No regrets.

-It's quieter than my launch PS4
-The IQ is better on patched games
-Doubled my HDD space (yes, i had only 500gigs)
-It's a big boost for VR
-The usb on the back makes it easier to organise VR cables.
-This one is under warranty.
-Got a new DS4 with (i think?) better build quality

 

[Inuhanyou]

It depends on the person. I don't think so, but there are others who feel its worth the upgrade.

 

[zoukka]

I'd say it's not worth it for most people. For hardcore enthusiasts if offers better IQ, but like you can see from those screens, the difference is not staggering.

I would recommend it if you own the PSVR, that's where the improved IQ truly shines.

 

[TheYanger]

I mean look at this. The sharpness on the original ps4 version of deus ex is...disgusting. It would bug the shit out of me knowing the upgraded console can produce a noticeable cleaner picture.

That's got to be the least compelling comparison picture of all time... the pro version is less sharp, not more fwiw.

 

[Poimandres]

I got a killer deal because my PS4 was having the disc eject error and was under warranty. The Pro cost me $80 aud. If the stars didn't align, I wouldn't have bothered. I got a 4K TV recently as well, so I'm sort of in heaven haha.

It's nice, and I'd def buy one if I didn't already own a PS4. But upgrading from the regular machine? I wouldn't bother unless the deal was good.

 

[Hoo-doo]

That's got to be the least compelling comparison picture of all time... the pro version is less sharp, not more fwiw.

..which is a good thing. It's a good thing for the same reason why you don't crank up the sharpness slider on your TV because it ruins the image.

 

[Shahed]

It really is just an enhanced PS4. Games run slightly better, they look slightly better (even on 1080p), they load a bit faster. The general console boot up times are quicker and the OS feels ever so smoother and snappier. Heck I think it may even download slightly faster. It's just a PS4 that's slightly better in lots of little ways.

Is it worth it though? Depends. If you already have a PS4 I'd say no. Use the one you already have. Unless there's a crazy deal where you can swap your current one for a Pro at minimal cost, there's not a realy need to upgrade for minor improvments. However if you don't already have a PS4, I'd say you are better of buying a Pro.

So yeah if you are going to buy at least one version of a PS4, you may as well get a Pro. But if you already have one, there's no need to upgrade.

 

[Memnoch]

Definitely worth it. Didn't think I noticed much of a difference until I went back. Games like Watch Dogs 2 and Battlefield look amazing.

I completely agree. Loving the Pro.

 

[Lapidus' Beard]

For me it was worth it for VR alone.

 

[inki]

I sold my OG PS4 for $250 with a couple games to a co-worker. So the price to upgrade was only $150. Totally worth it as an incremental/future proofing upgrade to me. It's better than I though it would be honestly.

I DO have a 4k TV however I (99% of the time) play on a 1080p. If you have a 4K (to anyone else, I know you don't) it's a no-brainer and looks so good. I was actually quite impressed with how good it looked.
Playing on a 1080p I do see a difference (w/ pro patches obviously) and that's what I wanted. BF1 runs so much better (clunky menu's be gone! + better frame rates) and TF2 is buttery smooth.
Most if not all future games will take advantage it's abilities and usually they have a 1080p mode.

I consider it be the difference between car levels. If OG ps4 was base model, this is the the SE or EX, while still the same car, it's nicer and offers some upgraded accoutrement.

 

[Okada]

For me it's definitely been worth it, especially for VR. The difference in clarity is absolutely huge.

 

[Vetro]

Worth. Totally.

 

[dealer-]

It hasn't been worth for it me. If I could go back a month I would wait another year or until I had a 4K TV.

The upgrades are nice but not tangible, I completely forget about them after playing for a few minutes. Should've waited for a deal, people are already picking them up for £250 on Amazon.

 

[d9b]

Personally, I think it's worth it.

 

[Coxy100]

Personally I went for a Slim too. So no idea if it's worth it or not. For me though I decided I was happy with the graphics as they were. And the money I saved went on a bigger hard drive AND game so I'm happy.

 

[black070]

If you own a 4K TV, you owe it to yourself to pick the Pro up - the level of visual fidelity it's bringing to the console space is honestly jaw dropping at times.

 

[Raylan]

I am too broke to buy a PS4 Pro at the moment, so I went with a PS4 Slim for $215.

The cheapest I could have gotten a Pro for that I have seen so far is $343. I just couldn't justify spending an extra $125 on a Pro, particularly since I'm still on a 1080p set.

The 1TB hard drive vs the 500GB hard drive is also a moot point for me since I already run off a 2TB drive.

So for owners of the Pro, do you really notice a difference as you play compared to your normal PS4? If you could post what kind of TV (1080p or 4K) you're on that would also be helpful. Also if you just got a new LG OLED or something along with your PS4 Pro, I don't want to hear about how amazing your PS4 Pro looks. Of course it will along with your brand new TV...I'm just looking for PS4 to PS4 Pro impressions.

Yeah, I have two PS4 Pros (previously had two OG PS4 consoles).
So yes, it is worth the money. A ~$200 upgrade and you get an 2.5 times more powerful PS4. The console is quiet and the games look much better on my 4K TV and 1080p TV.

 

[Shai-Tan]

It's only worth to the extent that (i) my brother got the old one (ii) The only game I had played on PS4 in the previous years was The Last of Us. I have no idea how many good Pro enabled games will come out in the future and there's fewer post patched games than I hoped but I did enjoy playing TLOU again in 4k, Second Son looks great in checkerboard, looking forward to playing Uncharted in 1440p, not sure if I'll play much of Ratchet and Clank but it does look great. Otherwise it depends on how much of a graphics whore you are. I play games on PC with DSR and got a taste of how much better geometry can look with higher resolutions even downsampled, even better on a 4k tv with games upsampled. It's not what you can do with a new gtx 1080 on PC but it's cheaper and allows the play of Sony exclusives. I recently got a laptop with a 1070 but I haven't even bothered to plug it into a 4k tv because I'm more interested in the exclusives and Nvidia is more focused on downsample - they don't support upscale in the same way that devs make it work well on the Pro so it's just the games I could get away with actually running at 4k which isn't a lot of the graphically intense ones.

I'll say again though that I am disappointed that games like Bloodborne and Until Dawn are not getting patched. Even more so when I'm never playing games like Titanfall 2 and Infinite Warfare on a console due to the controls. So it might end up being less than 10 games that I enjoy in Pro mode if I'm lucky, five or less if nothing else compelling comes along from a gameplay perspective. I am excited for Final Fantasy XV but Dishonored 2, Mass Effect Andromeda etc are all non starters for me. For Honor, maybe? As a mouse and keyboard player the value from upgrading to the Pro is significantly worse. I'll just have to be optimistic about future unannounced titles.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I'm not impressed yet, but it's a newborn. But after selling my PS4, it was only about $125 for me. So w/e.

 

[nowheretorun]

Yeah, I have two PS4 Pros (previously had two OG PS4 consoles).
So yes, it is worth the money. A ~$200 upgrade and you get an 2.5 times more powerful PS4. The console is quiet and [/B][/B]the games look much better on my[/B] 4K TV and 1080p TV.

I'd have to politely disagree with this lol!

 

[Izuna]

Totally worth it even if you have a 1080p set. At the very least it removes the smudge present in all games. I strive for the best console iq so i wouldn't be satisfied playing my games on a normal ps4 anymore knowing i can play the awesome exclusives with much better image quality.

This iq difference is huge to me:

I mean look at this. The sharpness on the original ps4 version of deus ex is...disgusting. It would bug the shit out of me knowing the upgraded console can produce a noticeable cleaner picture.

My eyes must be failing me.

 

[TheYanger]

..which is a good thing. It's a good thing for the same reason why you don't crank up the sharpness slider on your TV because it ruins the image.

And yet right before the poster was praising the sharpness for tomb raider. At the end of the day, the four pictures in the post I quoted are probably the least convincing 'you should spend 100 dollars on this difference!' pictures I've ever seen for any product. They're REMARKABLY similar.

 

[Hoho for breakfast]

Yeah it definitely seems like I'm just going to wait it out unless something more compelling comes along. I'll just live with my slim at least until I have a better TV.

 

[NXGamer]

I am too broke to buy a PS4 Pro at the moment, so I went with a PS4 Slim for $215.

The cheapest I could have gotten a Pro for that I have seen so far is $343. I just couldn't justify spending an extra $125 on a Pro, particularly since I'm still on a 1080p set.

The 1TB hard drive vs the 500GB hard drive is also a moot point for me since I already run off a 2TB drive.

So for owners of the Pro, do you really notice a difference as you play compared to your normal PS4? If you could post what kind of TV (1080p or 4K) you're on that would also be helpful. Also if you just got a new LG OLED or something along with your PS4 Pro, I don't want to hear about how amazing your PS4 Pro looks. Of course it will along with your brand new TV...I'm just looking for PS4 to PS4 Pro impressions.

It all depends on your circumstances, if you have 4K HDR set then it makes far more sense this side of 2016 but more will come next year.

With a 1080 set the leap is not a big but still worthwhile depending on the title. I covered more in my review which is on my website, not linked as I think it is not allowed,if you want to read it to help or not it is on the main page myname.com

 

[Bitch Pudding]

Here's my reasoning to switch from my 2,5years old OG to Pro:

- Better / more fluent graphics even on my 1080p
- This advantage will be even more important for me once I upgrade my TV to 4K or get me a PSVR
- I got a new console w/ a new controller and two year guarantee
- It's much, much quieter than my OG PS4
- I now got 1 TB storage instead of 500 GB
- Internet connection / download speeds from PSN are much better
- It was discounted on BF in Germany (got RotTT retail copy worth €45 for free)
_______________________________________________________________________
- Will sell the old one for approx. €200, so final switching costs for the standalone console sum up to approx €150. That's a convenient deal for what I got.

 

[Pandahammer]

Got a PRO for BF1. Was awesome until the last patch and now it runs like it did on PS4 (maybe worse) so I'm not happy. That said I can't blame the console.

 

[black070]

Got a PRO for BF1. Was awesome until the last patch and now it runs like it did on PS4 (maybe worse) so I'm not happy. That said I can't blame the console.

People need to stop saying that, it's not true.

 

[Curufinwe]

The Pro is a giant mess and no one should buy it.

According to GiantBomb.com

 

[Nozem]

Totally worth it even if you have a 1080p set. At the very least it removes the smudge present in all games. I strive for the best console iq so i wouldn't be satisfied playing my games on a normal ps4 anymore knowing i can play the awesome exclusives with much better image quality.

This iq difference is huge to me:

I mean look at this. The sharpness on the original ps4 version of deus ex is...disgusting. It would bug the shit out of me knowing the upgraded console can produce a noticeable cleaner picture.

Is this post sarcasm?

 

[Ulysses 31]

Is this post sarcasm?

I almost took the bait too. >.>

 

[anddo0]

Worth it..

Horizon Zero Dawn will bring in the stragglers.

 

[Raylan]

I'd have to politely disagree with this lol!

You can. It's a free country. Doesn't change the fact that my games are looking clearly better on my 60" 1080p TV. Clearly better.

All this stuff reminds me of the 'I can't see any differences between 720p and 1080p' talk, 3 years ago.

 

[Serious Sam]

Upgrading from PS4 to PS4 Pro was a night and day difference even on a 1080p screen in Pro-enabled games.

But is it worth it right now if you are tight on a budget? No, because there aren't enough Pro-enabled games yet.

Will it be worth 6-12 months from now? That's a resounding yes.

 

[TheYanger]

You can. It's a free country. Doesn't change the fact that my games are looking clearly better on my 60" 1080p TV. Clearly better.

All this stuff reminds me of the 'I can't see any differences between 720p and 1080p' talk, 3 years ago.

Except that we're talking about "I can't tell the difference between marginally better AA in the form of supersampling at largely the exact same resolution" in most cases. Way to try and pretend it's more than that though. At 1080p the difference is almost entirely imperceptible, especially in actual motion. The vast majority of consumers are not going to drop hundreds of dollars for that. Like, I can see the difference in those two tomb raider shots, but are you seriously going to act like it's a 720p vs 1080p difference?

Upgrading from PS4 to PS4 Pro was a night and day difference even on a 1080p screen in Pro-enabled games.

But is it worth it right now if you are tight on a budget? No, because there aren't enough Pro-enabled games yet.

Will it be worth 6-12 months from now? That's a resounding yes.

Thanks for the report from the front lines of the future, space cadet. We'll require your services again, no doubt, but you'll know when since it will have already happened for you.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Yeah, games look dope downsampled.

 

[captainraincoat]

after 2 weeks with it and trying to go back and play watchdogs 2 on xbox one it looked like a blurry mess and the framerate you could really notice the difference

It certainly wont give my gaming pc a run for its money but its a nice upgrade

 

[outunderthestars]

I honestly struggle to see a difference on a 1080p screen and hate how loud the system can be at times.

 

[Raylan]

Except that we're talking about "I can't tell the difference between marginally better AA in the form of supersampling at largely the exact same resolution" in most cases. Way to try and pretend it's more than that though. At 1080p the difference is almost entirely imperceptible, especially in actual motion. The vast majority of consumers are not going to drop hundreds of dollars for that. Like, I can see the difference in those two tomb raider shots, but are you seriously going to act like it's a 720p vs 1080p difference?

OP is asking us PS4 Pro owners. Well, this is my answer. On larger 1080p / Full HD TVs, I can see a clear difference. Night and day for me. Just like I saw the differences back then, when the 720p->1080p or even 900p->1080p comparisons popped up. I'm not here to sell console to some random casual gamers. OP asked a question and current Pro owners, like me, replied.

Thanks for the report from the front lines of the future, space cadet. We'll require your services again, no doubt, but you'll know when since it will have already happened for you.

People being happy with their Pro purchase / people seing clear differences seems to seriously bother you.