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PlayStation 4 System Update 5.50 Beta Adds A Supersampling Option For PS4 Pro
- Thread starter DonF
- Start date
I’m confused by this. Surely the Pro already supported supersampling at a system level via the scaling hardware. Everything you do on PS4 gets automatically scaled to output res. Unless we think all those games that do support it rolled their own software implementation?
Sure, a handful of games deliberately opted of this for some reason, but that’s not really the platform’s fault. I would assume there’s nothing (except maybe Microsoft policy) stopping a developer from locking out the 4K mode of a One X game if it detects a 1080p display either.
I feel like this (welcome) new option is probably just making the system present itself to a game as 4K even if you’re running at a lower res. Uncooperative game is tricked into rendering at max res, existing system downsampling feature does the rest.
I might be completely wrong. Either way, nice to see.
Sure, a handful of games deliberately opted of this for some reason, but that’s not really the platform’s fault. I would assume there’s nothing (except maybe Microsoft policy) stopping a developer from locking out the 4K mode of a One X game if it detects a 1080p display either.
I feel like this (welcome) new option is probably just making the system present itself to a game as 4K even if you’re running at a lower res. Uncooperative game is tricked into rendering at max res, existing system downsampling feature does the rest.
I might be completely wrong. Either way, nice to see.
Trogdor1123
Member
It has a pro mode so I wouldn't think so would it?
Rellik
Member
That's the one.
The part about “may not do anything much or lower frame rate” seems the reason why they were not automatically forcing it on games.
I think this is specifically for Pro supported games, but pleasantly surprised if it is for both
.
thelastword
Banned
Which games exactly? Mostly Square Enix titles, a few indies. Yet, compare whatever number of titles that had downsampling on PRO and that number whcih didn't looks insignifcant. Also the only reason, some of these devs never bothered with downsampling, even NaughtyDog in TLOU in a later patch is because they knew it was coming at the OS level. Despite that, since Sony didn't implement it yet in 5.0, they still went on to reinstate it.
I'm not denying that supersampling at the OS level is the better way to do this, it's one less thing Devs have to worry about, but practically, this was never a big issue on the PRO, as the majority of pro games downsample from higher resolutions even without the OS feature...and I mean a knock it out the park majority....
What I'd be more interested in seeing is an advanced boost mode tbh. 16xAF on all base 1080p titles on PS4-PRO. Not just that, but a TAA implementation in boost mode to improve IQ on all non-patched titles. That could be done by opening all of PRO's resources to the older unpatched games. Of course, framerate will be even better than current boosted frames. I'd go even one up and do 30fps (capped+vsync) and no vsync or vsync up to 60fps as options in boost mode..... I would even give an option to boost PS4 vanilla titles to 1440p or 2160CB on PRO, all would be options, so you can best choose how your non-patched games run......I know it would be a toll order to offer all of that at the OS level, but such would be a more interesting featureset.......
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down 2 orth
Member
Good news. What are some of the better games that will be affected by this?
JareBear: Remastered
Banned
This is something the X has been way ahead of the Pro on, and this is long overdue
Koala Driving a Ferrari
Member
Same. I'll upgrade my second gen PS4 now as soon as Sony release a quiet, slim version of the Pro.
cozomel
Member
Yes.
SMOK3Y
Generous Member
Check FW update option
ReBurn
Gold Member
Time to buy, then.
flyingcloud11
Neo Member
This is pretty neat. Considering I'm picking up a Pro tomorrow. Trading in my OG console.
Gen.Grievous
Member
X was launched after the Pro though, they had some time to see what worked and didn't work (leaving it up to the developer to implement).
arhra
Member
As the post below yours indicates, it's not just a question of hardware capabilities, but also of what's supported and exposed by the SDK.
As far s the One X goes, MS policy is that all modes should be offered to all users, regardless of what display they're using, but it's not just a soft policy requirement, it's actually enforced via an incredibly simple method at the SDK level:
Given that the PlayStation clearly does expose the display type, you're almost certainly right in that this option will just be telling the system to spoof that value, and tell the game you have a 4K TV connected regardless.
Hopefully that's just a solution for legacy games, and more recent SDKs (and policies) match what Microsoft is doing, by not exposing the display type, and requiring developers to offer all modes to all users, which could be of benefit to 4K users as well as 1080p users in a few edge cases where the high-resolution mode doesn't quite hold the framerate the way you'd like, but there's an alternate 1080p mode that does a better job (ie, The Last Guardian for example, where the 1080p mode was a very solid 30fps, while the higher resolution mode was a lot more wobbly, but the only way to switch between them was by adjusting your display output).
michaelius
Banned
Nope you can't get supersampling if game isn't programmed to work in higher resolution than you screen. Fortunatly on pc it never was a problem as games were programmed to support multiple configurations.
Also it's not pointless because developers time and time again show they have fucked up priorities like that F1 game recently which worked at 50 fps on pro because they gave it full 4k instead of 1600 or 1800p
blastprocessor
The Amiga Brotherhood
So the reason why devs removed their own method is now clear.
thelastword
Banned
Absolutely, and even then, it's only a few games which didn't have downsampling to begin with....I think some devs expected the feature to be implemented way before now, as it was part of the leaked notes, hence why Naughty Dog did not reinstate SS in TLOU in a later patch. I think most devs thought it would make the cut in firmware 5.0 or even slightly before that......
cozomel
Member
Wait, what devs took it out? I know ND did but then put it back in and i know that alot of games didnt do it but who took it out?
JareBear: Remastered
Banned
Yes this does explain why Naughty Dog took it out of TLOU
JareBear: Remastered
Banned
Way more than a few. Way more. Pro has really lacked in providing benefits for 1080p displays since launch.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
Doesn't explain why they eventually added it back in.
Koala Driving a Ferrari
Member
I'm going to give the the PS4 OS engineers at Sony the benefit of the doubt here because I feel that this reason is quite likely. There was probably some kind of memo that went out to developers to announce downsampling functionality as an upcoming feature to be implemented at a system level but for whatever reason, it hit some technical road bump and took longer to implement than originally intended.
That would explain why, a feature that the Pro should have for all users, was absent for well over a year. Downsampling is a fantastic feature regardless and it's great that Playstation-centric gamers finally get to experience the level of image quality that PC gamers (and X owners) have known for a long while.
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Toe-Knee
Member
Because people complained. And they probably had an updated date when it would be added in on a system level.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
It already runs 1080p at 1080p.
cozomel
Member
Yeah, same here, it was there yesterday but gone today and to answer your other question. Other known changes according to reddit are:
- you can delete ALL notifications
- you can turn notifications when friends became available with triangle on friends screen
- you can HIDE from "bought" library (there's bought and PS+ library now visible in "library")
- you can create teams to attend in events (was it available before maybe? never using events)
AgentP
Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
Don't exaggerate. It's a form of AA. If the game had not viable aliasing, SS is going to do little. This gen had been very good about aliasing due to good temporal techniques.
thelastword
Banned
Not true, most of the games which did not have supersampling had extra features for pro users with a 1080p screen. That is, better Framerate, sometimes 60fps, better graphical presets, better AA etc...In essence, some of these games had more going for them......Yet, it was only a handful of games compared to those games which downsampled on PRO..
Koala Driving a Ferrari
Member
Calling downsampling just a "form" of AA is over simplifying and diminishing the benefit of it. It's a computationally less expensive way to raise image quality to an observably impressive degree. This is indisputable and a major selling point for the PS4 Pro. It's something worth celebrating now that Sony have finally gotten it working at a system level.
Clearly you don't work with high resolution assets and have never owned a high end gaming rig (or are clueless on how to maximise it). Completely removing jaggies, pixel crawl, shimmering and improving clarity is not an "exaggeration". You may personally not care, but the tech is... well, was objectively impressive... over half a decade ago on PC. It's fantastic that it has finally found its way onto consoles.
Post-process AA (such as PS3's quincunx "AA" or FXAA, or a derivative thereof) is just a nasty bandaid hack solution that smudges textures and destroys image clarity in an attempt to hide pixel edges. I don't know why anyone would actively campaign and promote a vaseline smear over pin-sharp image quality when they require a similar level of GPU load. But here we are.
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comshoplesce
Member
i did register for beta, but haven't got it yet, why?
vpance
Member
I think you misunderstood. I'd like to see 1080p games SS'd while keeping my output at 4K. The screen makes it seem like it's an option only for 1080p display output. Not a huge problem, if I do need to manually switch it.
cozomel
Member
Alot of us have registered and havent gotten in yet either, like me and registering doesnt guarantee you in, and i think that no one from the US has gotten in yet either, maybe Monday people from the US will start coming on board.
And anybody find or know of any other new features?
wvnative
Member
Sony accidentally pushed it early in EU.