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PlayStation VR's external processor revealed.

M

mocoworm

Member
Im having a hard time copy/pasting as I'm on mobile. Clink the link for loads of info.

PlayStation VR's external processor revealed
Inputs and outputs listed, how large it actually is - and why it has a fan.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-playstation-vr-external-processor-revealed

Based on the development hardware with game-makers now - which may or may not change on the final retail design - we can confirm that the box measures up at 140x140x35mm. By comparison, the Wii measures 215x157x44mm, almost 2.2x the overall volume. A fair bit smaller then, but significantly larger than the box we saw on the first-gen Morpheus prototype. A small power supply is also included in the development kit - that's a 12v unit rated for three amps. This is not insignificant.
Click to expand...

The external processor sits between the headset and the PS4 and in terms of IO, the rear of the unit features the power input, HDMI input and output (for the 'social screen' functionality) along with a USB port, which also connects to the PlayStation 4. The front of the device features bespoke dual outputs to the PlayStation VR headset. The Polygon report says that the external processor looks a lot like the image tweeted below, from VR Focus. Having seen development hardware first-hand, we can confirm that it is, in fact, entirely identical to what's pictured here on the bottom right.
Click to expand...
 
T

thekiddfran

Member
Additionally, in the jump to 120Hz, Sony has also implemented asynchronous time-warp, allowing 60fps games to be frame-rate upscaled to the native refresh of the HMD panel. The process also subtly warps the image based on the very latest motion data from the headset. Async time-warp can actually applied to all frames (even on native 120Hz code) and helps reduce potential nausea issues by ensuring that visual response to HMD movement is as fast as it can be. With that in mind, we have to wonder whether this is actually applied by the external processor box - going down this route could reduce latency significantly as opposed to implementing it during rendering.
Click to expand...

Very interesting
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Time warp is happening on the PS4 gpu at least according to the last dev presentations I saw. It's also not a new addition... I thought the 120hz screen refresh was there from the first spec reveal too, contrary to the suggestion in the Eurogamer article (?)
 
C

chadskin

Member
3500814.jpg
 
X

xKilltheMx

Member
Yeah the investment of the headset and breakout box...definitely 400 for PSVR.
Any lower and I'm surprised....fuck that's gonna hurt the wallet.
 
vpance

vpance

Member
Definitely some secret sauce in there. You don't need a fan for a chip that mostly dewarps an image and processes sound.
 
G

Graphics Horse

Member
gofreak said:
Time warp is happening on the PS4 gpu at least according to the last dev presentations I saw. It's also not a new addition... I thought the 120hz screen refresh was there from the first spec reveal too, contrary to the suggestion in the Eurogamer article (?)
Click to expand...

Yes it was 90hz they added recently.
 
B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
gofreak said:
Time warp is happening on the PS4 gpu at least according to the last dev presentations I saw. It's also not a new addition... I thought the 120hz screen refresh was there from the first spec reveal too, contrary to the suggestion in the Eurogamer article (?)
Click to expand...
Yeah
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
I hope they are very clear at release that this requires a ps4... that box could be perceived as a console in itself.

VR bundles will retail at $699.99
 
dead monkey uk

dead monkey uk

Member
This is the type of reporting that was missing a few days ago, when most sites just repeated 'its the size of the Wii U'

Still on the fence about PS VR (any vr), but I love reading about new tech. Looking forward to hearing about what specs this external processor has. Some kind of ARM chip with a small amount of RAM would be my guess.
 
S

Stike

Member
coolasj19 said:
Sony says it's a platform. There's a distinction. Even if I can't clarify it right now.
Click to expand...
It's a platform as in the games and usage scenarios are not the same as with a regular PS4.
VR games need a special approach to work right - you CAN of course try and just adapt FOV and gfx to your existing game, but it won't be the same experience as a truly "made for VR" game (like OR fan mods of Skyrim, for example)

Did people really think this required no extra power? Of course it does. You power that display, the sensors, the lights AND a breakout box with dedicated CPU/DSPs? No way that would run on USB's measly 5 Volts/1 Ampere.
 
Q

qa_engineer

Member
Please be priced at 299.99 USD or lower.

Edit: Please be priced at 299.99 for the standalone headset. 400.00 for the Headset + Camera + 2x Move Controllers. Do it.
 
J

jrcbandit

Member
Will they sell two versions, one with the camera plus PlayStation move and one without? Is the Move still supposed to be the primary input, I already own the camera but not Move. I can't imagine PSVR costing more than the PS4 so $350 seems a likely starting price point.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
I honestly think they've botched this. When has a Sony peripheral ever sold well. They tried so hard with Playstation Move and it totally bombed. I'll give them the fact that VR is the new hotness and its backed by other companies making similar moves, but this add on processor seems half baked.

What they really should have done is delay VR a year and bring it out with the Playstation 5 in 2017 or just to heck with it and bring out a new console and call it Playstation VR. I don't think the Playstation VR games are going to even look half as good as the Morpheus games running off a GTX970, so its probably going to be like PS3.5 quality stuff.
 
B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Stike said:
Did people really think this required no extra power? Of course it does. You power that display, the sensors, the lights AND a breakout box with dedicated CPU/DSPs? No way that would run on USB's measly 5 Volts/1 Ampere.
Click to expand...
To be fair, because they control both devices on each USB side they wouldn't have to be limited to 5V/1A or 5V/500mA
 
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