While the PlayStation 4 Pro is now out, we will have to wait some time for developers like Crytek to truly max out its capabilities. The new console, designed to deliver 4K gaming and provide the best support for Sony’s new PlayStation VR headset, has 1GB of DDR3 RAM more than the base PS4 console. According to Rok Erjavec, Technical Director at Crytek, that extra 1GB of RAM will make all the difference when it comes to 4K gaming.
“The system gives us back an additional 0.5GB over the PS4, which is enough to fill in the increased requirements from things like 4K, higher quality rendering features, etc,” Erjavec told Gamingbolt. “Coming out at about a 10% increase, it can be seen as somewhat substantial relative to the base console, but mainly it’s there to transparently allow for PS4 Pro-specific improvements without developers having to jump through complicated hoops.”
Erjavec also waxed lyrical about the PS4 Pro’s other features, including colour compression and transparent efficiencies, which he and his team have never worked with before.
“There’s a list of interesting enhancements that Pro brings to the table that we haven’t had the opportunity to work with so closely in hardware before,” Erjavec added. “Some things (like color compression) are transparent efficiency improvements, so really more of a balancing tool to allow high utilization of the increased compute resources despite the relatively smaller bandwidth increase. Others – like the ID buffer or hardware-multi res – actually pave the way for new rendering pipeline workflows, and as such still need to be experimented with to determine all the possibilities.”
The PlayStation 4 Pro is available now, priced £349.99/$399.99.
