Oh PS4, how we have loved you. From scaling cliffsides with Nathan Drake to shooting zombies in The Last of Us, you’ve been a gem. However, it is time for the next generation.
Sony recently released a few new details of the PlayStation 4’s successor in an interview with Wired. Although it hasn’t officially been called “PlayStation 5,” we highly doubt Sony would break a winning formula.
As you can see below, PlayStation hasn’t told us a lot. However, what we do know is interesting.
Backwards compatible
Don’t worry, you will bring your library of PS4 games with you to the new PlayStation 5.
8K vs 4K
If you have a 4K or 8K television, it means the TV has sharp image quality, with a horizontal screen resolution of around 4,000 pixels.
You probably don’t have an 8K television. Right now, 4K is the norm. However, 8K is available and it’s becoming more popular.
Having 8K resolution support means that Sony expects the PlayStation 5 to have a long life. For years after you buy your console, you will still be gaming with the industry standard.
SSD vs. HDD
This one is a bit complicated, but trust us, it’s awesome.
The hard disk drive storage system of the PlayStation 4 is being upgraded to a solid state drive for the PlayStation 5.
If something has a hard disk drive, there are moving parts to it that read and write storage information. A solid state drive doesn’t have any moving parts, as all data is stored on microchips. This makes SSD faster and better than HDD. How is it better? Let’s lay it out with this info from GamingScan:
- SSDs have virtually no access time.
- SSDs are 15 times faster in i/o performance.
- SSDs are about 10 times less likely to fail.
- SSDs save more energy and use less energy from the CPU.
- Request times are about 20 times faster.
- Backups are four times quicker.
7 reasons you should upgrade to an SSD
Read nowRay-tracing
The new system’s graphics processing unit (GPU) will support a technology called ray-tracing. Ray-tracing is a visual technique that models how light and shadows will behave in a 3D environment. Typically, you see ray-tracing in Hollywood blockbusters. It does exist to some degree in PC gaming, but not on any current home-console.
The functionality of ray-tracing is up for debate. Many current users don’t like it because it sacrifices FPS for only marginally better graphics.
PlayStation 5 needs to enable ray-tracing technology without compromising FPS. If they can, then both Microsoft and Nintendo will have their work cut out for them.
Sooooo… it’s gonna be awesome?
We don’t have a lot of details, but so far everything looks promising. We highly doubt Sony will reveal a major hindrance to the system that will ruin it. However, this is the same company that thought Knack was an appropriate launch title. Stay tuned and we’ll share more details as they become available.
