Playstation 4.5: hardware upgraded to 4K and HDR?

In recent days, from the GDC, rumors of a future evolution of the Sony Playstation 4 console have emerged: this would be a version with enhanced hardware configuration, and can handle a higher resolution than full HD games currently combined with the console the Japanese company. Sony has not officially spoken in any way; at the present time this product is indicated by the name of PS4.5.

There is also talk of a console capable of handling 4K resolution, mode which involves having to manage a total number of pixels which is 4 times higher than Full HD resolution. however difficult that Sony can achieve this kind of result with an expected debut of the new console version for the beginning of 2017: the GPU architectures currently available, in fact, they are struggling to ensure adequate frames per second at 4K resolution.

For this reason it is likely that a future evolution of the Playstation 4 console can introduce official support for 4K displays via HDMI connection implementation in 2.0 standard, allowing access even to the next broadcasting technologies on the market such as the HDR. An increase in processing power, achieved thanks to the transition to new production technologies at 14-16 nanometers for the CPU and GPU, would exploit the 4K resolution for less demanding titles graphically instead leaving those triple A still more complex anchored to the Full HD as with superior performance compared to the console currently on the market.

One could also imagine the introduction of a GPU based on Polaris architecture of AMD, in place of those adopted at the present time by Sony Playstation 4. This would allow the paper to obtain significant performance benefits but is not given at the time to know if such change could lead to major changes programmatically for developers than currently available with PlayStation 4. Sony could therefore choose to remain on the GPU architecture aligned to what is offered at the time and combine them with a more powerful chip, but without It requires a change of approach to low-level programming for developers.

This new Sony console, at a glance, will come in the course of 2017 and should lead to a better functioning with high-resolution screens while maintaining the overall user experience in line with what is available at the time with the Playstation 4.