Next-gen gaming consoles are right around the corner and set to offer 8k graphics – but are enough people ready for 8k for it to matter? Until recently, many of the details about the technology powering Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming consoles were unknown to the public. We do know both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X will support 8K graphics to go along with the widespread release of powerful 8K televisions.
Recent refreshes of current-generation gaming consoles like the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X support 4K graphics. 4k TVs possess resolutions of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels. 8k monitors, like the ones unveiled at CES2020, have resolutions of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels for a total of around 33 million pixels. Like the move from high definition to 4K televisions, early purchases will be pricey. Currently, the Sony MASTER Series z9G Smart TV’s 85-inch model is priced at around $13,000.
Other massive improvements coming to the PS5 include the shift to a solid-state drive (SSD) from the previous console’s standard hard drive to decrease load times, an AMD chip that supports 3D audio, and backward compatibility with PlayStation 4 games. The Xbox Series X is said to be twice as powerful as the Xbox One X featuring ray-tracing technology, backward compatibility with almost all previous generation Xbox games, and an SSD storage system. Both consoles will launch during the 2020 holiday season.
Is 8K Console Gaming Worth It?
While Sony and Microsoft are pushing support of 8k displays, the prices of the TVs themselves make early adoption a hard ask for many people. It’s good that the option is there, but we’re already seeing diminishing returns on graphical improvements. The jump from 4K to 8K is less significant than the one from HD to 4K because the human eye has difficulty noticing the difference as the pixel count increases. At certain distances, you can count individual blades of grass or leaves on a tree, but because of the human eye’s imperfections, this isn’t always possible.
A monitor’s refresh rate can limit people from taking advantage of their console’s power. A 60hz monitor won’t display anything higher than 60 FPS, which is a gaming standard. The human eye can process high frame-rates, but detecting the differences on a screen becomes difficult because most people won’t pick up on the finer details. Functionally, higher frame-rates are more important than detailed graphics because they enable players to react to things on screen more easily. In contrast, the advantage of detailed graphics is purely cosmetic. 8K resolutions will become more common once enough media supports it, but we’re still a few years away from that being common.
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Source: PCGamer
