8K TVs are wonderful. They’re worth it for the upscaling alone. I’ve had an 8K TV for a few years now (currently the Samsung QN900C) and it’s glorious. However, the only problem is that there is almost no 8K content, aside from some random YouTube videos of birds. Those birds are gorgeous and I’m happy for them, but they’re not my preferred form of entertainment.
The release of the PS5 Pro last week changed all of that and has made 8K content more available, taking advantage of my fancy TV in the way nothing ever really has. Here’s how my experience of the PS5 Pro with an 8K TV has gone so far.
What is PSSR?
Before I jump into how amazing 8K is and start writing love letters to fidelity, we need to talk about how the PS5 Pro is achieving this never-before-seen level of definition. The console uses something called PSSR.
Now, I thought that the PSSR had been dissolved after the failed coup attempt against Gorbachev in August 1991, but it turns out that was the USSR.
PSSR stands for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, which means that a group of marketing executives spent weeks in meetings trying to make it sound cool, but ultimately failed.
The technology is basically AI-driven upscaling. It analyses what’s on the screen and improves the resolution using machine learning. It’s similar to what Nvidia DLSS has been doing on PCs since 2019, but for consoles.
Basically, the game says “This is what the game looks like” and then PSSR’s AI says “Okay, but let’s add some pixels and other details before it hits the screen”. It’s similar to the technology being used to remaster some older films into 4K, and also similar to what’s in some high-end TVs for upscaling. So, the console is doing the heavy lifting of outputting the game to 8K.
8K gaming on the PS5 Pro
There aren’t a lot of games currently available in 8K, but I’ve spent some time with No Man’s Sky and EA Sports F1 2024 and they’re frankly absolutely stunning.
Exploring an unknown galaxy in 8K resolution means that when I put my face really close to the screen to truly appreciate the majesty of the universe, I don’t see any pixels.
Where 8K really blew me away, though, was in EA Sports F1 2024. I haven’t been to space, so I’m not really sure how the details of that should look in real life. No Man’s Sky looks amazing, don’t get me wrong.
But the revelation was playing the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit in EA Sports F1 2024. I know that track very well; it’s where I used to play basketball, and it used to be my local pool. I also recently did a big bike race that started and ended there, and every year I go and ride my bike around the track the day when it’s all set up for the Grand Prix before they close the track for practice.
In 4K, Albert Park looks great and really detailed. In 8K at 60fps, it feels like I’m there. The details on the bricks of the Victorian Institute of Sport building are perfect. I can see the place I usually sit. The buildings in the background aren’t perfect, but the details of the track and the features around it are.
With the higher resolution, extra detail and higher frame rate, I can see all of it, and I can look around the track more easily because it’s moving so smoothly. It’s incredibly immersive. I can also sit closer to the TV to make it my whole field of view without feeling sick or seeing pixels.
4K 120fps Gaming on an 8K TV
You know how sometimes you boot up a game, and then beyond the gameplay or the characters, you just want to keep exploring the world because it’s so beautiful? That’s what Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is like on the PS5 Pro.
Don’t get me wrong, it was great on the “amateur” PS5. But this new reality where you don’t have to choose between fidelity mode or performance mode, and can instead have both (or, another, even higher fidelity mode) is the reality I’ve been missing. Buttery smooth 120fps in 4K with all the details rendered clearly is heavenly. It’s like watching a 4K Blu-Ray, but smoother and interactive.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was already amazing, but this best-of-both-worlds situation feels decadent. It’s everything you want all the time. It’s the kind of experience that seemed impossible 10 years ago.
What is the difference between between 4K and 8K?
4K UHD resolution is 3840 x 2160, while 8K resolution is 7680 x 4320. 8K is four times as many pixels as 4K, 16 times as many as full HD.
In practical terms, it means you can sit closer to a bigger TV, so you can get a more immersive experience in a racing sim by having the TV fill your entire field of view without being able to pick out individual pixels.
The limit for human eyesight at a reasonable distance from the screen lands somewhere between 4K-8K. So, while we will almost certainly see 16K TVs in a decade or so (because number must go higher), your eyes probably won’t be able to fully take that level of definition in unless it’s an entire wall of your home. I, for one, welcome that full-wall TV future.
Should you buy an 8K TV to play your PS5 Pro games?
At the moment, the list of confirmed PS5 Pro 8K games includes:
- EA Sports F1 2024
- Gran Turismo 7 (update coming soon, not available at the time of writing)
- No Man’s Sky
That’s the whole list. There will be more in the future, so if 8K is important to you and it’s time for a TV upgrade, then go for it.
8K TVs start at $4,795 at JB Hi-Fi for a 65-inch model. Though, with 8K, bigger is better to actually make the most of it, so it’s best to go for an 85-inch TV, which starts at $7,988 for the truly breathtaking Samsung QN900C. It’s probably not going to be worth it for most people yet, and it might be worth waiting until the prices come down a bit lower, or there’s a decent sale.
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