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[HeisenbergFX4]

Earlier this month, PlayStation revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro, and despite initially receiving a ton of backlash due to its price point, the console has seemingly started to grow on people. Digital Foundry’s fantastic Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comparison seems to be the catalyst to change minds, and by the communities reaction was a far better way to show off the capabilities of the PlayStation 5 Pro.
However, with comparisons and improvements aside, I wanted to conclude my Trinity (the codename for the PlayStation 5 Pro) reports with an inside look at its development. To start, let me clear the air on a lot of the rumors that have circulated in the community ever since the PlayStation 5 was even released: the PlayStation 5 Pro has had only one SKU, and any rumors before April 2022 are either educated guesses or well… just made up. Trinity began with preliminary talks and discussions in Q1 2022, with the development process starting in late April 2022 / May 2022, and it’s almost impossible to believe that anyone involved during these stages would leak.
The PlayStation 5 Pro took 31 months to develop from start to release. I previously reported that number to be 19 months, but I had mistakenly looked at Q Lite (PlayStation Portal) documents instead, whoops.

With permission from my sources, I’ve created a complete development timeline for the PlayStation 5 Pro from its start to its eventual release, which you can see below.
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%

The circles in the image represent vital moments in development.
While it’s worth mentioning that every company may have a variance on how things are done, there are a few terms and things to note to better explain what’s being shown:

• AO and BO typically stand for Analog Outputs and Binary Outputs.
• Protos are small tests of key concepts for an in-development product.
• EVT stands for Engineering Validation Test. These are usually done on first prototypes of hardware and equipment. They are done to identify issues that need to be fixed within a design. Units usually fully functional and able to be tested.
• DVT stands for Design Validation Test. Done after EVTs and, usually, Protos. Purpose of DVT is to take one production-worthy design after an EVT and test a mass production of them to determine confidence in full production.
• DQA stands for Data Quality Assessment which helps determine if data is accurate and reliable.

It’s a great insight not really shared publicly before and for those who are curious on how long a console actually takes, well, there you go. While I imagine the PlayStation 6 will take a bit longer, recent reports on PlayStation signing off on the console chip suggest they are likely on track for a 2028 release date (I couldn’t yet verify independently).

https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-5-pro-development/

 

[DeepEnigma]

Good stuff. Rather quick turnaround all things considered.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I know Tom says this

and any rumors before April 2022 are either educated guesses or well… just made up. Trinity began with preliminary talks and discussions in Q1 2022, with the development process starting in late April 2022 / May 2022, and it’s almost impossible to believe that anyone involved during these stages would leak.


But some did know exactly when those internal talks began because team green pays big money to know these things or at least did and I assume Sony does the same

 

[squidilix]

2 years is pretty quick isn't?

 

[Kaiserstark]

So the SDK 9.0 was released in March because that would mean that all the games we saw used this SDK for the PSSR apparently the SDK was recently updated in September from 9.0 to 9.4 to improve the image quality of the PSSR, I would be curious to see the differences.

 

[Xyphie]

• AO and BO typically stand for Analog Outputs and Binary Outputs.

This part is completely wrong. It's A0 and B0 with a zero. They refer to tapeouts of revisions of the SoC.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

So the SDK 9.0 was released in March because that would mean that all the games we saw used this SDK for the PSSR apparently the SDK was recently updated in September from 9.0 to 9.4 to improve the image quality of the PSSR, I would be curious to see the differences.

Yup MLiD's dev source information is legit

 

[Imtjnotu]

So the SDK 9.0 was released in March because that would mean that all the games we saw used this SDK for the PSSR apparently the SDK was recently updated in September from 9.0 to 9.4 to improve the image quality of the PSSR, I would be curious to see the differences.

Dame thing I thought. Only 6 weeks away now

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

How long til someone starts saying it'll overheat and have liquid metal everywhere cause they didn't spend enough time on it?

 

[Bernoulli]

I know Tom says this

and any rumors before April 2022 are either educated guesses or well… just made up. Trinity began with preliminary talks and discussions in Q1 2022, with the development process starting in late April 2022 / May 2022, and it’s almost impossible to believe that anyone involved during these stages would leak.


But some did know exactly when those internal talks began because team green pays big money to know these things or at least did and I assume Sony does the same

HeisenbergFX4 is an Xbox spy

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

HeisenbergFX4 is an Xbox spy

 

[Crispy Gamer]

How long til someone starts saying it'll overheat and have liquid metal everywhere cause they didn't spend enough time on it?

Bloomberg October surprise is just around the corner

 

[DeepEnigma]

How long til someone starts saying it'll overheat and have liquid metal everywhere cause they didn't spend enough time on it?

Don't have your PlayStation's vertical, even though every single PC is vertical.

 

[Fake]

Good stuff.
HeisenbergFX4 put the man article to give the guy proper clicks.

 

[Varteras]

 

[Bartski]

how aren't his sources busted after dropping something this detailed? I'd guess not many people at Sony are privy to such detailed schedules

 

[DeepEnigma]

how aren't his sources busted after dropping something this detailed? I'd guess not many people at Sony are privy to such detailed schedules

Maybe they don't care as long as it's not too much confidential info. Creates free marketing buzz.

 

[PlayerNumber0ne]

I thought that too, Tom Must have a Top Tier Source inside Sony

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I thought that too, Tom Must have a Top Tier Source inside Sony

I have said that for quite awhile, when Tom speaks on PS hardware people should listen, he has a great source

 

[sachos]

So the SDK 9.0 was released in March because that would mean that all the games we saw used this SDK for the PSSR apparently the SDK was recently updated in September from 9.0 to 9.4 to improve the image quality of the PSSR, I would be curious to see the differences.

If every game we've seen so far is running 9.0 man i cant wait to see how much it improves in 9.4. If they solve the temporal stability issue then it is almost perfect.

 

[Astray]

I have said that for quite awhile, when Tom speaks on PS hardware people should listen, he has a great source

Tom generally tends to have sound info from what I've seen.

 

[Kangx]

So the SDK 9.0 was released in March because that would mean that all the games we saw used this SDK for the PSSR apparently the SDK was recently updated in September from 9.0 to 9.4 to improve the image quality of the PSSR, I would be curious to see the differences.

Interesting that SDK usually go by a whole number overall but according to MILD its go from 9.0 to 9.4 which is a fraction. I guess this was a quick release SDK version to address image quality issue.



Is there a chance the presentation is using version 9.4? With the timing it seems unlikely.

 

[saintjules]

Interesting that SDK usually go by a whole number overall but according to MILD its go from 9.0 to 9.4 which is a fraction. I guess this was a quick release SDK version to address image quality issue.



Is there a chance the presentation is using version 9.4? With the timing it seems unlikely.

I will give MLiD a fair listen more so after this.

 

[Kangx]

I will give MLiD a fair listen more so after this.

I don't follow him on other stuffs, but it appears that he got actual contact from game developers who are familiar with the Pro.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

It strikes me that the codename Trinity refers to Sony's "Big 3" or what Sony probably felt the PS5 was lacking compared to Nvidia chips at the time of the PS5's launch

• Beefier GPU for improved performance
• AI Upscaling
• Dedicated RT

Cerny designing Trinity to fill out the PS5's shortcomings from the need to launch when they did makes perfect sense. AMD didn't deliver on things that Nvidia already had, but it's not like they were going to go with Nvidia all of a sudden.

The PS5 Pro is the PS5 that should have been if time had not been against them.

The goal to deliver fidelity modes at 60 fps would have required them to design PSSR and understand what kind of performance PSSR could deliver and then create GPU goals around that in order to get as close to fidelity mode if not better. Then the big buzz at the time was raytracing. Something that devs wanted because it makes visuals pop, but it costs too much.

"I have been very surprised by the degree to which developers are using ray-tracing," he begins. "Putting that in, that was a big decision and actually a rather late one. I thought that this is not going to get much use initially, but if we look at generations, and a generation is seven years or so, software is created for ten years, and so later in the lifecycle we will start seeing people using that technology. But instead we had launch titles that were taking advantage of it. I guess, having worked on games for consoles that were a bit difficult to get into, like the PlayStation 3, I can be a little skittish about very deep technology like that. But in this case, my guess as to how things would go was totally wrong. And I am so happy to have seen the early adoption of the technology.

"The other thing that has been surprising is the push to 60 frames per second. Based on previous console lifecycles, I would have expected there to be a lot more games that are 30 frames per second only, just because the artwork can be so much more detailed if you have longer time to render it. Instead, the almost universal rule this time around has been the games run at 60.

"It's great from a play perspective. Gamers overwhelmingly prefer games that are higher frame rates. I just didn't expect such a departure from previous generations."

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Interesting that SDK usually go by a whole number overall but according to MILD its go from 9.0 to 9.4 which is a fraction. I guess this was a quick release SDK version to address image quality issue.



Is there a chance the presentation is using version 9.4? With the timing it seems unlikely.

Almost no chance. This media would have likely been compiled at least a month ago. It takes a very long time for marketing teams to put this stuff together and get buy off on pushing it out.

 

[Physiognomonics]

My main take is that there was never any delay.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Interesting he also believes PS6 comes in 2028.

I believe that is going to be one helluva console. The PS5 feels to me a lot like the PS3 (albeit alleviated a bit by the PS5pro).

Growing pains. The S3 was the first foray into full HD gaming. And for all intents and purposes, it was a rough transition that really only came into its own with the PS4. I feel that is what will happen here too,the PS5 is the first foray in truly modern gaming tech (RT, AI, virtualized assets...etc). The PS6, will be the mature box that sees all those aspirations come to pass.

Almost as if the odd-numbered PS consoles always are underwhelming trendsetters, and the even-numbered ones are the ones that bring those visions home.

 

[Madjako]

The PS5 Pro is the PS5 that should have been if time had not been against them.

Na!! What would have been the price of this beast in 2020 ? Sony targeted the perfect 500€ $ machine

 

[Radical_3d]

Earlier this month, PlayStation revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro, and despite initially receiving a ton of backlash due to its price point, the console has seemingly started to grow on people. Digital Foundry’s fantastic Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comparison seems to be the catalyst to change minds, and by the communities reaction was a far better way to show off the capabilities of the PlayStation 5 Pro.
However, with comparisons and improvements aside, I wanted to conclude my Trinity (the codename for the PlayStation 5 Pro) reports with an inside look at its development. To start, let me clear the air on a lot of the rumors that have circulated in the community ever since the PlayStation 5 was even released: the PlayStation 5 Pro has had only one SKU, and any rumors before April 2022 are either educated guesses or well… just made up. Trinity began with preliminary talks and discussions in Q1 2022, with the development process starting in late April 2022 / May 2022, and it’s almost impossible to believe that anyone involved during these stages would leak.
The PlayStation 5 Pro took 31 months to develop from start to release. I previously reported that number to be 19 months, but I had mistakenly looked at Q Lite (PlayStation Portal) documents instead, whoops.

With permission from my sources, I’ve created a complete development timeline for the PlayStation 5 Pro from its start to its eventual release, which you can see below.
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%

The circles in the image represent vital moments in development.
While it’s worth mentioning that every company may have a variance on how things are done, there are a few terms and things to note to better explain what’s being shown:

• AO and BO typically stand for Analog Outputs and Binary Outputs.
• Protos are small tests of key concepts for an in-development product.
• EVT stands for Engineering Validation Test. These are usually done on first prototypes of hardware and equipment. They are done to identify issues that need to be fixed within a design. Units usually fully functional and able to be tested.
• DVT stands for Design Validation Test. Done after EVTs and, usually, Protos. Purpose of DVT is to take one production-worthy design after an EVT and test a mass production of them to determine confidence in full production.
• DQA stands for Data Quality Assessment which helps determine if data is accurate and reliable.

It’s a great insight not really shared publicly before and for those who are curious on how long a console actually takes, well, there you go. While I imagine the PlayStation 6 will take a bit longer, recent reports on PlayStation signing off on the console chip suggest they are likely on track for a 2028 release date (I couldn’t yet verify independently).

https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-5-pro-development/

So, when you saw the boxes one year ago they’ve must be empty. Just the packaging was decided previous finishing the hardware.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

So, when you saw the boxes one year ago they’ve must be empty. Just the packaging was decided previous finishing the hardware.

Yes they were flat empty boxes on a pallet and honestly they were a little different then what the box art now is so likely just prototyping stuff

The box was white for one thing and I don't recall seeing those 3 "racing stripes"

But again likely just a prototype mock up

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Na!! What would have been the price of this beast in 2020 ? Sony targeted the perfect 500€ $ machine

It wouldn't have come out in 2020.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Interesting that SDK usually go by a whole number overall but according to MILD its go from 9.0 to 9.4 which is a fraction. I guess this was a quick release SDK version to address image quality issue.



Is there a chance the presentation is using version 9.4? With the timing it seems unlikely.

Yup good call out on the whole number SDK this was at the bottom of Tom Henderson's report from March of this year:
https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-5-pro-more-specs/
Currently, the PlayStation 5 Pro is running on SKD 9.00, and SKD 10.00 is expected in Fall 2024, which is the current targeted release date of the console.

So it was definitely an emergency patch to remedy the PSSR image quality issues right before the final SDK.

 

[omegasc]

Don't have your PlayStation's vertical, even though every single PC is vertical.

At least you won't need the stand lol
My PS5 sits horizontal, and so will the Pro anyway.

 

[FrankWza]

How long til someone starts saying it'll overheat and have liquid metal everywhere cause they didn't spend enough time on it?

I can already hear the coil whine-whining....

 

[Imtjnotu]

Don't have your PlayStation's vertical, even though every single PC is vertical.

My launch day PS5 has been vertical for almost 4 years now.... Not a single fucking issue

 

[Panajev2001a]

Earlier this month, PlayStation revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro, and despite initially receiving a ton of backlash due to its price point, the console has seemingly started to grow on people. Digital Foundry’s fantastic Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comparison seems to be the catalyst to change minds, and by the communities reaction was a far better way to show off the capabilities of the PlayStation 5 Pro.
However, with comparisons and improvements aside, I wanted to conclude my Trinity (the codename for the PlayStation 5 Pro) reports with an inside look at its development. To start, let me clear the air on a lot of the rumors that have circulated in the community ever since the PlayStation 5 was even released: the PlayStation 5 Pro has had only one SKU, and any rumors before April 2022 are either educated guesses or well… just made up. Trinity began with preliminary talks and discussions in Q1 2022, with the development process starting in late April 2022 / May 2022, and it’s almost impossible to believe that anyone involved during these stages would leak.
The PlayStation 5 Pro took 31 months to develop from start to release. I previously reported that number to be 19 months, but I had mistakenly looked at Q Lite (PlayStation Portal) documents instead, whoops.

With permission from my sources, I’ve created a complete development timeline for the PlayStation 5 Pro from its start to its eventual release, which you can see below.
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%

The circles in the image represent vital moments in development.
While it’s worth mentioning that every company may have a variance on how things are done, there are a few terms and things to note to better explain what’s being shown:

• AO and BO typically stand for Analog Outputs and Binary Outputs.
• Protos are small tests of key concepts for an in-development product.
• EVT stands for Engineering Validation Test. These are usually done on first prototypes of hardware and equipment. They are done to identify issues that need to be fixed within a design. Units usually fully functional and able to be tested.
• DVT stands for Design Validation Test. Done after EVTs and, usually, Protos. Purpose of DVT is to take one production-worthy design after an EVT and test a mass production of them to determine confidence in full production.
• DQA stands for Data Quality Assessment which helps determine if data is accurate and reliable.

It’s a great insight not really shared publicly before and for those who are curious on how long a console actually takes, well, there you go. While I imagine the PlayStation 6 will take a bit longer, recent reports on PlayStation signing off on the console chip suggest they are likely on track for a 2028 release date (I couldn’t yet verify independently).

https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-5-pro-development/

Mmmh… I do not see mentions of HeisenbergFX4 in that timeline… can it be trusted?

(impressive roadmap execution)

 

[Fafalada]

Interesting that SDK usually go by a whole number overall

Major numbers only change with... well major updates.
Everything from 9.0 (introduction of 'Trinity' proper) would be minor revisions - so those increments are normal and expected.

Is there a chance the presentation is using version 9.4? With the timing it seems unlikely.

Public demos are often locked on software versions months out of date (across the board, not just the SDK dependencies). Eg. I've worked on E3 demos that were on an engine more than 4 months behind the actual game we were demoing, and likewise for many other components.
Basically - highly unlikely anything shown would have used 9.4 if it was indeed released in September.

 

[TGO]

2 years is pretty quick isn't?

It's an upgrade to the existing SKU, not really a brand new console.
Also the results are pretty evident that it was only 2 years.