Switch 2’s rendition of Pragmata hits solid marks in most respects. Unfortunately, an unlocked frame-rate will make it a hard recommendation for many discerning players.

I can't help but think Starfield on PS5 is a disappointment. Lingering performance woes, new configuration quirks, and frequent crashes conspire to make this a surprisingly troubled AAA port.

These are a bit harder to spot but they are there. Otherwise the game generally relies on less demanding reflection techniques like SSR and cubemaps.

Addendum to this video: both PS5 Pro RT modes do feature some environmental RT reflections on very glossy transparent surfaces. These tend to be tucked away on concession machines and certain doorways, and don't generally apply to larger transparent faces like building windows.

Cyberpunk 2077's legendary run of support continues with its long-awaited PS5 Pro patch. Advanced ray tracing and PSSR combine to make this quite the upgrade.

:(

In the latest DF Direct Q+A show, the team grapple with the concept of a $600 PlayStation 5 and the PS5 Pro vs PC price comparison questions emerge once more. Plus: Ocarina of Time remake and much more: youtu.be/T-yqMN_gqb4

DF Direct Weekly #247 is live, testing Fallout 4's new DLSS upgrade on Switch 2, the games that caught our attention at the Xbox Partner Preview, Kena Bridge of Spirits Switch 2 mini-review, Forza Horizon 6 RT and much, much more: youtu.be/otRnMhwMvg8

You have until April 2 to snatch one at the old price!

The new PSSR provides a substantial boost for existing PS5 Pro software, with great image quality wins and scant regressions. A PC-quality upscaler is finally available on home console hardware.

DF Direct Q+A: The Future Of PSSR, Crimson Desert Intel Issues, DRS vs Dynamic Frame-Gen YouTube video by Digital Foundry

The latest episode of the DF Direct Q+A show is out, fielding questions on the future of PSSR, Crimson Desert launching without Intel support, dynamic res and multi-frame gen, plus what's going on with Xbox coverage: youtu.be/9hf4yx7lK6Q

Glossy!

How Will Games Evolve Beyond Ray Tracing/Path Tracing? YouTube video by DF Clips

Oh and here’s something I pulled out for today’s Q&A video - a clip of me describing something (in broad strokes) rather DLSS 5-like 2 years ago. This kind of AI transformation of game visuals has been on people’s minds for a while.

youtu.be/RnJVUuLx-Ig?...

Conversely of course, in games that already have stable reflections/shadows/GI, the lighting changes from DLSS 5 demand less screen-space information and will be more stable, but likely will provide a more moderate change or improvement.

NVIDIA DLSS 5 Hands-On: It Doesn’t Look Like A Game Anymore YouTube video by HotHardware

Video is from hothardware
youtube.com/watch?v=LHp9...

Good idea to watch the full vid (not sure why it's only in 720p though!)

As I mentioned in DF content, I think DLSS 5 may produce the most compelling results in older games or less technically sophisticated ones. In these titles, introducing what is essentially very advanced screen-space lighting with very little integration cost is highly apppealing.

Overall image stability is still very impressive relative to what I'm used to seeing out of video-to-video models, but it will prove distracting in some instances. Aliasing and other non-neural visual breakup is not generally an issue though.

At the same time, this new lighting heavily relies on screen-space information, so occlusion is a major issue. In games that don't already have stable GI/reflections/shadows, this will manifest as a lot of screen-space breakup.

Here's some of the DLSS 5 material we saw in the demos but didn't get a chance to film. Here I think you can see the strengths of DLSS 5 - reflections become much more attractive. Starfield doesn't have great lighting to begin with, so the differences can be profound.

Alan Wake 2 with the upgraded PSSR has smooth, clean imagery. Aggressive upscales are very doable with Sony’s new tech.

More thoughts on DLSS 5 from myself, Rich, and Alex.

Nvidia's new DLSS infers incredible new lighting detail into games - and it may represent the future of game visuals.

The upgraded PSSR is a huge improvement over the original - and it will have a profound impact on PS5 Pro software going forward.

DF Direct Weekly #255 goes live a day early, with reaction to Microsoft's GDC reveals, Crimson Desert console chat, Oliver's new Apple display, Intel's value-driven Core Ultra 200S Plus chips and The Witcher 4's path tracing: youtu.be/bTWwlpphEGo

DF Direct Weekly #254 is live, looking ahead to the Project Helix Xbox GDC disclosures! We're also discussing the Sony/PC reports, Marathon impressions and Pearl Abyss's comments on Crimson Desert on consoles! youtu.be/ddiqHSD1DSU

Switch 2 lands another quality pair of AAA ports. With a couple of tweaks to ensure consistent performance, there would be little to complain about.

It’s very expensive yeah. At least it comes with the height adjustable stand which wasn’t the case before.

In any case, as long as the M5 Ultra isn’t extortionately priced I think I am in on a new Studio. Based on my M3 Ultra benches, I’m expecting something that is reliably 2x as fast as my M1 Ultra in typical video production tasks.

I’ve been contemplating an upgrade from my Studio Display 1st gen and M1 Ultra Mac Studio this year and I think I will. Curious to see what M5 Ultra looks like though: I’m presuming it will be roughly 2x M5 Max but through UltraFusion or something more chiplet-oriented?

Keen on the new MBPs as well, which feature a dual-die SoC design that seems to split CPU/GPU. On the CPU front they are moving towards 6 “super cores” (!) plus 12 performance cores which should be a fantastic config.
t.co/AY06JRn8WY