How The PlayStation 4 Pro Is Exceeding Expectations

As is usually the case with new video game consoles, the PlayStation 4 Pro’s street release date has been broken. Regardless, some lucky users have gotten their hands on Sony’s powerful new entrant into the PlayStation family.

While most companies hate when this kind of thing may happen, Sony might not actually mind so much in this instance. Why? Well, as it turns out, the PS4 Pro is exceeding all but the most unrealistic of expectations.

When Sony revealed the PS4 Pro, there were many who wondered if the company really had a game plan or if they were just trying to get another system on the market in time for the holidays in order to keep up with Microsoft’s releases. The main point of concern revolved around whether or not those who don’t own a 4K TV (which is quite a few people) will have any reason to buy the PS4 Pro at all.

The answer to that question is slightly more complicated than previously believed, but pretty easy all the same. If you don’t own a 4K TV you’re not going to get full value out of the PS4 Pro. Period. Early users are reporting that quite a few games sport a slight bump in resolution and a noticeable leap in frame rate even on HDTVs, but this is a system for those who are (or plan to be) a 4K TV owner.

As for those early users who are playing on 4K TVs, the consensus is that you have to see the PS4 Pro in action to appreciate it. That’s hard for most people to do, but even low-resolution comparisons reveal a noticeable difference in texture quality as well as lighting.

What matters most, however, is how the PS4 Pro looks in action. 4K fans have long told anyone that will listen that they must actually see the difference with their own eyes in order to appreciate it, and the same must be said of the PS4 Pro. That problem plagued the PS4 Pro’s reveal event, but now that more people are able to see the system in motion with their own eyes, it’s clear the potential of 4K console gaming was greatly undersold.

Watching the PS4 Pro in action makes it much harder to go back to anything else.

It goes like this: The PS4 Pro is the best reason to upgrade to 4K since the technology was introduced. The system has flaws. It doesn’t support Ultra-HD Blu-Ray (a very telling absence). It’s going to be less powerful, but likely less expensive, than Microsoft’s Project Scorpio. We’re also still waiting on games that fully take advantage of its capabilities.

All said and done, however, the PS4 is exceeding expectations by being the first 4K home media device to get people talking about the power of 4K and not the potential.