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[Loudninja]

From Engadget:

To begin with, Horizon is gorgeous. The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K) on the PlayStation 4 Pro, but its graphics shine even in 1080p on the standard PS4. This is the debut of Guerrilla Games' Decima engine, a new foundation for rendering video games with built-in tools for artificial intelligence, physics, logic and world-building. This is also the engine powering Hideo Kojima's mysterious Death Stranding, by the by.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/30/horizon-zero-dawn-hands-on-preview-sony-ps4/

Confirmed details from few months ago

For starters, for players who still possess standard 1080p HDTVs, we're able to offer far better image quality. We've got a number of techniques at our disposal. The most logical one is supersampling. This is a very high-quality anti-aliasing technique, which basically means we internally render at a higher resolution (close to 4K) before shrinking it down to the final 1080p resolution. As our internal calculations are done at a resolution much higher than 1080p, more detail survives before we shrink it down to 1080p, resulting in smoother edges — virtually no jaggies — and a more stable image.

We're also looking at enhancing the quality of our shadow maps and increasing the quality of our anisotropic filtering. This is a technique which increases the quality of texture sampling, resulting in more detailed environment textures. We still have to tweak these elements of the 1080p output quality for the final game, but we have quite a bit of power yet to play with.

In addition, Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 Pro will fully support users with 4K TVs, outputting at a much higher resolution. We're rendering 2160p checkerboard, which is a special technique that looks incredible on a 4K TV. You're going to notice a ton of subtle details, from stitching on Aloy's outfit, individual leaves and branches swaying in the wind, kilometers away in the distance, and more detail in all the machines and NPCs in the world.

Then there's HDR, or high dynamic range, which is a brand-new feature that enhances the range of colors we can display. It's very exciting and hard to explain as it's something which most people haven't seen before, so they don't know what to expect. You can't print it, it's not in cinemas, your phone's screen can't do it. The only thing that you can compare HDR with is reality. We normally have to do a lot of work in the engine to take an internal high dynamic range image and then make it suitable to be displayed on a normal TV. A lot of color fidelity gets lost in the process. If you own an HDR-enabled TV, we don't have to lose that data and you're looking at the image in its full glory, with brighter and deeper colors, more contrast and vibrancy, in its pristine state. The benefits are truly awesome.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/11/01/how-ps4-pro-enhances-horizon-zero-dawn/

 

[jediyoshi]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

 

[pauljeremiah]

I look forward to playing this on my 4K TV ^_^

 

[opricnik]

Meh i wish they optioned to play in 60 fps since this isnt a multiplayer game there wouldnt be problem

 

[Asd202]

Guerrilla games are wizards

 

[NewDust]

Pretty sure this was already known

 

[SlimySnake]

Nice. I sit pretty close (3 feet) to my 55 inch KS 8000 and i notice some blurryness in games that arent 2160p.

 

[Razzorn34]

Meh i wish they optioned to play in 60 fps since this isnt a multiplayer game there wouldnt be problem

Yep. I'd take a drop in visuals anytime to hit that 60 fps mark.

 

[Frillen]

What other benefits does the Pro version have?

 

[mocolostrocolos]

Good.

 

[piccio_ssl]

Pretty sure this was already known

yep, nice to see it confirmed so near to the final release though

 

[Backfoggen]

Hopefully performance holds up.

 

[Pif]

What is the difference between CB 2160p and 2160p native (4k?)??

Also, imagine this engine and zelda.

 

[JetSetRadio]

Don't forget HDR Hermen!

 

[lyrick]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

Those damn weasel words... Marketing at their best.

 

[Loudninja]

Pretty sure this was already known

Yeah but things can always change.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

Meh i wish they optioned to play in 60 fps since this isnt a multiplayer game there wouldnt be problem

They alluded to the engine being capped at 30 at some point or rather the game, could be wrong.

 

[Phil Fish]

More """""""4K"""""" resolution. I'm really not impressed with the PS4Pro.

 

[Frillen]

Nice. I sit pretty close (3 feet) to my 55 inch KS 8000 and i notice some blurryness in games that arent 2160p.

Isn't that a bit close, lol?

 

[black070]

Has been known for a while, eitherway - I can't wait to see this on my 4K TV.

 

[belvedere]

So downscaling for 1080p, then?

 

[leeh]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

Let's not bring this topic up. We know it's not true 4K but it's nearly there.

Looks absolutely phoneminal. Jealous Xbox owner chiming in. My only consolation is that if I was going to buy this game, I wouldn't have no where enough time to even put a dent in it.

 

[orochi91]

Nice. I sit pretty close (3 feet) to my 55 inch KS 8000 and i notice some blurryness in games that arent 2160p.

3ft from a 55" screen doesn't seem particularly healthy for the eyes

 

[BigEmil]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

Results are really similar to native 4K they was right to say 'basically 4K'

Meh i wish they optioned to play in 60 fps since this isnt a multiplayer game there wouldnt be problem

With these graphics and effects and such in a open world game and that CPU that would be hard to pull off would need to do alot of downgrades more than usual for games to achieve 60 for this particular game

 

[franklyshankly]

So wait what does this actually mean? What is the base resolution before checkerboarding?

I was under the impression all checkerboard games were 2160 checkerboard, it's the base resolution that is different. Unless I am completely misunderstanding how this works.

 

[Maxximo]

So probaby 2880x1620?

Thats the most likely starting point right?

 

[Durante]

What is the difference between CB 2160p and 2160p native (4k?)??

The former shades 4.1 million pixels each frame, the latter shades 8.3 million pixels each frame.

 

[HStallion]

Meh i wish they optioned to play in 60 fps since this isnt a multiplayer game there wouldnt be problem

I don't think MP has any reasons why the game is running at 30 fps. The developers have stated the entire game was based around that frame rate and look how god damned amazing it looks.

 

[get2sammyb]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

To be fair, the difference is difficult to discern, and it's not like they're trying to hide anything.

 

[shandy706]

Those damn weasel words... Marketing at their best.

We have people here who rip into marketing for using any type of wording that isn't exact. I'm not sure they'll show up on this one...but with how anal some are they should to stay consistent.

Can't wait to play this.

 

[Elios83]

Excellent!
This was their target since the PS4 announcement though.
Horizon will definetly be both a PS4 and PS4 Pro showcase title.

 

[Durante]

So probaby 2880x1620?

Thats the most likely starting point right?

There is no "starting point". Every other frame, it shades half the pixels that make up a complete 3840x2160 image.

I was under the impression all checkerboard games were 2160 checkerboard, it's the base resolution that is different. Unless I am completely misunderstanding how this works.

No. There are multiple games which do 1800p checkerboarding (what I call 1800c) and then upsample the result to 2160p.

 

[Loudninja]

What other benefits does the Pro version have?

All this stuff should be the same :

For starters, for players who still possess standard 1080p HDTVs, we're able to offer far better image quality. We've got a number of techniques at our disposal. The most logical one is supersampling. This is a very high-quality anti-aliasing technique, which basically means we internally render at a higher resolution (close to 4K) before shrinking it down to the final 1080p resolution. As our internal calculations are done at a resolution much higher than 1080p, more detail survives before we shrink it down to 1080p, resulting in smoother edges — virtually no jaggies — and a more stable image.

We're also looking at enhancing the quality of our shadow maps and increasing the quality of our anisotropic filtering. This is a technique which increases the quality of texture sampling, resulting in more detailed environment textures. We still have to tweak these elements of the 1080p output quality for the final game, but we have quite a bit of power yet to play with.

In addition, Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 Pro will fully support users with 4K TVs, outputting at a much higher resolution. We're rendering 2160p checkerboard, which is a special technique that looks incredible on a 4K TV. You're going to notice a ton of subtle details, from stitching on Aloy's outfit, individual leaves and branches swaying in the wind, kilometers away in the distance, and more detail in all the machines and NPCs in the world.

Then there's HDR, or high dynamic range, which is a brand-new feature that enhances the range of colors we can display. It's very exciting and hard to explain as it's something which most people haven't seen before, so they don't know what to expect. You can't print it, it's not in cinemas, your phone's screen can't do it. The only thing that you can compare HDR with is reality. We normally have to do a lot of work in the engine to take an internal high dynamic range image and then make it suitable to be displayed on a normal TV. A lot of color fidelity gets lost in the process. If you own an HDR-enabled TV, we don't have to lose that data and you're looking at the image in its full glory, with brighter and deeper colors, more contrast and vibrancy, in its pristine state. The benefits are truly awesome.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/11/01/how-ps4-pro-enhances-horizon-zero-dawn/

 

[FarFromAnyGame]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

It is basically 4K.

 

[Maxximo]

There is no "starting point". Every other frame, it shades half the pixels that make up a complete 3840x2160 image.

Got it, thanks!

 

[franklyshankly]

No. There are multiple games which do 1800p checkerboarding (what I call 1800c) and then upsample the result to 2160p.

I must be terribly misinformed, I thought checkerboarding was a specific method of doing the upsampling to 2160p. I guess I need to do some research on what it actually is.

 

[lyrick]

To be fair, the difference is difficult to discern, and it's not like they're trying to hide anything.

the difference is roughly 2x the quality level

1080p -> ~2M px, checkerboard 4K upscaling -> ~4M px, native 4K -> ~8M px

The "basically" wording is hiding the fact that it's a half step and at the same time half the quality of native 4K.

 

[WhiskerFrisker]

More """""""4K"""""" resolution. I'm really not impressed with the PS4Pro.

You have nothing of value to add in any thread involving the PS4 Pro.

 

[Sad Affleck]

It is basically 4K.

How can it be basically 4k if it uses half the pixels?

 

[RoboPlato]

Very impressive. Not many games have actually gotten to 2160c so far and it was 1800c at the Pro reveal. Hopefully more games can push it up as time goes on.

So wait what does this actually mean? What is the base resolution before checkerboarding?

I was under the impression all checkerboard games were 2160 checkerboard, it's the base resolution that is different. Unless I am completely misunderstanding how this works.

1920x2160 is the base res according to Mark Cerny's interview a while back.

Checkerboard rendering isn't a standard upscale. It has to be implemented on a game by game basis. The base res is half the pixel count of the final output.

 

[get2sammyb]

the difference is roughly 2x the quality level

1080p -> ~2M px, checkerboard 4K upscaling -> ~4M px, native 4K -> ~8M px

The "basically" wording is hiding the fact that it's a half step and at the same time half the quality of native 4K.

Yes, but once you're getting to these kind of resolutions it's really hard to tell the difference. I'm not saying it's impossible, but not many people would be able to see it.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Im happy with getting super sampling on my 1080 screen, its an amazing technique.

 

[RichiRamjag]

Let's not bring this topic up. We know it's not true 4K but it's nearly there.

Looks absolutely phoneminal. Jealous Xbox owner chiming in. My only consolation is that if I was going to buy this game, I wouldn't have no where enough time to even put a dent in it.

I know that pain

 

[FunkyDealer]

Will there be a high fidelity mode for 1080p? Or is it "just" high resolution mode for Pro?

 

[Apt101]

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, basically 4K)

The game will be rendered in 2160p checkerboard (meaning, not actually 4K)

I can see why they went with the first one

I don't care. Final Fantasy 15 was checkerboard, right? It looked stunning. This games is looking like it might be the most visually impressive thing to come to have come to either of the new consoles.

 

[Quonny]

More """""""4K"""""" resolution. I'm really not impressed with the PS4Pro.

You're disappointed that a $400 all-in-one box doesn't push out native 4K open world games.

mmmk

 

[Smo21]

So downscaling for 1080p, then?

Let's hope so. Some games have been either not doing it when they can or taking the option away.

 

[Space_nut]

the difference is roughly 2x the quality level

1080p -> ~2M px, checkerboard 4K upscaling -> ~4M px, native 4K -> ~8M px

The "basically" wording is hiding the fact that it's a half step and at the same time half the quality of native 4K.

But it's BASICALLY the same

How can it be basically 4k if it uses half the pixels?

Because basically it is basically 4k

Basically 4k

 

[Insane Metal]

I need to get the Pro, my KS7000 is waiting for this.

 

[Tagyhag]

Sounds about right. As long as it's locked 30 I'll be happy.

I'd like to know what the 1080p version has.

And yeah, I'd love 60fps but that's not happening.