PS5 Pro has more performance, meaning it could render PlayStation VR2 games at higher frame rate or resolution if developers release upgrade patches.
PlayStation 5 Pro was announced today by Sony as a higher-end version of PS5, launching on November 7 priced at $700. Preorders will open on September 26.
PS5 Pro has a 2TB SSD and features a 45% more powerful GPU with 2-3x faster ray tracing and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), a neural upscaling technology similar to NVIDIA's DLSS.
Sony says a feature called PS5 Pro Game Boost can "stabilize or improve the performance" of certain PS4 and PS5 games automatically, but it didn't mention whether or not this will include any PlayStation VR2 titles. In fact, the only mention Sony made of PSVR 2 in PS5 Pro's announcement is to confirm that it is in fact compatible with the new console.
On the standard PS5, many of the most graphically impressive PlayStation VR2 games run at 60FPS extrapolated to 120Hz via reprojection, which as we noted in our technical analysis leads to a distracting and unpleasant double imaging / ghosting effect.
It's possible that some VR developers will release PS5 Pro patches to increase the frame rate of their PSVR 2 titles to native 90 FPS for the 90Hz display mode. For PSVR 2 games that already run at 90FPS, developers could increase the rendering resolution or upgrade to native 120Hz.
Unfortunately PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) won't support VR at launch. But Sony confirmed to CNET that it will support PSVR 2 in a future update which will "work with all VR games". This could effectively lead to an increase in both frame rate and resolution.
David Heaney
We'll keep a close eye on PlayStation VR2 developers in the coming months for any news of PlayStation 5 Pro patches, and we intend to obtain a PS5 Pro to test for any differences in using PSVR 2 out of the box.
