16.8M views · Mar 18, 2020 · 52:45 · 6 HN recommenders · 10 mentions · discussed 2020–2023
PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny gives a deep dive into the PS5's architecture, covering its SSD, I/O, audio and design goals. He explains how removing bottlenecks shapes future games.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN treats it as required viewing for understanding the PS5's SSD and architecture beyond raw specs.
“IMO required viewing for any dev to form a more informed opinion on the SSD tech.”HN comment, 2020
“IMO required viewing for any dev to form a more informed opinion on the SSD tech.”
Cerny's practical explanation of PS5 SSD
IMO required viewing for any dev to form a more informed opinion on the SSD tech. Cerny talks about it fairly practically. Starting point on SSD: this video for about 20 minutes
“a lot of people commenting here should really go watch the talk Mark Cerny gave”
Architecture over raw power: removing bottlenecks in PS5
Yes, a lot of people commenting here should really go watch the talk Mark Cerny gave [0]. It's clear there's no "big technological breakthrough". SSDs are great but have been around for a while already, we simply had to wait for the technology to mature enough. What we are seeing is that we can't just keep slapping better CPUs and GPUs to the machines, because the improvements nowaday are not that impressive anymore, so at least for the PS5 they have switched and started focusing on the architecture , removing bottlenecks, removing major pain points, and using additional hardware to handle tasks like compression and freeing resources for other purposes. Some people might say these improvements happen because they were lazy before and never focused properly on dev needs and bottlenecks and the specific needs of game development. I partially agree, but the SSDs really don't just improve disk speed, they allow a completely different set of architectural optimizations. [0] this video
“I can really recommend this tech talk regarding PS4 and PS5 hardware by their lead hardware architect”
Lead architect on performance goals and optimization for PS5
I can really recommend this tech talk regarding PS4 and PS5 hardware by their lead hardware architect this video some really interesting topics related to what kind of performance they wanted as a baseline and how to optimize to make the PS5 do what it currently does... like no other platform. a $700 console that: - outputs 4k / HDR (upscaled from lower native res. ofc) - renders games steadily at 30 / 60fps - no hitches, framedrops - always records your gameplay - live video sharing of stream with PS friends - live streaming to youtube - updates of games being installed - downloads of games/data all simultaneous, instant game switches, quick loading times. the experience cannot be replicated with a 1k gaming PC, not even a $2000 machine. They really delivered a device which is imho, more than just "an AMD gaming PC with a custom GUI and some DRM" would have loved to have widescale keyboard/mouse support, as playing Far Cry with a controller is frustrating at best. And keyboard/mouse support is in hands of the game dev if they want to support it or not.
“I found it really quite interesting, even if I don't game on consoles primarily.”
PS5 architecture talk, interesting even for non-console gamers
The talk for those interested: this video I found it really quite interesting, even if I don't game on consoles primarily.
“if you have the time, it's definitely worth watching the entire talk”
Cerny on time to triangle on consoles
I believe "time to 200" is a reference to "time to triangle," which Playstation architect Mark Cerny and others have used to describe the amount of time it takes to get a game engine up and running on a new console to the point where it can render its first triangle [1]. You can see him talking about time to triangle on various Playstation consoles here [2] (and if you have the time, it's definitely worth watching the entire talk). [1] link [2] this video
“There’s a good technical talk about it from one of Sony’s engineers.”
Technical talk on PS5 OS and file packaging
The PS5s operating system and even how they package game files had to be developed from the ground up to realize these gains. There’s a good technical talk about it from one of Sony’s engineers. this video
“(Some Playstation 5 architecture highlights).”
PS5 architecture highlights
It's crazy to see just how far they've come from the first console to the latest and all the lessons they've learned along the way. this video (Some Playstation 5 architecture highlights).
Sony's internals presentation met with disinterest
Yes, gamers don't give a toss about the tech details [0], and they shouldn't, Sony gave a presentation about all of the internals of the PS5 and all they got in response was "ZZzzZZZZZZ". They only want the console for the games, man, nothing else. [0] this video
PS5 3D audio uses preset HRTFs
No, they'll have a set of pre-made HRTFs and then use a listening test to pick the most appropriate one for the user this video
“A good HRTF implementation should be calibrated to your head”
Sony discusses calibrating HRTF to the listener
Well, I tried with some one else who also didn't feel any spatial effect. I think it depends on whether the binaural recording was done with a head/ear shape similar to yours. So you'll just have to take my word for it that the audio positioning is very accurate. A good HRTF implementation should be calibrated to your head, Sony was talking about that when discussing the PS5's spatial audio: this video
