The technical future of the Gran Turismo series will focus on improving time resolution, seeking 240fps gameplay at the sacrifice of 8K spatial resolution. This shift in focus comes courtesy of Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi, who recently stated that processing power of gaming consoles continues to see diminishing returns as they progress from generation to generation.
The series is renowned for its cutting-edge graphical fidelity being demonstrated at its peak in the most recent entry, Gran Turismo Sport. At CES 2019, an 8K tech demo of GT Sport was showcased on Sony’s 560 square foot, crystal LED display system. While the capability for this resolution is possible and impressive, Yamauchi doesn’t seem to be too concerned with breakthroughs in this area.
In an interview reported on by GTPlanet, Yamauichi explained “I’m more interested in the advancements we can make in terms of the time resolution… I think that’s what’s going to be changing the experience from here on forward.” He reveals his plans for the future by stating “In terms of frames per second, rather than staying at 60 fps, I’m more interested in raising it to 120 fps or even 240 fps.” Yamauchi, creator and designer of the Gran Turismo franchise, spoke on the 8K graphical capabilities of the PS5 and how it would be an unnecessary investment to develop compatible features for the series moving forward. “I think, display resolution-wise, 4K resolution is enough,” he says.
The household penetration of 4K TVs still has an adoption rate in the minority, so 8K functionality would appeal to a market too small to see a return on this USP. Additionally, the pixel density on an 8K display would be so high that to fully appreciate the spectacle, the size of the display would need to increase. Because the average user wouldn’t have the sheer real estate or finances for a 560 square foot display, the diminishing return values Yamauchi mentioned seems well-founded.
However, a potential problem to Yamauichi’s push for 240fps at 4K is similar to the issue of 8K. Most 4K TVs are only capable of a refresh rate of 120Hz (refresh rates are directly equivalent to the maximum frame rate supported on that display) and even the most recent HDMI 2.1 cable doesn’t support 4K at 240Hz. To fully appreciate future iterations of Gran Turismo, the only 4K displays capable of 240Hz are much smaller gaming monitors. These 25-30 inch displays may not be what many consoles gamers wish for their living rooms. On the other hand, by the time a new entry in the Gran Turismo series releases, accessibility surrounding the dependent technologies involved will increase and price points will (hopefully) lower.
Regardless of limitations in consumer electronics, Yamauichi’s pursuit of an increased frame-rate for the series is a smart move considering the nature of the games. The sport and simulation genres encompassed by professional racing games are entirely based on timing of execution and snap judgments. An increase in the rate of information delivered to the user is pivotal to input precision and quality of experience. A high frame rate is why live sports look different than film. The lower the frame rate, the more a human’s brain fills in the gaps with imagination. The higher the frame rate, the more “real” the footage looks because the brain receives more information. This concept seems to be well understood by Polyphony Digital, whose developments have always been at the forefront of what video games are capable of. Fans can look forward to lifelike textures, lighting, and physics as Gran Turismo continues to push the envelope.
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Source: GTPlanet
