Last generation introduced the concept of mid-gen console refreshes in the form of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Because of this, consumers have been speculating about another mid-gen refresh for the PS5 and Series X/S. According to a recent presentation from TV manufacturer TCL, the PS5 Pro and upgraded Series X/S may have just been unofficially unveiled.
TCL made a presentation today to a group of journalists, divulging technical details and display standards involving upcoming television sets. During this presentation, Maciej Zablocki, a writer for Polish tech site PPE, snapped a picture from one of its slides.
This conspicuous slide separates display standards by the different console generations that defined them. We see notations for generations 8, 8.5, 9, and 9.5. Underneath the “gen 9.5” section of the slide, TCL lists the PS5 Pro and new Xbox Series X/S consoles with display targets of 8K resolution at up to 120Hz.
Both 2023 and 2024 are flagged as the release window, which is a pretty sizeable indication of new consoles from Sony and Microsoft. TV manufacturers would likely have some sort of knowledge about in-development hardware in order to craft set display standards to match the hardware and vice versa. Most recently, Microsoft partnered with LG in the lead-up to the Xbox Series X/S launch, which led to the LG CX being the premiere HDMI 2.1 compliant TV for current-gen consoles. It’s possible that TCL has inside information or heard some sort of rumblings about the new consoles.
On the other hand, this could also end up not coming to fruition. Perhaps TCL is making its best educated guess concerning what display standards mid-gen consoles would target if they were to release. In this context, the 2023-2024 window could be referencing its own TVs rather the consoles.
While speculation has raged about mid-gen consoles since 2020, there has always been one major elephant in the room — supply constraints. Back in October, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger expected GPU and CPU shortages to last until 2023. This would make research and development of new consoles while maintaining supply of the existing systems next to impossible. Of course, the PS5 Pro and new Series X/S consoles could begin production once the semiconductor shortage has been settled, which would likely push them past TCL’s 2023-2024 estimate.
