PlayStation 5: Sony gives the first details of its next generation console

The new PlayStation will feature custom hardware, a solid state drive, 3D sound support and backwards compatibility - but it won't be out in 2019

Sony has announced the first details of its next PlayStation console, but is yet to name it and has confirmed it will not be launched this year.

In an interview with Wired magazine in the US, system architect Mark Cerny, who was instrumental in the design of the PlayStation 4, revealed that the machine will feature an eight-core CPU based on the third generation of AMD's Ryzen processors, and a custom graphics processor based on the forthcoming AMD Navi family, which will be capable of real-time ray tracing, an effect that simulates the path of light through a scene, allowing for incredibly realistic and complex reflections, refraction and shadows. The effect is common in CGI movies, but real-time ray tracing is only just appearing in modern PC graphics cards.