While in 2021, the internet was already buzzing about a Switch Pro capable of displaying an image in 4K, a project ultimately forgotten in favor of an OLED Switch, rumors surrounding the Nintendo Switch 2 often mentioned 4K compatibility in docked mode.
According to Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming, a regular on rumors surrounding the future console, it would not go beyond 4k and would be limited to a classic 1080p definition. "I heard this from a developer at GDC and I also heard it separately in an email, but dev kits, or some of them, do not have 4K output.""
To put it crudely, dev kits are non-commercial machines that offer part of the final console experience. They are provided to game developers to test their creations on future hardware. The closer the console launch gets, the more credible the leaks surrounding them seem, given that an increasing number of developers may have access to them.
A 4K Switch 2 remains unlikely…
It should be added that while the development kits do indeed not have 4K output, this does not 100% indicate that the console will do without it. It is entirely possible that these machines have specifications that differ from the final product. Nintendo may also have planned several kits, with a 4K version at coming soon.
If Nintendo's console doesn't benefit from a 4K output in docked mode, that is, connected to a TV or monitor, that wouldn't be entirely surprising either. Indeed, just like the previous console from the giant with the red cap, the Switch 2 is a hybrid console that must work both in portable mode and in living room mode. Its portable use implies that it must have a specialized chip in the field, which must therefore not consume too much power and not heat up too much, otherwise the battery would not last long. This constraint it alone could explain the lack of 4K output.
...but the feat is technically possible
On the other hand, since the release of the Switch 1, one technology has evolved a lot. This is upscaling. It consists of having the chip calculate an image in a low definition to save resources, then passing the image to specialized cores that will enlarge the image. It is the advent of this technology that allows us to hope that a Switch 2, specialized in nomadism, will be capable of displaying a 4K image. It would not perform its calculations in a native definition, but in 720 or 1080p, before enlarging it.
It also turns out that the most likely supplier of the Switch 2 chip is called Nvidia (they supplied the Tegra X1 of the Switch 1). However, Nvidia is particularly known for the quality of its upscaling, called DLSS, provided by its RTX graphics cards. There is therefore still hope. Let's hope that Nintendo will take advantage of its live broadcast on April 2, 2025 to provide a definitive answer on this subject.
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