The Nintendo Switch OLED is harbouring a 4K secret – and we want answers

The Nintendo Switch over OLED is harbouring a 4K secret – and we want answers

(Fancy credit: Future)

The Nintendo Exchange OLED looks to have a few tricks under its sleeve, after someone cracked open the Switch OLED's new and improved TV dock and base evidence of 4K capability hidden in unornamented view.

Twitter substance abuser @KawlunDram posted about the specific chipset inside the Switch OLED dock, a Realtek Saratoga chip listed as a "4K UHD multimedia SoC". That, added to the inclusion of an HDMI 2.0 cable with the new Switch OLED consoles, shows that the dock itself should be capable of outputting 4K/60fps to a compatible television, even if the Switch ironware itself International Relations and Security Network't.

So, what does that bastardly? It sure as shooting fans the flames of 4K rumors around a Nintendo Switch Pro, suggests VGC, and the recent Bloomberg report that said equal to 11 developers already had 4K dev kits to develop Ultra HD Switch games.

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It's worthy noting, overly, that the Tegra X1 chip used in the Substitution Organic light-emitting diode – too as the older Nintendo Switch and Switch Fatless models – does technically support 4K. The 2015 and 2017 models of the Nvidia Shield TV cyclosis box seat some used the comparable Tegra X1 chip, and output in 4K resolution and even HDR.

4K gaming is more demanding than plainly video to output, of course, and there's nothing to paint a picture that the Switch's new C.P.U. is going to as if by magic start performing therein surface area without whatsoever issue. But it does look like groundwork is being set for 4K – we just need to figure outer how it all pieces together.

Cabal theories

Nintendo Switch OLED review — (Image course credit: Future)

An HDMI 2.0 cable certainly suggests that the Switch OLED dock is well-intentioned to be used for higher-resolution output at roughly indicate. IT could be a canny bit of backwards compatibility for those who take to buy a 4K Alternate when and if IT eventually releases – allowing gamers to buy a standalone comfort without the wharf, or leastwise have 2 4K-capable docks in their dwelling to shuttle their consoles around.

In that location's also the possible action of a firmware update opening up approximately invisible capabilities, as we saw with Nintendo releasing Bluetooth headphones support – four whole years after the console low gear launched.

However, as dataminer @SciresM points out, the Realtek chip could be there to support improved audio transpose, Beaver State to support the introduction of an Ethernet larboard – new to the Flip-flop OLED – kind of than inevitably 4K upscaling.

It's also possible that Nintendo is simply using some 4K-available hardware in its console chain ahead of a 4K model. IT's likely cheaper to buy 4K-ready chips en masse shot, and Nintendo may have made the business decisiveness to invest in certain chipsets and cables preemptively, even if they're not being wont to their full potential just yet.

When a 4K Throw releases, it might barely release with an identical (surgery near-identical dock), requiring fewer alterations and therefore obstacles to proceed to a next-gen iteration.

Update update: No, I'm not suggesting the docking facility can upscale to 4K.No, I put on't think this means we'll see games running natively at 4K.This is about the possibility of a 4K resolution output which would just be a nice QOL improvement.October 12, 2021

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You shouldn't expect your Nintendo Switch to get down turbulent out 4K gameplay overnight, then. We would love to see the Switch OLED dock aid upscaling and take some of the pressure off a 4K Telly's processor, given cheap 4K displays can struggle happening this calculate, operating room the introduction of HDR – though watching the hype cycle around the long-reported 'Throw Pro' means we're a bit displeased disappointment in that area.

For the record, we have reached knocked out to Nintendo, though the company usually stays pretty quiet, or simply shuts down speculation – even if it turns out to be legitimate. IT's likely that Nintendo wants to sustenance the focusing on its Switch over OLED model, which has solely just launched, and we don't expect a 4K looping to launch imminently.

Presumption that releases of Switch consoles insofar stimulate been roughly two years apart, it's likely that a 4K Throw, or at least a Switch OLED follow-up, wouldn't arrive until 2023 at the earliest.

In the meantime, we trust the 4K upscaling on your Ultra HD TV is elaboration ok for you.

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Henry is TechRadar's News & Features Editor, covering the stories of the day with verve, moxie, and aplomb. He's spent the past three years reporting on TVs, projectors and smart speakers as well as gaming and VR – including a stint as the website's Home Movie house Editor – and has been interviewed in play on both BBC World News and Channel News program Asia, discussing the later of ship and 4K resolution televisions respectively. As a graduate of English Lit and persistent house enthusiast, he'll usually be found forcing Bard of Avon puns into his technology articles, which he thinks is what the Barde would have wanted. Bylines let in Edge, T3, and Little Blanched Lies.