Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2020]

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I'm not a 100% sure Series S version is native 4K... could be dynamic (if not a lower or dynamic resolution, then a lower LOD is being used). Look at the crowd / spectators quality when compared to each other at the queued up selection below. PS5/XBSX are virtually the same in quality, but S has less detail being rendered in the spectators section.

Not just the spectators section. The footage is definitely lower resolution on the Series S.
 
Not just the spectators section. The footage is definitely lower resolution on the Series S.
Indeed. It's 1080p. 4x less pixels than 2160p.
7jkYCWQ.jpg

efqyRvE.jpg
 
Indeed. It's 1080p. 4x less pixels than 2160p.
7jkYCWQ.jpg

efqyRvE.jpg
Actually in this shot, the PS5 version also is lower resolution if you look at the same spot. But it might be that the camera angle is not 100% the same.

Maybe DF just mismatched the source material. There are just so many consoles to test.
 
Actually in this shot, the PS5 version also is lower resolution if you look at the same spot. But it might be that the camera angle is not 100% the same.

Maybe DF just mismatched the source material. There are just so many consoles to test.
The latter is right as it's native 4K on PS5 even if we can see more aliasing. Like you said the AA works differently depending of the camera angle and the angles are probably not perfectly identical in this comparison.
 
Actually in this shot, the PS5 version also is lower resolution if you look at the same spot. But it might be that the camera angle is not 100% the same.

Maybe DF just mismatched the source material. There are just so many consoles to test.

The stair-step count are both the same on PS5/XBSX (native 4K). The capture is somewhat degraded with artifacting issues which is very visible across characters and objects when you zoom in.
 

Were there people honestly thinking Series S ver. was native 4K?

I'm kind of surprised it isn't at least native 1440p but, at the same time, it is using next-gen assets. I think vast majority would choose next-gen asset quality and details with lower resolution vs. last-gen asset quality/less details at higher resolution.

Oh yeah that low LOD bug in DiRT 5 on Series X seems like it's been fixed now. Good to see; made no sense that LOD quality couldn't be the same in both versions. DiRT 5 looks pretty good but it's not the most technically demanding game around.
 
DF Written Article @ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...yrim-fallout-4-60fps-mods-for-xbox-series-x-s

Skyrim and Fallout 4 can be modded to run at 60fps on Xbox Series X
But what about PS5 and Series S?

Word emerged last week that with a simple mod, owners of the Xbox Series X console were able to revisit The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and to play it at full 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The evidence looked compelling and I wanted to try it out - and once confirmed, I had a whole bunch of further questions I wanted answers to. Would the mod work on Xbox Series S? What about PlayStation 5? And as Fallout 4 also supports mods on consoles, I had to wonder whether there was any way to run the game at 60fps there, ahead of Microsoft's official patch set to do the same thing?

The news of a working Skyrim 60fps mod first emerged on Reddit, courtesy of user annathetravelbanana, and looking into it, the story behind the mod doing what it does on Series X is intriguing. The original mod - known as Uncap FPS by Smudgey5000 - seems to be very old, and was actually designed for the original Xbox One. The way it works is to enable a higher frame-rate by disabling v-sync and removing the hard-set 30fps cap. On last-gen hardware, its effects and its overall usefulness are limited. On the intro cart ride, Xbox One X's locked 30fps becomes 33-43fps with a lot of judder and tearing. I imagine it's used in combination with other mods designed to improve frame-rate to push overall output higher. Regardless, on its own, it's not particularly impressive.

The outlook is transformed on Series X thanks to the console's backwards compatibility features. First of all, it's worth stressing that once installed, Skyrim needs to be shut down and rebooted for the mod to kick in - and the improvement is transformative. Most of the game plays out locked at 60fps and the tearing brought about by the mod is completely gone. In effect, the Uncap FPS mod removes the 30fps limit, while the back-compat features in Series X enforce v-sync, giving a mostly flawless presentation. Yes, Achievements are disabled because you're using a mod. However, this can be circumvented simply by disabling the mod and starting the game. Remember, the mod needs a reboot to engage - and it's the same when disabling it.

...
 
I'm starting to think devs should just start hiring DF as pre-launch testers.
They already test stuff for free, from the developers point of view anyway. Obviously people get paid something over at DF, but all a dev would have to do is give they a beta key and have enough time for them to test it and report back before an embargo lifts.
 
DF Written Article @ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...yrim-fallout-4-60fps-mods-for-xbox-series-x-s

Skyrim and Fallout 4 can be modded to run at 60fps on Xbox Series X
But what about PS5 and Series S?
Some interesting XSS results also
The good news continues because Skyrim on Series S not only works with the same mod, but actually adheres more closely to 60 frames per second than Series X. This is because it's tapping into the Xbox One S legacy codepath, meaning 1080p resolution. The ratio of improvement in GPU performance is higher moving from One S to Series S than it is from One X to Series X, giving you more graphics overhead in relation to the much lower resolution. There are obvious visual drawbacks, but having this additional overhead means you can pile on additional graphics mods, increase the GPU burden, and stand more of a chance of sustaining 60fps.
As usual good work by DF, keeping ear to the ground and covering such things.
Definitely worth a read.
 
I'm starting to think devs should just start hiring DF as pre-launch testers.

I think Microsoft has taken the basis of their testing methodology and are using it.

I believe their BC team said after a Halo release that DF highlited issues they looked hard at their testing methodology which was subjective and probably just an fps counter.

Now they can record and view frame times and similar stats to DF. They record the 360 version as well as it under BC and look for BC issues or validate an issue existed in the original code.
 
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