Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion Archive [2014]
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Dragon Age Face/Off now up.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-dragon-age-inquisition-face-off
Another resolution and detail lead for the PS4, another frame rate lead for the Xbox One.
This time it's the PS4 version that gets to sniff the tearing pole.
EDIT: Saw this on NeoGaf from the DF chap (dark10X) that did the faceoff. I have something of a bee in my bonnet about the way DFs metrics are routinely sliced up and used selectively by those who make claims of bias against them. Some insight onto this FO from the person who did it is worth posting.
"No no no no no.
I cannot BELIEVE that people are actually suspecting some sort of bias here. I mean, it absolutely blows my mind though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore.
This is NOT nitpicking. I put a solid 8 hours into the XBone version of the game and it is 99.99999% locked at 30 fps. It just doesn't dip. "I" think that is worth something.
I received the PS4 version later and was actually expecting them to be equal so I was completely surprised and very disappointed when that didn't prove to be the case. It dips far more often than I expected even during normal exploration. It's still much better than any other Bioware console release to date but compared to the completely stable XO version it was a huge disappointment. On the console side I actually prefer building my library on the PS4, it should be noted, so these types of situations are not what I want to see. However, I put aside that bias and present the findings as they are. People are looking for bias where there is none."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-dragon-age-inquisition-face-off
Another resolution and detail lead for the PS4, another frame rate lead for the Xbox One.
This time it's the PS4 version that gets to sniff the tearing pole.
EDIT: Saw this on NeoGaf from the DF chap (dark10X) that did the faceoff. I have something of a bee in my bonnet about the way DFs metrics are routinely sliced up and used selectively by those who make claims of bias against them. Some insight onto this FO from the person who did it is worth posting.
"No no no no no.
I cannot BELIEVE that people are actually suspecting some sort of bias here. I mean, it absolutely blows my mind though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore.
This is NOT nitpicking. I put a solid 8 hours into the XBone version of the game and it is 99.99999% locked at 30 fps. It just doesn't dip. "I" think that is worth something.
I received the PS4 version later and was actually expecting them to be equal so I was completely surprised and very disappointed when that didn't prove to be the case. It dips far more often than I expected even during normal exploration. It's still much better than any other Bioware console release to date but compared to the completely stable XO version it was a huge disappointment. On the console side I actually prefer building my library on the PS4, it should be noted, so these types of situations are not what I want to see. However, I put aside that bias and present the findings as they are. People are looking for bias where there is none."
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I can deal with performance dips, doing it all my life with PC and console gaming. Lower IQ performance is the bee in my bonnet that drives me crazy... that's not to say all lower IQ is bad, I'm just more of a graphics whore.
TheWretched
Regular
Just a heads up to people "stuck" with 30Hz (like me on Kodi/Xbmc). The DF videos seem to judder from time to time. The DAI one for example has the PS4 side notably judder in the part starting at 3:02. The 60Hz video does not have this issue. The same is true for the GTA videos as well. Not sure what's the issue here. Should be Youtubes video reencode, but 60Hz with framedoubling should result in "the same" video, just played back at 30Hz, but somehow it isn't.
EDIT:
About DAI... Do you want 100% of the time lower IQ, but not really that much to 1% of tearing/lower fps? I guess it really is down to personal taste. I wouldn't really call a winner at all here. I usually prefer better IQ to such a minute performance issue (being a PC gamer after all). Some people prefer one or the other.
EDIT:
About DAI... Do you want 100% of the time lower IQ, but not really that much to 1% of tearing/lower fps? I guess it really is down to personal taste. I wouldn't really call a winner at all here. I usually prefer better IQ to such a minute performance issue (being a PC gamer after all). Some people prefer one or the other.
Whilst you can see the xbone clearly is lower resolution the xbone HUD looks to have the same resolution as the ps4, first time I see this, normally the HUD uses the native res.
btw slight forum bug - how do I post a message on this forum? the only way I can is click on reply to someones post and delete it and then write mine, its done this a few times.
btw slight forum bug - how do I post a message on this forum? the only way I can is click on reply to someones post and delete it and then write mine, its done this a few times.
TheWretched
Regular
Bias can manifest itself in many different and subtle ways, particularly in the world of journalism, publishing and writing.
Full GTAV FO up!
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-grand-theft-auto-5-ps4-xbox-one-face-off
Both buckle under what are probably CPU limited sections, though the X1 fares slightly better probably due to it's slightly faster CPU.
X1 is alone in buckling under alpha heavy shootbangs. Probably due to it's weaker GPU (ROPs?)
PS4 has nicer vegetation. But don't underestimate that, foliage fools, because like in Oblivion when loads of grass is swayin' it'll look great.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-grand-theft-auto-5-ps4-xbox-one-face-off
Both buckle under what are probably CPU limited sections, though the X1 fares slightly better probably due to it's slightly faster CPU.
X1 is alone in buckling under alpha heavy shootbangs. Probably due to it's weaker GPU (ROPs?)
PS4 has nicer vegetation. But don't underestimate that, foliage fools, because like in Oblivion when loads of grass is swayin' it'll look great.
Billy Idol
Legend
Holy shit! MS and Sony really fucked up this generation...the one can't do 1080p, the other has a even slower processor in it...meh. We already have that mid-tier PC are better than consoles it seems.
I am really hoping that the first parties pull out some magic rabbits again this gen.
I am really hoping that the first parties pull out some magic rabbits again this gen.
So other than a higher foliage density, and the JJ Abrams lens flare attack... PS4 sustains the higher framerates dealing with the most stressful operations. Other than that, XB1 version is very comparable and enjoyable.
When console gamers are willing to absorb the über pricing behind better/beefier PC centric components, then maybe the consoles will fare better under stressful operations. Until then, new consoles (new cycles) will more than likely be outpaced by mid-spec'd PCs within a year's time.
Taken across both platforms, the most stressful operation seems to be driving through traffic, but otherwise yeah, PS4 takes it with plants and overall framerate. Both versions seem great.
I'm not joking about the vegetation btw. You can keep your lense flare but doing good vegetation adds a lot and can be quite expensive in terms of overdraw. Even completely transparent sections of vegetation texture close to poly edges will presumably need to be tested for depth, so there's likely to be a lot of work for ROPs to do.
Personally, I'd have dropped the res on the X1 version and ramped up the vegetation, kept a stable 30 fps (or close) even through battles and I'd have also turned up the texture filtering too.
I think I'm going to go and do some mucking around with custom resolutions on PC and see how much a small amount of horizontal upscaling hurts the image.
I'm not joking about the vegetation btw. You can keep your lense flare but doing good vegetation adds a lot and can be quite expensive in terms of overdraw. Even completely transparent sections of vegetation texture close to poly edges will presumably need to be tested for depth, so there's likely to be a lot of work for ROPs to do.
Personally, I'd have dropped the res on the X1 version and ramped up the vegetation, kept a stable 30 fps (or close) even through battles and I'd have also turned up the texture filtering too.
I think I'm going to go and do some mucking around with custom resolutions on PC and see how much a small amount of horizontal upscaling hurts the image.
If I remember correctly, try using Crysis and Crysis 3 dealing with your test... I've done plenty of foliage test scaling/performance with those games. But yes, vegetation (lots of it) can eat away at resources...
D
Deleted member 11852
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Flowers. Definitely important in a GTA game. Yes. 
This might be misleading...I know putting the res at 900P makes PC games look really terrible to me on my 1080 monitor, yet even 720 last gen games dont look bad to me on my HDTV in the other room.
I guess it's a combo of how close you are sitting, and perhaps HDTV's having significantly better scaling/image processing than monitors which are designed with little image processing?
Also seeing the X1 gain a little CPU edge now makes me think they should have tried to push that a little more for PR purposes. That way if they could have got the CPU to say 1.9ghz, perhaps by having significantly better frame rates in some games they could have convinced people the tech race was essentially a tie ("they have res, we have framerate", type thing), without doing any major overhaul to the already locked in hardware or adding great expense.
Similarly, I feel like these 1300/1400X1080 resolutions sound a whole lot better to people than 900P, even though pixel count is similar. The former has 1080 in it, and laypeople probably think the distinction is even more meaningless, or cant really grasp it at all, whereas "1080P" and "900P" have become loaded terms, in a negative way for Xbox. Possibly another PR win to be had there.
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This simply isn't true:
"In running a time-lapse comparison of these grid-locked areas, it's interesting to learn traffic patterns are indeed identical for both platforms - the density of active vehicles is matched for both PS4 and Xbox One"
DF should watch their own videos - for example, their 'stress test' the junction they pass @ ~38 seconds clearly shows a lorry on PS4 and a car on XBO coming from right to left. The only areas where traffic is matched is during the 'set pieces' - like where they are chasing the yaught - all the cars are identical and the PS4 version outperforms the XBO. There's also a junction (~3:40) which shows PS4 marginally out-performing XBO with what looks like more traffic on PS4 - which casts doubt over the CPU being an issue.
"In running a time-lapse comparison of these grid-locked areas, it's interesting to learn traffic patterns are indeed identical for both platforms - the density of active vehicles is matched for both PS4 and Xbox One"
DF should watch their own videos - for example, their 'stress test' the junction they pass @ ~38 seconds clearly shows a lorry on PS4 and a car on XBO coming from right to left. The only areas where traffic is matched is during the 'set pieces' - like where they are chasing the yaught - all the cars are identical and the PS4 version outperforms the XBO. There's also a junction (~3:40) which shows PS4 marginally out-performing XBO with what looks like more traffic on PS4 - which casts doubt over the CPU being an issue.
DF are talking about traffic density being the same, not about the precise position and type of vehicle on the roads. There are semi-random elements used in their traffic spawning routines.
It's the consistency with which the X1 is (marginally) ahead that leads to their entirely reasonable speculation.
It's the consistency with which the X1 is (marginally) ahead that leads to their entirely reasonable speculation.
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