*split* multiplatform console-world problems + Image Quality Debate

[Cyan]

During the review, SP was 720p and MP was 1080p. I think some builds were blurred ? That's why some reviewers said they couldn't tell the difference but others could.

The XB1 had (has ?) some sort sharpen filter turned on too.

Without having tried the PS4 version, I can say that CoD: Ghosts was one of the titles that impressed me the most. In fact if you are looking for consistency it might be the best version, in my opinion.

By consistency I mean perfect framerate. BF4 on the other hand is much more consistent on the PS4 and it is the best version hands down.

On the Xbox One it is still a fun game, especially using Kinect and the controller, but the framerate is unrefined.

When I play on a console I expect a rather solid framerate 90+%, whether it is 30 or 60 fps. I chuckle sometimes at some videos from people with a Titan or a similarly powerful graphics card, they max out everything, the screenshots look insuperable, the framerate is high but then at some points it goes as low as the teens.

If the framerate in a game is too jumpy I then get bored/ frustrated and turn the game off. That's not usually happen but sometimes it does.

 

[zed]

But also yourself can realize that if you have to zoom and analyze specific points in the background in order to spot them...

Looks like youre so shocked Airon between the difference that you think thyre zoomed in
But As Brad saiz this is how it appears on your TV. I only posted part of the image since theyre big size images since they are PNG
but if you want see here
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7528/ps4-ghosts.png
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7528/xbone-ghosts.png
at 2.25x the number of pixels no magnifying glass are needed. The thing is lower resolution will look much worse in movement, thus static screenshots like this make the lower resolution one look better than it is

btw I dont have a ps3/ps4/xbox360/xbone just a PC

 

[Cyan]

CoD: Ghosts, different platforms.

PC -1080p-

Xbox One -1280x720-

PS4 -1920x1080-

Xbox 360 -1024x600-

PS3 -860x600-

WiiU -880x720-

 

[DrJay24]

O my god...
A question to you, this little immage cover what % of the full screen?
Is a central part or a background one..?

Clearly there are difference between 720 / 900 / 1080...

But also yourself can realize that if you have to zoom and analyze specific points in the background in order to spot them...
If you really need the bigger, better one go with an ultra PC!

Come on, enjoy your new platform what ever it is, play videogames and enjoy exclusives ip and services. Do not waste your time with magnifying glass!

This is getting silly. You can see resolution differences without any zoom, PC gamers have known this for years. More pixels means more samples, less aliasing, both edge and texture. This is one of the largest contributors to image quality.

I already don't like 900P as a res. BF4 is muddy and trying to make out enemies at a long distance is really hard. I hope next year they get it to 1080P. I played AC4 pre-patch in 900P and it looked ok, but post patch (new AA too) it looks great.

I can't imagine dropping to 720P for any of these games, but then again I don't have to. If the PS4 version is sub-par hopefully there is a PC port.

 

[pjbliverpool]

And we do not have to forget the first COD:G reviews...

Many journalists from premium gaming sites declare the immense graphic superiority of PS4 COD due to the higher resolution... When in reality they just reviewed the 720p version of COD for PS4 (the one pre-patch...): the same resolution of the XOne version !!!

So, a part from fanboysm, personal agenda etc... that event said quite much about this matter...

It's certainly noticeable. Here's AC4 running at 1080p, 900p and 720p. I won't label them and they're randomly ordered just to mix things up a bit. It should be obvious to everyone which is which though. Note these are all using the fairly decent SMAA AA mode as well so that helps hide the resolution differences which would be even more obvious without AA.

It's not clear which AA modes the consoles use but if the PS4 is using a superior method to the XBO then these shots under-emphasize the actual difference. In addition, the differences in motion thanks to the pixel crawling effect are even more noticeable than the still shots.

I haven't posted a shot of it but just for the record, the quality of NV's 4xTXAA in this scene is insane and completely blows SMAA out of the water.

 

[pjbliverpool]

CoD: Ghosts, different platforms.

Interesting, the Ambient Occlusion in the PC version looks to be significantly above that of the consoles and makes a big overall difference to the scene.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

It's certainly noticeable. Here's AC4 running at 1080p, 900p and 720p. I won't label them and they're randomly ordered just to mix things up a bit. It should be obvious to everyone which is which though. Note these are all using the fairly decent SMAA AA mode as well so that helps hide the resolution differences which would be even more obvious without AA.

On my computer monitor it is pretty obvious which is which. From my TV, the bottom two images are virtually identical with the only difference being in the ships rigging.

Do a blind test and I'd bet you that >90% of the general public wouldn't be able to tell. The other 10% might be able to tell if they knew what to look for (aliasing in the rigging).

The COD ones that Cyan posted have a larger difference when viewed on my TV due to the aliasing notches being larger. And even then, if you did a blind test, I'd say that you'd end up with the same result as above. The people that know what to look for might be able to tell. But the majority of the general public (and thus people that buy consoles) won't.

In other words, unless a person is playing both versions side by side, very few people that play any version is going to be disappointed in the graphics or feel that it's worse than another version.

Another interesting point. If the console versions were pixel by pixel identical to the PC version, the PC version would still subjectively look better. Why? Because it's so close you'll be able to notice details that are imperceptible when viewed on the 1080p TV at typical living room viewing distances on typical living room TV sizes.

Regards,
SB

 

[Globalisateur]

Triple downscaled 576p comparison shots! Good luck!

It's certainly noticeable. Here's AC4 running at 576p, 576p and 576p. I won't label them and they're randomly ordered just to mix things up a bit. It should be very hard to everyone which is which though. Note these are all using the fairly decent SMAA AA mode as well so that helps hide the resolution differences which would be even more obvious without AA.

It's not clear which AA modes the consoles use but if the PS4 is using a superior method to the XBO then these shots under-emphasize the actual difference. In addition, the differences in motion thanks to the pixel crawling effect are even more noticeable than the still shots.

I haven't posted a shot of it but just for the record, the quality of NV's 4xTXAA in this scene is insane and completely blows SMAA out of the water.

Looks an interesting comparison but not by comparing 576p downscaled images. Hard to notice noticeables differences there...

Could you re-upload them at native 1080p? And there are 3 PC shots here?

And how do you arrive to the conclusion that next gen consoles use SMAA? And BTW PS4 and X1 are supposed to use the same AA, rumoured SMAA.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Looks an interesting comparison but not by comparing 576p downscaled images. Hard to notice noticeables differences there...

Could you re-upload them at native 1080p?

And how do you arrive to the conclusion that next gen consoles use SMAA? And BTW PS4 and X1 are supposed to use the same AA, rumoured SMAA.

Click the image and then when in photobucket, click the icon in the bottom right to get to the original image. Although you really don't need it to see the differences. I can see them via the downscaled images in this forum on my 17" laptop!

Regarding the SMAA, it's the only option on PC between FXAA and MSAA plus it's been pretty popular consoles recently so it makes sense that they'll be using it or something similar.

 

[pjbliverpool]

On my computer monitor it is pretty obvious which is which. From my TV, the bottom two images are virtually identical with the only difference being in the ships rigging.

There's a lot of rigging in this game. And in motion it's a lot more obvious (on the rigging and other rope like objects).

Do a blind test and I'd bet you that >90% of the general public wouldn't be able to tell. The other 10% might be able to tell if they knew what to look for (aliasing in the rigging).

I did, on my wife who "doesn't give a crap" but even she was able to pick which image looked better. This was switching between the two back anf forth though.

In other words, unless a person is playing both versions side by side, very few people that play any version is going to be disappointed in the graphics or feel that it's worse than another version.

That's the key here I think. I completely agree that if I fired the game up on my TV in either 1080p or 900p and asked most people which it was they wouldn't have a clue. But that's not the point because regardless of whether you can pinpoint the games specific resolution, you can see which looks better in a side by side comparison which means you are losing out on part of the visual experience if you're running at the lower resolution. Just because you don't specifically know what resolution your games running at doesn't mean it wouldn't look better at a higher resolution.

 

[Davros]

CoD: Ghosts, different platforms.
PC -1080p-

Your comparison is a bit misleading, you post pics of the console versions running at their maximum resolution, but you compare it to the pc version running at half(maybe less) of its maximum resolution 3840x2160 (5760x2160 with a 3rd party program)

 

[HTupolev]

In other words, unless a person is playing both versions side by side

Which is a much more useful way to compare things with human beings than having them blindly gauge absolute values, particularly if they don't know what to look for. Humans suck at guessing absolutes without a reference point.
Furthermore, if the content isn't like-for-like, you're introducing a ton of variance. There are plenty of 720p games on PS360 with far more annoying aliasing than plenty of sixth-gen 480p games. That doesn't mean that resolution doesn't matter; obviously the 720p stuff would alias less at 1440p.

Not being able to tell what the native resolution of something is, doesn't mean that it won't be annoying when a ship's rigging starts flickering like a raging lightning storm.

 

[Globalisateur]

Without having tried the PS4 version, I can say that CoD: Ghosts was one of the titles that impressed me the most. In fact if you are looking for consistency it might be the best version, in my opinion.

By consistency I mean perfect framerate. BF4 on the other hand is much more consistent on the PS4 and it is the best version hands down.

On the Xbox One it is still a fun game, especially using Kinect and the controller, but the framerate is unrefined.

When I play on a console I expect a rather solid framerate 90+%, whether it is 30 or 60 fps. I chuckle sometimes at some videos from people with a Titan or a similarly powerful graphics card, they max out everything, the screenshots look insuperable, the framerate is high but then at some points it goes as low as the teens.

If the framerate in a game is too jumpy I then get bored/ frustrated and turn the game off. That's not usually happen but sometimes it does.

What you maybe don't know is that the Multiplayer of COD on PS4 is consistent. Curiously DF still hasn't done any performance video of it yet. Surprising because it is the most sold PS4 game at launch. But it runs consistently at 60fps with occasionnal framerate drops.

And it has surely a better aim precision thanks to the improved resolution. Add it has the great new DS4...Maybe you should try it and do a fair review?

BTW COD Single Player on X1 is not running consistenlty. It runs better on average than on PS4 but when framerate drops, and it does, it sometimes drops lower than on PS4. Even as low as 30fps-ish on X1 for the Single Player. Far away from perfect framerate.

Finally even COD MP on X1 is not perfectly 60Fps locked. I have seen one 48fps framerate drop on a 5mn peformance video.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Your comparison is a bit misleading, you post pics of the console versions running at their maximum resolution, but you compare it to the pc version running at half(maybe less) of its maximum resolution 3840x2160 (5760x2160 with a 3rd party program)

You don't need the higher resolution, image quality is still quite a bit better in the PC shot despite the equal resolution to the PS4.

They're obviously using a much better AA mode. This game does support TXAA so perhaps it's that. I'm not convinced that's the case though since it seems to be missing the smoothing effect of TXAA. Perhaps MSAA 4x.

 

[Davros]

And it would look even better if you doubled the resolution..

 

[Shifty Geezer]

And it would look even better if you doubled the resolution..

Not on a 1080p TV. It's being used here to compare the PC rendering to the console rendering with the same target display.

 

[Davros]

If it is, then why are some of the images less than 1080, and how does cyan know what res they will be viewed at

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They're the output resolution of the console. 1080p for current-gen consoles. 720p for past gen consoles. The listed resolutions are the rendering resolutions prior to upscaling. The top three images are comparing the game as viewed on the same 1080p screen from three different platforms.

 

[Cyan]

What you maybe don't know is that the Multiplayer of COD on PS4 is consistent. Curiously DF still hasn't done any performance video of it yet. Surprising because it is the most sold PS4 game at launch. But it runs consistently at 60fps with occasionnal framerate drops.

And it has surely a better aim precision thanks to the improved resolution. Add it has the great new DS4...Maybe you should try it and do a fair review?

BTW COD Single Player on X1 is not running consistenlty. It runs better on average than on PS4 but when framerate drops, and it does, it sometimes drops lower than on PS4. Even as low as 30fps-ish on X1 for the Single Player. Far away from perfect framerate.

Finally even COD MP on X1 is not perfectly 60Fps locked. I have seen one 48fps framerate drop on a 5mn peformance video.

If you see a framerate drop in a 5 minutes video then the framerate can be considered consistent. I haven't noticed a single framerate drop in the 10-20 minutes I got into the campaign and DF article says that the framerate is even better when you play online.

I haven't tried the DS4 for now, perhaps at a friends' house soon, I still don't know, when he buys the PS4.

Aside from that, I am a massive sucker for a new console, so I acquired 9 games -10 with the bundled FIFA 14 for free-. The new Xbox One controller is like a dream come true, lighter and built under the previous foundation in a more universal manner -I mean that now men, women and children can use it indifferently, Xbox 360's gamepad was amazing, only a bit heavier-.

I am flitting between Ryse/Killer Instinct/BF4/Forza 5/Powerstar Golf. CoD: Ghosts has taken a backseat for the time being, but I shall check the framerate and stuff soon enough.

For now Forza 5 and Ryse take most of my gaming time on a nightly basis. I have to play CoD: Ghosts -impressive game- too but cant be bothered with it atm.

 

[Cyan]

Your comparison is a bit misleading, you post pics of the console versions running at their maximum resolution, but you compare it to the pc version running at half(maybe less) of its maximum resolution 3840x2160 (5760x2160 with a 3rd party program)

Peasant resolution? Those images are from the DF's article. And resolution doesn't matter that much, but the experience. :smile2:

As long as a game is 720p and up and it is FUN, runs at a consistent framerate, then you are in for a treat.

I wonder what's the framerate of CoD at that resolution and how many framerate drops are.

Meanwhile on my Xbox One I have been enjoying CoD very much.

Incredible textures -generational leap-, smooth as butter, and while my last CoD before Ghosts was CoD 4 -I couldn't be arsed to buy inferior sequels, plus Activision tricked me- I am happy with this new CoD.

Since I picked up my Xbox One as I was REALLY in the mood for some awesome graphics.., the only problem is I'm so in love with this One that my laptop PC has barely had any playtime, but I will play some of my PC games soon enough.